Road Trip!! Candace and I were itching to take another road trip to Arizona and this time we were
- Going to spend more time in Sedona
- Taking our Bikes
Because I'm a nerd and a planner... I didn't want to just show up with bikes and then try to figure out where to ride... so I started googling.... I found a couple of bike groups in Prescott and got some great information about local rides for my Mom and then I thought....
What about riding in Sedona? Hmmm.... And that's how I found
Road Bike Sedona. As soon as I saw the website I decided "this is what I want to do for my birthday." What a great way to really see a town!!
And so...here's my review of Road Bike Sedona!
The website is easy to navigate and has a variety of tours to choose from. I filled out the reservation form and sent it off. Susan replyed the next day, confirmed that we were bringing our own bikes and boom...we were done.
The tour started at Absolute Bikes in Sedona. We arrived a little early and checked out the shop and I am so glad we did. They had THE best customer service. We brought our own bikes, so we weren't renting from them, yet they still rolled out the carpet for us. They offered us drinks and fruit that was leftover from another event at the shop, offered to install the water cage I purchased and let us change clothes in their bathroom. And if you rent a bike from them... the bikes have names!! (I am the queen of naming inanimate objects, so these are definately my people!)
As soon as we met our tour guide, Susan, I knew we were in for a treat. She took a few moments to chat with us while we were unloading bikes and she listened to those of us who were a little nervous about the ride (Let it be known.. it was not me!! For the first time I was simply excited. I knew we were going to have a great time... others...well... they thought they might die, or were nervous about traffic...or.....) After chatting with us and checking out our bikes (hybrids) she thought we'd enjoy a different route that included a dirt trail...hmm....
Susan and Candace and Snow??
About one block into the ride...it started snowing!! Look closely at the picture above and you might see a couple of snowflakes. It only snowed for a couple of minutes, but it got things off to a fun and interesting start!
(Susan, Lisa, Candace, Diana (my Mom!)
Along the way Susan shared a ton of information about the area. She talked about the geology, plant life, history and the lore of the land. I'm sure the fact that we are so slow...oh wait I mean we enjoyed a nice leisurely ride...hahaha... made it easier for her to share more info.
The beginning of our ride had a bit of a slow incine and then it seemed like we kept going down, down, down. Finally someone asked, "Are we coming back out the same way we're going in?" I think they were asking what we all were thinking. You never get on a bike and just enjoy a long down hill run without wondering when you have to climb back out! And then we came to the dirt..... It had to be pretty comical to watch us trying to figure out how to ride on the dirt. Susan gave us tips, it's not her fault! LOL. I think we all hit the same patch of sand on the same hill and had to get off the bikes. And we kept thinking "we have to go back out this way?"
Dawn and Diana - walking our bikes down to a spot to rest them while we enjoyed the scenery.
Them bikes were tired, you know. LOL
We tried to forget about the ride back out while we enjoyed the scenery at the midpoint of the ride. Supposedly you could get a better picture if you ventured into the stream. We let Susan demonstrate that for us...and then being the good sport that she is, she also pretended to fall so we could take a picture!
Finally there was no more stalling and we had to climb back out. My Mom told me she was sure I was going to have to ride ahead and get the car. I tried to act like that wasn't a problem, but really... I wondered how I was going to get to the car!! Susan assured us we were going to do great. We got on our bikes and started on the crazy dirt road and a few minutes later we were back on pavement. Wait, was that really the road we came in on? How did it get so easy?
We had a couple of little climbs on the way back to the store, but we took it slow and easy and I am happy to say...nobody had to go fetch the car! We all rode in together. And truthfully...I like the hills... you need to work a little bit to feel like you earned the downhill. (I know, I'm sick!)
Susan was a great guide! She knows what she's doing and while we may have doubted our abilities, I could tell she was paying attention to us and knew we were fine. She knew when to be encouraging and when to let us work through it ourselves. She offered cycling tips along the way and made the whole experience absolutely wonderful!!!! In fact my Mom thanked Susan for her patience at the end of the ride and now Susan's bike has a name!! (It was nameless and looking for a name) The shop is going to stencil "Patience" on her bike. I can't think of a better name because if you know us... you know that we can be a crazy handful. LOL! You need a lot of patience to deal with our humor.
I am looking forward to the next time we can plan a trip to Sedona because there are a few more tours I'd like to try! (And for the record. I am not nervous, nor am I afraid of traffic. I'm from California, you know...)
Lisa, Candace, Dawn and Diana
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