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
http://www.absolutebikes.com/home.html has some decent rentals.

Shawn