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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Banff
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    22,210

    What are your disappointing destinations to ride at?

    The favorite thread got me thinking, where have you ridden that you think was WAY overhyped?


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Three-O-Three
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    15,418
    I hate to say it, but Sedona. The trails are too similar, and there are WAY too many other people/hikers on the trails. It's nice to have access so close to town, but that also leads to having lots of trail traffic.

    I also think Park City is a bit over-rated. The trails themselves are fun, but again- way too many people/hikers and you can never really get away from it all. I've only ridden there for one 4-day stretch, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I just wasn't impressed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Your Mom's House
    Posts
    8,302
    18 Road at Fruita. The trails are well built and enjoyable, don't get me wrong, but you can only ride there for about 2 hours before you get bored. It's not at all the destination it's made out to be.

    (Full disclosure - I've never ridden The Edge/Sarlacc, just the lower stuff. And yes, there is other great riding in the area, I'm calling out 18 Road in particular because it's probably the most popular riding around Fruita.)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,491
    Bend. Town trails are a flat sandy XC- fest with occasional sections of flat volcanic choss. Best trail I rode was 1.5hrs out of town, so not really in Bend.

    To a much lesser degree, Moab. WE is amazing, but aside from that network, the Ahab/Jackson Rocks, and Portal trails are the only ones I'm interested in. Probably biased and burnt out because I've been many times, but that place could really benefit from 2-3 additional modern trails.

    RE: Sedona I thought it was great, but I rode it late December and crowds were not a factor.

    RE: 18rd I love it. It's a quick hit when coming from/going to different destinations. I've never thought of it as it's own destination. When grouped with LL, Mack/RV/Loma, Palisade etc. I think it's a worthy destination.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    1,491
    Also, FTR edge loop is not worth your time.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    cb, co
    Posts
    5,035
    Moab for sure. Even the WE isn't that fun when there are 1,000 other people on the trail.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    SLCizzy
    Posts
    3,554
    Sedona and St George.


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    The bottom of LCC
    Posts
    5,750
    Quote Originally Posted by North View Post
    Bend.
    Yup. I’d be totally ok with never riding there again.

    Really surprised to see Sedona on here. It’s my favorite desert riding destination. So much good tech, not old Jeep roads (I’m looking at you Moab) and a good variety of trails.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    5,013
    Moab is much better on a motorcycle....

    Agreed on Bend. Least memorable ride in a while.

    Most NE riding I've done is pretty similar in NJ, NY, VT, etc it all kind of blends together.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Treading Water
    Posts
    6,686
    I agree on Moab. There is sooooo much potential for downhill there, with the terrain and the vertical and the access roads. But it's really almost all just downward trending cross country.

    I rode one day at Winter Park/Trestle and thought it was massively disappointing. Would ride at Granby Ranch or Keystone any day of the week instead if I was back in the area.

    All of the Bent Creek trails in Asheville/Pisgah. For the love of god, we know from Pisgah proper and DuPont that there is room for awesomeness there. Bent Creek is like IMBA meets with the REI board of directors and your local elementary school to build mind numbingly boring trails.
    However many are in a shit ton.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    in a suite of vigorous disturbances
    Posts
    2,280
    Porcupine Rim.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    1,888
    Anything in California, ok really I mean in and around San Diego and Orange County. To be honest, I've never expected much of the riding there, happy just to mix surfing with bike fitness. I think of Laguna as a novelty but it gets old QUICK.

    Santa Cruz I was surprised with as well. Demo was pretty fun but could see it getting boring and around the University was ok but definitely nothing mind blowing.

    Even though our local trails are quite lacking in some ways, I think we are spoiled with LONG rides, big vert, constant scenery, that any time I go somewhere where you're constantly linking short sections of trail together, it quickly gets annoying.

    Agreed on Sedona, been once for a few days and have no plans to go back, but absolutely love Moab. At least your getting much longer loops and a good amount of climbing/descending and its so different than home, great stoke...plus I love the heat. But also agreed that the only trails to ride are Pothole-Rockstacker-Jackson-Ahab (love all the side hits/features/extra credit lines), Blue Dot-Portal, and WE. Mag7 is just a means to get to Blue Dot...and last time I even skipped it and rode to Gold Bar from town.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Central VT
    Posts
    4,806
    Man, you guys are either spoiled with trails and/or too picky. I've been pretty damn impressed with my riding experiences in Jackson and Moab.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Calgary
    Posts
    1,888

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Park City
    Posts
    1,857
    Quote Originally Posted by smmokan View Post
    I I also think Park City is a bit over-rated. The trails themselves are fun, but again- way too many people/hikers and you can never really get away from it all. I've only ridden there for one 4-day stretch, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I just wasn't impressed.
    In the last decade we have become too crowded. So many other places where you can get out by yourself, and not have to be on the trail at 6:00 am.

    For me it's proably Moab. The really signature rides have become super crowded, causing me to reach out to new places.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    15' from MT
    Posts
    405
    Interesting take on zones and shows the different expectations of folks RE: riding, the environs and what is important to them. Of course timing an whatnot is a huge factor and what someone is looking for in a destination, e.g., trail styles, flora and fauna, local eats/swill.

