FL: Tallahassee - Munson Hills

 We made it to Tallahassee, our road trip destination. I had plans to meet some friends for rides in Alabama and Georgia, but weather was really looking like an issue this week. The guys I know in the Tally area said the trails here would be fine if wet. So, when it appeared my travel plans would be washed away - as they were, I made arrangements to ride most mornings while my wife slept in. I had been to a couple of the trail systems here in the past and wanted to revisit them, plus check out some other areas I heard about.

I let the locals know I'd be free during the week if any of them were able to join. The first ride I opted to do was over at the Munson Hills area, but it was super last minute, so I went solo on this one. It's one of the areas I had ridden a couple of times, so I didn't really need a guide and it's only 10 minutes away.

Florida Wildlife Corridor means gators to me. Would I see any??

These are fast, open trails, just pay attention to the occasional tight squeeze through the trees!!

Some thicker areas of vegetation.

Clouds began to roll in as I was really feeling the humidity. I'm not in the desert any more.

With the recent rains here, the sugar sand was packed down pretty good and rolled well over hard pack.

No horsies here.

Some cool trail routing through the thick vegetation.

Shroom!!

Skirting by some powerlines.

Can you spot it??

This fella was right in the middle of the trail, I missed it by 2"!! Check the previous photo again...

Really nice trail signage at every junction. I ended up riding all the main trails here.

The clouds grew dark, rain began to dump, but I was already soaked in sweat. No need to break out the rain jacket now.

Again, good signage here.

I think this sums up southern riding.

Soaked!!

Sign at the trailhead. This multi-use path runs from town all the way down to the coast.

The Munson Hills trails are really fun, fast, flowy and enough turns to keep you engaged. I had a blast here, but I did forget to bring a post ride shirt to change into, so I had to drive home completely drenched in sweat. Yuck!!

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TX: Austin - Brushy Creek

 The forecast wasn't looking too good, showers were expected most of the day while in Austin. I had reached out to my buddy, Derek, who used to live in the Phoenix area, but had been relocated to Austion five years ago due to work. He was free for a ride, but it was looking more like an urban paved route would be on tap.

However, the entire day driving towards Austin, there was no foul weather in sight. We opted to meet up north of town at the Brushy Creek Regional Park. Derek did note that it had rained the other day, but he thought the trails would be ok to ride.

We met early, just after daybreak, as I only had a couple hours to ride before getting back on the road. The first trail we came to was roped off, but Derek noted it was the one trail that was often closed when rain came through. We continued along the paved path for a while, then hopped on some singletrack. Almost immediately, I smacked my head on a low crossing branch!! Whoa. It was a bit of a stunner, since I didn't see it coming, but it got me to really pay attention to the surroundings the rest of the ride.

Cruising along a paved section of our route.

Hero dirt!! The trails were either packed fast dirt through the trees or...

...rubbly crushed limestone. Both were fun, but the rocks added a good challenge.

Taking a short break under a freeway construction project.

We rode to the opposite end of the park, then on our way back we mostly took singletrack trails. While the park was long, it wasn't very wide and the trail routing looked like a bowl of spaghetti. I love when trails are routed to maximize the terrain given. These trails were a load of fun, yet demanded attention. Soft dirt, slick roots, rocks, short drops, low branches and a few water crossings.

Using the paved path as a connector and a focus reset.

There could be trails on both sides of this photo, but you wouldn't know it.

As we made our way back to the parking lot, there was a running race going on. We never saw anyone out on the singletrack, only the multi-use path which was nice. It was a great introduction to the Austin ride scene and my first ever ride in Texas!! Thanks for the fantastic tour, Derek.

So cool to ride with a friend on new terrain.

It sounds like the Austin area has a bunch a great places to ride, maybe someday I'll be back to sample some more.

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NM: Roswell Bikeway

 We rolled into Roswell, New Mexico well after sunset and missed seeing the iconic welcome sign. Our road trip plans weren't to leave each town super early, so I had some time the next morning to shake out the legs and ride back to the sign. As luck would have it, Roswell has a multi-use path through town and our hotel was practically on the path.

I got up a little early with the plan to be back by 8am so we could eat some breakfast before getting back on the road.

Thought these signs were cool.

There was a little bit of navigation involved, but easy enough to figure out getting through town.

There was a work crew out fixing a section of the trail, so I had to come up with a short go-around.

It was a nice pathway across town, passing by parks and drainage culverts.

Lots of big trees which was really nice.

We passed by this place the previous evening, so many billboards!! This one was funny.

Photo from the previous evening, but the place was closed.

It ended up being a bit farther than I thought, but I made it!! Gotta speed things up on the return.

Passed by the local field office on the way back.

There were a few sections the trail crew would need to work on, this was one. The entire trail had fallen away...

Huge collapse, now filled with water. Watch out!!

Here, the path was crumbled, but provided a fun technical obstacle.

I made it back a little after 8a, we ate and got on the road in short order. On our way out of town, we spotted the welcome sign on the opposite side of town.

No alien or UFO sightings on this trip.

Roswell seems like a cool little town, good for some exploring if passing though. On to our next stop and another ride: Austin, TX.

