Western Spirit Cycling

It’s that time of year again where Western Spirit sells off their fleet of bikes. For this year it’s not just the mountain bikes either. It’s our entire lineup of Specilized’s incredibly popular Roubaix road bikes as well as many of our kids bikes - all which are in top notch shape.

A used bike is one of the best investments you can make. They’re watched over by our trained guides all season and babied compared to all other rentals out there. All that and at a fraction of what you would pay at retail.

After the season is over our ace mechanic goes through each and every bike with a fine toothed brush, bringing them all up to snuff before boxing them up and shipping them to your doorstep. If you’re not 100% completely psyched (which you will be) all you have to do is send it back to us within a week for a full refund.

These are the same bikes that consistently rank #1 in not only virtually all of the cycling publications, but in such non-biased periodicals as Popular Mechanics and Consumer Reports.

They’re priced to sell, so they’re going to go fast this year. Call us for more details and to reserve yours today. Or if you’re in Moab this fall, stop by to pick yours up in person and save $50!

http://www.westernspirit.com/used-specialized-mountain-bikes.html

Wondering what kind of bike you should buy next?  This video should help.
Just remember - it’s all about performance.

Wondering what the family vacation will be this summer?  Want to tread lightly - take only pictures - experience our National Parks - camp -eat delicious low impact meals - take an ecofriendly vacation?  Consider a Western Spirit Cycling bike trip.  We have all sorts of spectacular and green vacations for you this summer.  Give us a call, 800-845-2453.

It’s Friday the 13th and a great day to get out and experience some of the best road biking in the world.  Today marks the start of the three day Moab Skinny Tire Festival, an annual fundraiser to benefit cancer survivorship programs.  The Festival rides the best of the best.  There’s a ride in Arches National Park, a ride along the Colorado River corridor, and a ride to Dead Horse Point State Park.  The rides are fully supported with sag wagons, bicycle mechanics and aid stations along the way.  There’ll even be a super fantastic and truly delicious lunch for the top fundraisers catered by, yours truly, Western Spirit Cycling.  Didn’t make it this year?  Start training for next year!

This trip has been a dream of ours for quite some time. Imagine having Yellowstone National Park virtually ALL to ourselves?! Well, OK - there will be a few other visitors, but nothing like high season. We’ll be road riding through the park in late May, or perhaps September when the snows are gone, but the temps nice and cool. Yeah you might need your arm warmers and booties, but the reward is very little traffic and incredible wildlife sightings.

We’ll be staying in the grand historic hotels of the park, so hot showers after the rides are definitely part of the program. Milages range from 30 to 50 miles each day and elevations are from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. Will this be the year you do a Yellowstone National Park Bike Tour? Lets hope so!

Yeah, so it may be the middle of winter still and Independence Pass may have just gotten another 24″ of snow, but I’ve got a brand new $8,000 15lb Specialized road bike just waiting to be broken in!

While all of the above is true, the reason I’m writing about road biking in February is because the season is almost upon us. Really. Last week I rode twice. In shorts. Ok, so two days later it was snowing, but we’ve definitely turned the corner here in Moab and you can feel the sun rays becoming a little more intense as the weeks go by. This weekend is Poison Spider & Yeti Bike’s annual Spring Thaw event -which is the 1st kickoff event for the local cycling community. Organized rides, parties and more await the eager riders who give up powder skiing this time of year for some early season miles. Next up is our Skinny Tire Fest in less than a month and after that, it’s game on. Onto the professional scene we’ve got the annual Tour of Califonia starting up this weekend as well. Some of the best professional road teams in the world will converge for what’s promising to be one of the best stage races we’ve seen stateside - possibly ever. With Lance making his comeback with team Astana, and the best of team CSC coming over to compete, there’s sure to be some quality action.

