Where should I go on vacation to bike?

[Stumpy44]

there are some companies like Western Spirit, Rim Tours and others that specialize in MTB tours. they offer many destinations and skill levels for riding.

[twntysxthstwoodsmn]

Moab Utah  & Bend Oregon

[euroford]

Within my experience, i would absolutely 110% recommend that you choose the Winter Park/Frasier Valley out here in CO, or Moab, or BOTH.

Winter Park/Frasier Valley:  Winter Park is IMO, the best bike park in the lower 48, perhaps only eclipsed by whistler, which happens to be owned, built and maintained by the same people.  I would recommend WP over Whistler due to cost savings, easier travel (easy road trip from chicago), and less crowds.  Unless you really want gnar gnar, you'll have trouble finding WP lacking.  (if you do want gnar, you also have Keystone and Sol Vista nearby) on top of the bike park, you have literally thousands of miles of trails branching out through the Frasier Valley, into the high country of the rockies, and beyond.  I've never done it, but i know i could ride from home in Louisville (near boulder), to Winter Park, and beyond, only requiring crossing pavement, not ridding on it.  The combination of the Trestle Bike Park, and the Frasier Valley singletrack network almost certainly make it the most well developed "High Mountain Setting" biking in the country.  Numerous lodging opportunities exist at every price range, and prices are awesome in the summer.  Same goes for food.  You also have Rocky Mountain National Park and numerous other non-biking yet stoopid awesome things to do.  Even if your a 100% XC type rider, i still recommend you spend a day trying out the lift service park and hit the moderate trails (blues and greens), unless you don't actually like riding bikes, you'll have a BLAST, and you can either rent a proper DH rig, or just ride whatever bike you brought.  Lots of people ride XC bikes.

Moab:  If you've never been to Moab, you need to go.  Its one of the most insanely cool places i've ever been.  its one of those places that it almost doesn't even matter what you do there, its just freeking awesome just to be there.  Its also a town who's economy is pretty much 100% recreation based and everything revolves around Biking, Hiking, Climbing, Rivers and 4x4's.  Its also almost entirely BLM land, and almost entirely unmanaged, and if you want to get off the beaten path and into no-mans land, its really really easy to do.  I know lodging options exist, but i have never used them, and probably never will.  100% free, back country car-camping abounds.  I highly suggest you have a high clearance vehicle, then you can pretty much head down a BLM road, and go camp.  There are also a lot of marked campsites off the main road, but they fill up fast.  I've not done much biking out that way, we go to 4x4 and climb, but the biking looks absolutely phenomenal.  Call any bike shop to get the full Beta, there are also some really good trailmap guidbooks that tell you everything you need to know.  Be prepared for a harsh environment, its cold at night, insanely hot during the day, and how much water you carry is pretty much always your limiting factor.  Good food in town, and for a rest day activity i highly suggest you visit Arches National Park.

If you are ambitious, you can do both.  Moab is about another 6 hours west on i70 from Winter Park, and the scenery on that drive is a worthwhile tour in the first place.

[BULLWYE]

Whistler.
Worlds largest and best downhill mountain bike park. 
100+ miles of some of the best singletrack on the planet in the valley and surrounding areas.
Vancouver's North Shore an hour away.
(more than half of those cool photos/ads in MTB magazines are shot in this area of the world). 
Make sure you bring some good technical skills.

+1

[jshlaw]

Thanks Everyone!

[TrailJumper]

A trip I'd like to do is fly into Albuquerque, and do a loop hitting Santa Fe > Durango, CO > Moab, UT  and back. You'd get everything from alpine to hi country desert, to desert riding. Could hit 4 corners on the way back to Albuquerque too. Good for a week long trip. Probably better if you had 10 days or so.

[Hand/of/Midas]

This time of year i think Sedona might be one of the best places to hit up. Our shop just got back from a week there, and we could give you tips on where to stay and ride and so forth. Blog with Pics @ http://ridingagainstthegrain.com/ . I stayed back and ran the shop this trip though.

I have rode all over the country, and my Favs have been Bend Or, Ketchum ID, and Asheville NC.  Shoot me questions about anywhere, i geek out on everything down to what trails/campground/roads/food/beer/snakes are around the place.

I need to plan a big trip somewhere this year, i might do either Lake Tahoe, or Denver as i have a place to stay there with bikes.

[Seanbikes]

I'm looking to do a trip to Idaho and ride around the Ketchum/Sun Valley area with a stop in CO to see a former CAMBr Trailboss and possibly some other friends that have wised up and gone west.

[flywheel]

We have mountain biked in a lot of places out west, but Crested Butte is our favorite, cool old west town
and crazy Beautiful with endless MTB Trails. Also outrageous hiking and whitewater as well.

High Altitude, trails start at 95OO ft and go up over 13,000, due to snow cover....best after 4th of July.

See for your self here: http://tinyurl.com/CrestedButteMTB   Grab a beer while you watch and dream
a mountain dream 

George Pastorino
Mountain Bike Coordinator
Elmhusrt Bike Club

[SmilingBob]

Northstar for a day or two and then you can do the Flume Trail (Rim Trail) on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. You, not only get some great riding but the views of Lake Tahoe from the trail are life long memories!

[VisitRapidCity]

Have you ever considered coming to the Black Hills of South Dakota and riding our many trails?
You can see what Black Hills biking trails have to offer in this video:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtZfudAblw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqtZfudAblw</a>

[Ballickarkingofthefairies]

   Might have to send you a message this summer to show me around for a weekend

[euroford]

with a stop in CO to see a former CAMBr Trailboss and possibly some other friends that have wised up and gone west.

that sounds like a bitchin idea.

[Seanbikes]

I'm stoked, just need to get the financing in order. 

You would have been proud of Jon's chainsaw work at the garden last weekend.  He dropped a pretty big dead tree right on the money, probably the biggest tree that wasn't dropped by you.

[euroford]

I'm stoked, just need to get the financing in order. 

You would have been proud of Jon's chainsaw work at the garden last weekend.  He dropped a pretty big dead tree right on the money, probably the biggest tree that wasn't dropped by you.

Now that is awesome!  with my old 455?  I am proud to hear that he picked up that task after i left, dropping a big dead one out there is a very satisfying feeling!