Mountain Biking and Adventures in St. George

For months, I had been seeking pure, fun, mountain biking. It eluded me. All I wanted was smooth, flowy goodness – more enjoyment, less stress. Two places gave me that sheer, infectious joy: Fruita, Colorado and St. George, Utah. 

let’s take A quick trip back in time to mid-october: Fruita, Colorado 

In between our time at Moab, we took a mini trip to Fruita, the home of some incredible mountain biking. My favorite trail was called PBR: Pumps, bumps, and rollers. On our first day, I rode thirteen miles, looping my favorite trails and gaining confidence each time around. However, as much I liked it, I couldn’t compete with Colin that day – that man did who knows how many loops on who knows how many trails. All I know is he did 25 miles and I gave a lot of shuttle rides. The next day, he rode another 8 miles gaining 1,000 feet (rest day for me). The day after that, we rode PBR again and again and Rustler’s Loop, another new favorite. To say that Fruita opened my eyes to mountain biking would be an understatement. I LOVED it. I absolutely cannot wait to go back and tear up those trails. 

mountain biking fruita
We were having so much fun riding we forgot to take pictures.

When we went mountain biking in St. George on November 3, that same feeling hit me all over again. I was up, I was down, I was pumping, I was jumping (well, a little). It felt incredible. I worked hard to get up some steep sections and then I went down them just the same (so brave). Then, when Colin and I were half a mile from the trailhead, I realized my phone was gone. We just rode eleven miles. It could have been anywhere.

Thankfully (or not?), I had taken two larger falls in the last five miles; that must have been where my phone dislodged itself. So, we began retracing our route. Essentially, we made it all the way to the beginning and we found nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Frustrated and thoroughly exhausted (we had ridden over 20 miles by this point with 1,400 feet elevation gain), we made our way back to the van. Thankfully, a wonderful man had found my phone (right where I thought it would be) and waited for us in the parking lot. I was ecstatic – and to make things even better, we were meeting up with my parents that very afternoon!

mountain biking

My folks were in town for just a day or two but we made the most of our short time together and visited the Red Hills Desert Garden and Snow Canyon State Park. We saw Johnson’s Arch, hiked to a slot canyon, and enjoyed some tasty food (and drinks!) in town. 

snow canyon state park
Johnson’s Arch
sangria margarita
Only the best sangria margarita known to man. Or woman. And that woman is ME.
Slot Canyon and Desert Garden.

Up next: St. George was our last stop in Utah before driving on to Red Rock National Conservation Area just outside Vegas. Now that we had thoroughly exhausted our mountain biking muscles, it was time to put our climbing muscles to good use!

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