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I've read before that if you go as a group you can do it a lot cheaper .As i'm going on my own i'm thinking that doing it through a company is the way to go .Looking at K.E. Adventure they are running 2 trips .1 toRockies and Crested Butte and the other to Moab and Fruita .Both work out around £2,300 for a fortnight including flights , accomodation and nearly all the meals oh plus guiding as well .I didn't think that was too bad .So anybody used them before ?Which of the 2 trips is the harder , better etc ?This is a bit awkward , apparently they share the trip with a German company and i have reservations about who i could be sharing a room with !Single room supplement is a stonking £450 !
Would it be possible to go it alone as i've heard most trails are easy to follow with a map but i don't want to waste time trying to find the best bits .As i said before with a group you can cut costs when hiring a car etc not sure you could on your own .All advice gratefully received .
Crested Butte if only to dress up in 70s gear and ride over Pearl Pass listening to Emotional Rescue on a Walkman.
Shirley two very different backdrops to your riding, one is desert the other mountains. The time of year may dictate which you go for, Moab is best in spring, or autum, I'm guessing Crested Butte in the summer. I spent a few months in Moab many moons ago, navigation is fairly easy as the scenery is so big, plus GPS should help out a fair old bit.
KE I believe is a very well respected tour company, you could probably cut costs by getting yourself out there, finding accomodation online and finding some locals to guide you. I opted for the low end of the scale and stayed / worked at the Lazy Lizard backpackers, they had some log cabins for rent if you want out of the dorm and its a great way of meeting folk to ride and drink with.
So desert or mountains, its your choice.... (but in my opinion if your coming from the UK a red rock desert is so different from anything your used to I'd opt for that).
I was fully rigid on my GT Pantera complete with U brake and went for a ride with some dude named Charlie from Poison Spider who was sporting some funky new Ti Mag21s on his Merlin..... where'd all that time go??????????many moons ago =
Crested Butte for my money. Been twice, would love to go back again.
The trails are great and CB is way cooler to hang in than Moab.
Plus CB should be more amenable temperature wise. But has a much shorter season. Basically I think it's July or August (although usually good in September too, don't know if you'd get guided trips then though).
I've a mate who has done Fruita and CB with Western Spirit out there and he would go back to CB at the drop of a hat. While he said that Fruita was great a week was enough and there's no way I could persuade him to take a trip out of the way to revisit it. There are some great trails but it's no way as nice an atmosphere as being deep in the Rockies. I was seriously disappointed with Joes Ridge there bearing in mind I'd travelled specifically to do that trail as I'd seen it in a ST calendar of all places. The Kessel Run was much fun, I'd love to do that one again (but it's only 10-15 minutes long...
The best day I've ever spent one bike was in CB doing trails 503 and 501. On the other hand Porc Rim (moab) probably came a damn fine second!
Another factor is that CB is at 9,000 ft and you can climb up to 12,000 so if altitude bothers you (cycling 3,000 vertical feet in a couple of hours you'll know it) then stick to Moab n
I'm sure either would be great though.
As qwerty asks - when are you going?
Moab in Spring = Pleasant riding conditions while Rockies (is it Canadian rockies or North American Rockies?) means most high trails very much snow covered
Moab in summer = scorching hot while rockies will be quite pleasant.
I agree though that Moab red rocks are so different to anything in the UK that it is a must to try at some point...
Oh, as Moab is only about 5 (or is it 7?) hours drive from CB you could realistically do both (which is what I've done). In fact I went out via Leadville to CB then on to Fruita then Moab. My mate had done stuff most places before so we had a good starting point (we were unguided).
Yeah red desert may be a complete change of scenery but believe me after a while it begins to all look the same... 😉
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Moabs rubbish.
This is one choice
http://www.keadventure.com/trip/mfmb/moab-fruita-and-their-mountain-bike-festivals.html
choice of end of April or beginning of October .
But this is the one i'm starting to edge towards .
http://www.keadventure.com/trip/rcmb/rockies-crested-butte-mountain-bike-festival.html
really want to do both but being realistic......
Having re read both i now want to do both !!!If it can only be one though !!!!!Decisions decisions !and i'm not getting any younger ho hum !
Oh I went the end of June (in 08) the second time and the main trails hadn't opened due to snow higher up...
And Moab/Fruita were hot...
Not the best compromise really. So id like to change my mind and recommend that you pick just one... 🙄
Have you seen this...?
I've been on the KE trip that they used to run which combined both of these trips you are considering - it was pretty much a week in Colorado and a week in Fruita and Moab. Best trip ever (and I've been on a lot of guided trips in a lot of places). The guys that KE sub to are brilliant, we couldn't fault them at all and we were looked after well. Either trip would be great, but I think the Moab one is easier to DIY, as some of the Colorado stuff was proper back country trails.
Tough choice ?. With 2 weeks to play with I'd say definitely multi venue, perhaps there is time to squeeze in a third place in Colorado ? These two Yeti promos had my mouth watering ....