Submarine Rock Loop – Sedona, AZ…

Can you dig it?

Monday was our first full day in town so we wanted to get in a longer ride. The Submarine Rock Loop is a classic Sedona ride that was just enough gnar with a lot of fun curves to carve plus some slickrock to play on.

Taking the high road...

It was a cool and windy day.  So windy my bike fell over twice!

A-Man sampling some slickrock...

Starting out on Broken Arrow Trail we enjoyed some amazing singletrack that led to a small area of slickrock.

Testing out my brakes...

I felt a lot stronger than Sunday and didn’t have to gasp for air quite as pathetically.

Deep in the trees...

The quality of the trail started high and just kept getting better.

A-Man dropping off the Submarine...

Hard to believe, but we didn’t see any other mountain bikers until the we ran across a solo Ibis pilot at the end of the ride.

There were some pedestrians to contend with though...

The slickrock parts of the trail were popular with the Pink Jeep and 4×4 crowd.

Pink Jeep...

The Pink Jeep tourists seemed amazed anyone could ride a bike off road for more than a mile or two.

Icy cold beer hits the spot in the middle of a long desert ride...

Some friendly 4×4 guys gave us a couple icy cold beers – which were most appreciated.

Rolling down some chunk....

We spent a lot of time exploring all the side trails and variations we could find.

Are we lost?

We even managed to get a tiny bit lost on a closed trail until we realized the level of difficulty seemed over the top for a popular Sedona Trail. At least we got a taste of the riding back at home for a few minutes.

Wheel's eye view...

With a map and a look around at the many striking landmarks it’s pretty hard to stay lost biking around Sedona.

I don't need no stinking rear suspension...

A-Man showed off his skills muscling his Kona hardtail over all manner big chunky rocks.

Okay I don't fly like a butterfly...

My hand is still sore from the bikepacking crash 2 weeks ago so I kept my ego in check and rode conservatively.

Rock and roll....

No point taking any chances.

I could do this all day...

I figure a few days of easy riding and I should be able to rip it up at the end of the trip.

A-Man is enjoying his first full day of Sedona riding...

After Broken Arrow Trail [including a few detours] we hit Little Horse Trail and then rode Llama Trail again for good measure.

A-Man feeling all panoramic...

By the time we were on Llama Trail we were pretty tired, but when the singletrack unfolds in such a fun way around every curve there is no way to stop pedalling.

Where is Lazy?

After Llama we spun north on the Bell Rock Pathway to Mystic Trail.

Where did we park the truck?

By the 4hr mark we were hungry, tired and ready to see the truck…sadly there were a few more miles left.

Keeping my spirits high...

All good things must end and so did our ride. After Mystic Trail we still had another mile or two of pavement, but that was fast and painless. We were definitely happy to load up our bikes and head into town in search of food.

Done like dinner...

This trail loop is just amazing. So many miles of consistently awesome singletrack with stunning scenery in every direction and virtually zero mountain bike traffic to share the trails with. It really doesn’t get much better than this…or does it?….=-)~

My Nomad waiting to be blown over by the wind...