Which brings me back to riding road bikes up high passes in the Rocky Mountains. Is there anything better in the whole USA? Tough question, but I know that come July, one of the funnest things you can do is be on one of our Rocky Mountain Loop road tours in the heart of Colorado’s Elk Mountains. The route was handpicked by yours truly after living in Crested Butte for eight years. It’s combines some of the most challenging climbs with some of the most beautiful scenic byways the whole state has to offer. We stay in an eclectic mix of lodging that’s comfortable and affordable but not overly pampered. The riding is first on the agenda with the wine, cheese & shopping coming in behind. Doing it in July (during Le Tour) is extra fun because every morning before riding, or every evening after riding you can tune into the Versus network for a little extra “motivation” from the guys over in France. Watching Lance do battle with the best of the rest makes you go just a little harder when you’re on your own little vision quest later that afternoon.

This year Western Spirit has one date July 13th-17th with space still available and I’m pretty sure it’s the same week the Tour de France stages go right through the Alps. There’s other dates available as well, so check with our office, but if you want a solid challenge with 4,000-7,000′ of climbing/day over 50-90 miles, then check out ourwebsite for a detailed itinerary.

Calling all road riders!  Take a memorable vacation this summer!  Check out this trip video, and be inspired to see new sites from the seat of your bike.

Well, the party is over for a while.  I was riding my road bike at lunch a few days a week all through November.  The Indian Summer just wouldn’t quit.  Until a few days ago, that is.  We have been having a big taste of winter here in Moab and the snow on the roads, and gravel being spread by the road guys is making a road ride seem less than desirable.  I don’t mind freezing my butt off on the downhills, but the added challenge of dodging rocks and snow patches puts me out of the loop!

All through November, the fall colors just kept lingering on the cottonwoods and on a breezy day, you could hear the leaves as the hit the ground.  You could watch the progression of the leaves changing color up in the La Sal Mountains as well; little patches of golden aspens viewed from below.

I’m perfectly equipped for cold rides- booties, tights, tons of fancy jackets, lobster gloves with furry lining, ear coverings, neck gaiters, I’ve got it all.  I’m just a cold wimp so I have to have to talk myself into how fun it’s going to be.  I’m always proud of myself at the end of the ride and it’s always definitely worth it.  I just have to remember to keep training for that Crater Lake Road Tour I want to do next summer.

And if all else fails, I just need to wait a few days.  Here in Moab, the winter moments don’t usually last too long.  By next week, I bet the snow will have melted, it always does.  Unless there’s another storm looming out over the Pacific……

Mountain Bikers love to eat and Western Spirit Cycling takes food seriously.
We have sophisticated coolers that keep our food fresh while traveling in
the backcountry. Would you expect to have gourmet salads, lasagna, or
brownies in the backcountry? You should when you travel with us.

Our guides are talented chefs and they have mastered the art of Dutch Oven
cooking. Don’t expect to lose weight when you come on a bike tour with Western Spirit.

We are also proud to be sponsored by Clif Bar and Bear Naked. Clif Bar has
been nurturing us with their organic goodness for years and we are
incredibly grateful. Bear Naked makes the best granola you have ever
tasted.

If you like to eat as much as you like to ride your bike a tour with Western Spirit should be on your short list of upcoming vacations.

Es gibt einige große Land in den westlichen Vereinigten Staaten, und im Gegensatz zu Europa gibt es über weite Strecken Hinterland mit Hunderten von Kilometern zwischen der Ferne ähnelt etwas einem Dorf oder einer Stadt. Dennoch gibt es Meilen und Meilen von großer Trails da draußen, die sich ideal für Mountainbiking. Zur sicheren Aufenthalt und zur Vermeidung von Verschwendung Zeit gehen in die falsche Richtung, viele Menschen gehen Mountainbike mit einem Anbieter. Western Spirit Radfahren läuft 4 bis 6 Tage Reisen durch die USA Die Führer machen köstlichen Speisen und halten das Bier kalt. Wenn Sie planen eine Reise in die USA und wollen einige großartige Reiten Check-Out die Ausflüge in www.westernspirit.com .