Carfree Mountain Bikers
 

I'm not carfree, but the town I moved to last year (Flagstaff) is very well set up to live a carfree lifestyle. The area has a lot of excellent off road riding, from networks of logging roads for mild rides to intensely technical singletrack. Am finding myself doing most of my mountain biking now right from the house, whereas in earlier years the MTB usually got pitched in the car to be taken somewhere.

it's getting to be more and more of a slog,though, to get my Gary Fisher dual suspension mountain bike all the miles I need to go to get to the trailheads as my radius of carfree mountain biking expands. It's a great bike for downhill and isn't a bad climber, but it's really slow on the road. I'm thinking now that a lighter hardtail would be a better overall choice for carfree mountain biking.

Just curious- how many of you carfree folks like to hit the singletrack, and if so, what sort of bike are you thrashing along on the trails?

I think you're right. I often ride a hardtail or rigid MTB to trails that are 5 to 20 miles outside the city, ride on the trails for a couple hours, and then turn around and ride home. It's a lot of fun, especially if you stay well nourished. We usually take a picnic lunch in our backpacks, and often stop at a restaurant to eat another meal before we get home. All that riding can make you hungry!

I ride a Hunter 29er, its a capable bike for most things.

I ride up the logging roads in my area on either bike, but I haven't ridden the single track trails at the Black Rock Mountain Bike Area, though I've ridden through there. A couple of Saturdays ago I found a road there that is gated off in Falls City so I don't have to put up with any traffic.

This thread reminded me of the Frazz cartoon (which I can't find) where Frazz and a friend are driving to some area to ride their mountain bikes. The kid asks "You're driving 50 miles to ride your bike?" and without paying attention to Frazz's explanation, goes on to add "I have to get home and help my mom bake cookies for her weight watchers' meeting."