Holiday in Moab/Fruita

Westie said:

Could you guys give me some help, info, names or contacts
to get me started with planning this?

I spend a fair amount of time on rec.travel.europe, since
planning my trip there last summer. You can get a lot of
good input from NGs. Work up the places you want to ride and
things you want to see, then post it for inputs.

As with Europe, there are low-cost regional carriers in the
US that can take you between cities at a fairly reasonable
cost (as long as you book early). Southwest.com will
probably be your best bet. You'll no doubt be flying into a
west-coast city anyway (from New Zealand, right?). The
downside is that they'll all charge you a ~$50 fee for
checking your bike.

You could consider flying into San Francisco or Los Angeles
if you wanted to take in some West-coast riding, prior to
heading inward (there appears to be some nice riding in San
Diego, a couple hours drive from LA). You'll be in a fog for
a few days anyway from the jetlag. I'm not sure how
different Northern California would be from NZ. Its possible
to drive between these locations, but each leg will be a
full day drive.

Otherwise you could just head to Salt Lake City, or Denver,
or even make a trip starting in Phoenix and heading north,
passing by the Grand Canyon and maybe Las Vegas (though
that's probably a bit out of the way). There are a number of
fun rides on that route.

It will be very hot already in some of those locations. Some
of the locals can give you specifics, but my guess is you'll
only want to ride in the mornings.

Quoted message said:

Where can I find out details about accommodation and
riding? Hell, I'm not even sure about exact locations!
Guides? Or DIY?

Accomodations are pretty easy to line up on the web. If
you're more concerned about money than ameneties, you
could camp or stay in cheap motels that are generally
easy to find.

As long as you have your areas figured out, you can get
suggestions, directions & other info from LBSs. I wouldn't
bother with guides, and I certainly wouldn't recommend gaggle-
group rides.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail
address, at least)

BB said:

Westie said:

Could you guys give me some help, info, names or contacts
to get me started with planning this?

I spend a fair amount of time on rec.travel.europe, since
planning my trip there last summer. You can get a lot of
good input from NGs. Work up the places you want to ride
and things you want to see, then post it for inputs.

As with Europe, there are low-cost regional carriers in
the US that can take you between cities at a fairly
reasonable cost (as long as you book early). Southwest.com
will probably be your best bet. You'll no doubt be flying
into a west-coast city anyway (from New Zealand, right?).
The downside is that they'll all charge you a ~$50 fee for
checking your bike.

You could consider flying into San Francisco or Los
Angeles if you wanted to take in some West-coast riding,
prior to heading inward (there appears to be some nice
riding in San Diego, a couple hours drive from LA). You'll
be in a fog for a few days anyway from the jetlag. I'm not
sure how different Northern California would be from NZ.
Its possible to drive between these locations, but each
leg will be a full day drive.

Otherwise you could just head to Salt Lake City, or
Denver, or even make a trip starting in Phoenix and
heading north, passing by the Grand Canyon and maybe Las
Vegas (though that's probably a bit out of the way). There
are a number of fun rides on that route.

It will be very hot already in some of those locations.
Some of the locals can give you specifics, but my guess is
you'll only want to ride in the mornings.

Quoted message said:

Where can I find out details about accommodation and
riding? Hell, I'm not even sure about exact locations!
Guides? Or DIY?

Accomodations are pretty easy to line up on the web. If
you're more concerned about money than ameneties, you
could camp or stay in cheap motels that are generally easy
to find.

As long as you have your areas figured out, you can get
suggestions, directions & other info from LBSs. I wouldn't
bother with guides, and I certainly wouldn't recommend gaggle-
group rides.

OK. I knew it would be hot in some of the places that I was
interested in riding but I hadn't realised just how hot it
would be. I could leave it later, and it definitely sounds
like later is a good idea.

I'm reasonably used to driving to locations, staying in
budget accommodation (maybe even camping) and checking with
the LBS for local info. I guess that side of things is the
same anywhere in the world.

I'm not sure if I'll bring my bike yet. I'm toying with the
various options of hiring or buying as I go, or maybe
exporting a beater and buying something decent once I get
there. I'll google the group discussions on that one.

Anyway, lots to check out. No doubt you'll see other posts
from me about this. Thanks.
--
Westie (Replace 'invalid' with 'yahoo' when replying.)

Westie said:

OK. I knew it would be hot in some of the places that I
was interested in riding but I hadn't realised just how
hot it would be. I could leave it later, and it definitely
sounds like later is a good idea.

I'm reasonably used to driving to locations, staying in
budget accommodation (maybe even camping) and checking
with the LBS for local info. I guess that side of things
is the same anywhere in the world.

I'm not sure if I'll bring my bike yet. I'm toying with
the various options of hiring or buying as I go, or maybe
exporting a beater and buying something decent once I get
there. I'll google the group discussions on that one.

Anyway, lots to check out. No doubt you'll see other posts
from me about this. Thanks.

Salida, Gunnison, Crested Butte are all fairly cool relative
to a lot of the US that time of year (of course they are,
they're all about 7000 feet MSL). A lifetime of trails to
ride in the region. My LBS
absolutebikes.comhome.htmlOpen ↗ has some decent
rentals.

Shawn