Where did 2022 go... what the heck did I do? Don't we say that every year?
In chronological order... Memorable rides of 2022.
1. East Zion
The East Zion trails are new within the last few years. Roughly 25 miles of single track will be completed by the end 2023. These trails are located less than 5 miles from the east entrance of Zion National Park.
*Shout out to my bf Derek Thomson (Apex Trail Construction) and his crew for building these beautiful trails in southern Utah!
2. Black Mountain to Terror Ridge (SLC Foothills)
This ride is sort of a kick in the butt and some may say it's not worth it. However I take what I can get in the spring and this was dry on April 29th. Great views of the valley. One of my favorites in the spring when the grass is actually green!
Usually add Terror Ridge on the decent and jump back on the BST, head up the grassy knoll (one more time). Finish with Bobsled.
3. Thunder Mountain (Bryce National Park)
Thunder Mountain had been on my "bucket list" for a few years and last year I rode it twice.
I'd recommend shuttling if you dislike pedaling. But I like pedaling and ending the ride at the vehicle with beers.
I thought the riding was really fun. There's a nice mix of flowy singletrack, steep climbs and techy corners. The scenery is out of this world... Plan on stopping a lot to take photos.
4. Lost Lad (Salt Lake City)
One of my favorites in the valley as of late. I wish I had more photos...
(Views from the summit before dropping into Lost Lad. Pretty good flower peeping in the springtime.)
5. Moosehouse (Park City)
(There's Chelsea, ripping down Moosehouse!)
A bit steep and rooty. One of my favorite trails in Park City.
Lots of fun skid trail options to choose from following Moosehouse.
(Like this little skid diddy.)
6. Blowhard (Cedar City, Southern Utah)
This was the scariest ride of the year by far. We attempted to ride/hike a bike up Blowhard early spring because we didn't have a shuttle & ran into a mom and two cubs along a primitive trail. I'm still getting over my fear of bears.
(The photo above wasn't part of Blowhard. It was an alternate route up and not recommended, because of the bears.)
Def will shuttle this next time and ride the entire trail.
6.6 miles / 3,596 ft of descending
7. Just some skids (Park City, Utah)
It was early season (June 20th) and the skid trail under the chair wasn't trenched out and the dirt was primo. It was probably one of the best days to ride last summer.
8. Wasatch Crest Trail (Park City)
First solo Crest ride ever. It was a beautiful day to ride it. Mid-day, weekday and I only saw two other riders. The bear encounter in southern Utah was still semi fresh and I was paranoid of running to a moose but was still able to enjoy myself. Packed lots of good snacks for this one. Caught someone taking a dip in the little Canyons pond toward the end. (is that legal?)
(me wearing one of the ladies tanks I sell on this site... hint hint!)
9. Phillipsburg, MO (Disco Bike Park)
(view of the Moto Line trail)
First bike park experience outside of Utah. Phillipsburg.Mom and poppy vibes here. One chair. No lift lines. Lots of real good trails. It was on and off raining all weekend. Conditions couldn't have been better.
Favorite Trails:
Moto Line
Spicey Brown
Roller Girl
10. Harlow (Marquette, MI)
(Derek checking out the views from the top of Harlow)
(Classic Harlow slab)
(Phil's 550 Store. A classic post or pre-ride stop.)
(I found a frog)
All the photos above are from the Harlow Trail system. Super techy fun. Ended the day with cold snacks on the beach + one more ride with my parents.
11. Copper Harbor Trails (Copper Harbor, MI)
(Above: Steve and Derek enjoy the Lake Superior sights during a pitstop off the Keweenaw Point Trail.)
My hometown trails. Much love to the builders and community. This place is close to my heart and so special. The Harbor has a trail everyone and we rode fun flowy xc to techy downhill, conglomerate rockslab stuff.
It's all so good. Unfortunately, I hardly took any photos of the actual trails during this trip.
We rented a cabin in the Trails End Campground, got thimbleberry donuts from Jamsen's Fish Market and burritos to end the trip from the Fitz!
12. Snowmass Bike Park (Aspen, CO)
I was not a bike park fan until riding Phillipsburg, however it was Snowmass Bike Park that increased my liking for bike parks.
This was the first trip of two last summer.
(Grumpy Bear Twins)
(It's fun to stay in the village if you can. We crashed at a friends place and explored a little in the evening. The burger above was from Woodys Creek Tavern outside of Aspen.)
13. Honeycomb (Solitude Mountain)
I typically climb up the service road from the base of Solitude but on this fine day with Kirsten we started from Brighton. It was a beautiful day, the wildflowers were peaking and we took our time finding the good lines on the Honeycomb rock garden. Love days like this in the backcountry when there is zero rush and no where else to be.
14. Jupiter Peak (Park City Mountain)
On August 9th I rode singletrack lined with the most beautiful, lush, wildflowers I've ever seen...
(en route to Jupiter Peak via Dead Tree)
(Above: Jupiter Peak)
(Then down Empire... pretty loose...)
15. Oktoberfest (Solitude to Oktoberfest to Solitude)
This ride was by far the most memorable, difficult, type 2 fun ride. We rode from Solitude up and over to Oktoberfest (at Snowbird) for a 1 drink and back to the truck which was parked at Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
Here were the stats from that ride:
22.98 miles / 5,161 ft Elevation Gain / Moving time: 4:20
(Derek wanted to enter the P dawg...)
Midway through the final descent. Slowly and beautifully running out of daylight..
Shortly after this photo of us my fork decided not to work for the last 3 miles.
(We stayed positive after I almost bonked a few times too.)
16. Colorado (San Juan Mountains)
I couldn't end the list with out a mention of a memorable weekend of riding in the San Juan Mountains.
This weekend was all time special and the location will not be disclosed. A few people might murder me...
One of the coolest things we witnessed that weekend was a hawk swooping in above an alpine lake and snatching up a bat for lunch.
(this was before or after we saw the bat incident)
(The mountains hit different in Colorado. They are so massive and breathtaking, especially since you're up much higher. It literally is breathtaking.)
(cute dog friends always make the long ride more fun)
****Because these rides went in chronological order there were many other rides that were equally great, however, I didn't want to make this post too long.
Some of other rides were in: Big Sky, Fall rides in Park City, Stanley Idaho, and Virgin, Utah.
I'm glad you're here!
Leave comments below if you wish.
xoxo
-Jackie