    For me it has been Bend and Moab. I am always interested in the trail quality, techness, etc. If the food is poor it is usually better riding, outdoor experience and quieter at least that is how I remember some of those not spoken about goodies out there. Good food usually means more people, boutique-ish crap and some sort of watered down outdoor experience. I might have to take that back though b/c Sedona and Nelson are the top 2 on my favorites list, so I'll just leave it at Bend and Moab for reasons others have mentioned above.
    Squeezin' a little more every other day

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    NAZ
    Posts
    500
    For me it was Santa Cruz.

    I feel like a lot of these complaints relate to the time of year/crowdedness. Sedona in January>Sedona in March. Sedona in March is a shitshow.
    It sucks to suck.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    5,352
    St George. Maybe I rode the wrong trails, but what I did ride was tedious to the extreme.

    II'm thinking of this one in particular:
    https://www.trailforks.com/trails/suicidal-tendencies/

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    781
    Quote Originally Posted by North View Post
    Bend. Town trails are a flat sandy XC- fest with occasional sections of flat volcanic choss. Best trail I rode was 1.5hrs out of town, so not really in Bend.
    Have to semi-agree here. I've been biking in Bend a handful of times (at different times of year) and always wonder if I'm missing the good trails afterwards. A lot of flat, sandy trails. If I'm heading that way from the valley I'd rather just stop in the Cascades or Oakridge instead.

    I've never biked in Sedona but I've been hiking there a few times. Sure, I'd love to get a bike there too but I can't imagine it sucking. That place is so beautiful (even if it's crowded) just look around.

    And last places that suck... upstate/central New York. A lot of great gravel riding but when looking for mountain biking I'll pass.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    The bottom of LCC
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    5,750
    Quote Originally Posted by Dromond View Post
    St George. Maybe I rode the wrong trails, but what I did ride was tedious to the extreme.

    II'm thinking of this one in particular:
    https://www.trailforks.com/trails/suicidal-tendencies/
    Just rode that 2 days ago at the suggestion of a couple of friends who I normally trust their opinion on fun trails. I thought it sucked too, not sure why people think it's good. There are some other really fun trails in the area though.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Your Mom's House
    Posts
    8,302
    Quote Originally Posted by North View Post
    RE: 18rd I love it. It's a quick hit when coming from/going to different destinations. I've never thought of it as it's own destination. When grouped with LL, Mack/RV/Loma, Palisade etc. I think it's a worthy destination.
    I fully agree. However it sure seems like most people, when they go to Fruita, mean they're going to 18Rd and treat it like a destination. They camp there and mostly ride there. All the other stuff you mention is at least 30 minutes of driving away.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    5,013
    Camping at 18 road and riding those trails as a group drunk, high, or on mushrooms is fun. Ride till you puke. Sorry for partying.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Carbondale
    Posts
    12,479
    RE: Moab, I think it's gotten better, and some one of my favorite rides in town isn't mentioned.. so maybe we'll keep it that way.

    I did get over Moab for a while, then went back and realized I'd only scratched the surface.


    Re: 18 road.. Similar, I love to camp there, get up, hit a quick lap, eat, hit a decent ride, eat and have a beer, go out at night, hit a quick lap... It's different like that. Then the next day go ride Loma or LL.
    We can also do that as a day trip, so probably spoiled in that regard.

    I really want to do a Sedona trip soon, but maybe I'll look at one of the other weekend-able zones before we do that now.
    www.dpsskis.com
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    formerly an ambassador for a few others, but the ski industry is... interesting.
    Fukt: a very small amount of snow.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    lake level
    Posts
    1,546
    Quote Originally Posted by robnow View Post
    Anything in California, ok really I mean in and around San Diego and Orange County. To be honest, I've never expected much of the riding there, happy just to mix surfing with bike fitness. I think of Laguna as a novelty but it gets old QUICK.

    Santa Cruz I was surprised with as well. Demo was pretty fun but could see it getting boring and around the University was ok but definitely nothing mind blowing.
    Noble Canyon near San Diego is pretty fun, not sure about anything else in the area. I've done one ride in Santa Cruz, shown around by a pretty ripping local on some off-the-map trails, thought it was pretty fun but yeah, not quite what I was expecting. Maybe because it's the only decent riding close to 10 million people? CA is a huge state, and there is a lot of sick riding, but it's mostly concentrated in a handful of spots. Seems like there should be a lot more good riding in CA given its size and topography. Pretty much why I can count on two hands the amount of times I've ridden anywhere in CA outside Tahoe/Dville areas.
    As mentioned earlier, agree on 18 Rd and Winter Park, once when I was just kinda getting going with mountain biking and had no expectations of what good trails were was enough. I love Moab, but it's been a while since I've ridden there. For me Ashland was the biggest disappointment, just a whole lot of meh.
    “I really lack the words to compliment myself today.” - Alberto Tomba

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    5,013
    Moab has gotten better but the crowds have gotten bigger. Finding a easy and decent campsite is nearly impossible these days.

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