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UT: Moab - Raptor Route

 We arrived at our last day in Moab. Max had to head back to work, so it would be Kara and myself on this ride...but wait, remember those other friends that live in town? As luck would have it, two more friends had driven in, Alexis and Denny, and were staying at Eszter's place a couple blocks away. Andrew & Katie Strempke were also coming back to town and were free for a morning spin. Just like that, it was a party on two wheels!!

Kara and I were feeling the effects of the previous days adventures, so we agreed to meet the others at the Kestrel trailhead up Sand Flats Rd. The others would ride there from town. Today's ride would be the Raptor Route. We'd ride up Sand Flats Rd, with the addition of a new climbing trail to bypass some of the road, then ride down a series of four trails: Eagle Eye, Hawks Glide, Falcon Flow & Kestrel.

Since we were meeting them at 8a, we had time to walk into town for breakfast at the Love Muffin Cafe. 

Huevos Rancheros always hit the spot.

We got going on time and there was an instant gut punch on the road, a steep section splitting two rock features. I was able to ride it, but oof, I felt that!! It didn't take long to reach the climbing trail. It wasn't here last year when I rode this route. Andrew had ridden it before and he had mentioned something to the effect of: You hardly notice you're climbing. Hmmm, we'll see about that.

I only managed this one photo on the climb up the trail. I was too busy trying to keep up...which I failed.

The trail was a really nice addition as it mostly contoured the terrain and yes, did have a few flowy downhill bits tossed in. When we regrouped at the road junction, we all agreed, you definitely notice the climbing!! Haha.

We were now back on Sand Flats Rd, nothing really flat about this ride other than this photo. Up, up, up it goes and off the back I went.

One of the steep kickers, paved for your enjoyment. Denny cranks away up ahead. I made it as far as I could, then walked the rest. A bit too much on the singlespeed gearing for me.

Kara plugging away.

Hooray!! We made it to the top of the road climb.

Since we were here, there's a really short connector trail to the Castle Valley overlook on the Whole Enchilada route. Might as well get one final view and it makes for a good group selfie.

Thanks to Eszter for snapping this one, mine wasn't nearly as good. Her caption sums it up perfectly.

Yep, never gets old. Amazeballs.

We made our way back to the start of Eagle Eye to get the downhill fun rolling. Man, this trail starts out with a fast, swoopy section winding its way through the trees...on dirt!! No rocks!! But don't be sucked in, the rocks come and they don't relent. This trail drops almost 800' in a little over two miles. I tried to keep up with Katie, but that was futile. About halfway down I couldn't feel my fingers, arm pump was in full effect, but I didn't want to stop.

Whew!! End of Eagle Eye, my teeth were tingling.

Everyone was feeling the effects of flying down that one, stretch it out!!

Hawks Glide was a tad less demanding, but still grin enducing. This final feature is fun, steep, technical and switchbacky. I rode almost all of it, one tight righthander gave me pause. You can barely see Andrew & Denny already waiting for the rest of us.

Kara's bike needed a rest too. Photo by Kara.

Katie eyeing up the approach from up top.

Short connection on Sand Flats Rd. to Falcon Flow.

Flow it did. Denny & Alexis leading the way, so fast!!

I tried to stick with Andrew, Eszter & Katie. For a while I did.

I rode ahead of the group here so I could grab an action shot of everyone.

Katie was first through, but now on a time crunch as a work Zoom meeting loomed.

Such a fun surprise to get to ride with Alexis today. Her love of rocks & geology is infectous.

So good to share some miles with Denny as well, it had been a while since I last saw these two.

It was so odd to have me on the singlespeed and Andrew on gears. What is this world coming to?? Also, if you need top notch bikepacking gear, check out Dispersed Bikepacking.

Two rides with Eszter this weekend...and we didn't need lights!! Holy moly, are we becoming reasonable?? Doubt it. Now that she has a place here, I have a feeling there will be plenty of big dumb rides in our future. Looking forward to it.

Kara, what a trooper this weekend. We were both feeling it on this ride, but hung in there.

One of the few uphill areas on this route.

More slickrock riding as we finish up on Falcon Flow. We didn't have time for the official Slickrock Trail on this trip, but I'm sure Kara got her fill of it.

Huge sweeping turn and those views!!

We crossed back over Sand Flats Rd. as we began the final trail, Kestrel. Andrew had warned me of an upcoming steep chute area. Eszter said she's balked at it each time she's ridden here. Maybe today was the day??

Today WAS the day!! Eszter riding down the slickrock chute into the tight righthand switchback, making it look easy.

I was up next, yep, it was steep, but traction mostly held. I could hear the rear tire slide a little bit, but I never felt out of control. The tight turns weren't too bad and just like that I was through. Really neat feature.

Eszter and I wrapping up Kestrel through the final canyon.

Both Kara and I declared we were done and actually ready to head home. This was a perfect ending to our weekend riding a fantastic route with the best friends. So glad our schedules worked out for a couple of these.

Our weekend totals were something like 5 rides over 4 days, 103 miles and 11,600' of gain and that was WITH two shuttles!! The singlespeed was great for most of it, maybe not so much on the Sand Flats Rd climb today, but everything else it was fine, same goes for the hardtail. Sure, full squish is nice and I've ridden these trails on one, but for now the hardtail is what I have.

Spotted some rock crawlers on our drive out. Photo by Kara.

Classic sighting on the drive south along US191.

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