Cody, WY: Super Underrated Biking Town
A few weeks ago, I went to Cody, Wyoming to escape the winter riding blues out here in Stillwater County. I was aiming for the Slickrock ride out East of town. I've done it before, and although it's a short little lap, it's world class slickrock ST, and I was looking forward to getting back there.Stopped at the Absaroka Bicycle Shop. It's a nice little shop.
The dude there told me about the new trail in Cody. It was built last year. It's a flow trail, a purpose-built ST network, winding around the hills behind Beck Lake in Cody. I changed plans and headed to the lake.
When I got there, I literally couldn't open my car door because of the wind. I'm not exaggerating, It must have been 50 mph gusts, with a sustained wind of at least 20 mph scouring the high desert. Took the sheen right off the apparently bluebird day I'd been looking at all morning.
So I took my time getting ready, but it never got better. If anything, it got worse. After about an hour, I resigned myself to my windy fate, and pedaled out into the maelstrom.
World Class Desert ST
Verdict: one of the best trail networks in the area. YOU MUST GO RIDE HERE THIS SUMMER! These loops are really well done, awesome, flowy, curvy, jump-speckled ribbons of joy.
Didn't get many good pics. It was tough to stop to take them. It was so windy, that it was actually hard to stand still in places without getting blown over. And it kept freezing my fingers.
Unfortutanely, in keeping with the overly optimistic and unfortunately disappointing nature of my day, I got a nasty flat after 7.8miles. It looked like a super sharp rock sliced through the tire. Too big of a hole for sealant to work. I didn't have my tire plugs yet (ordered them after this after years of thinking about getting some), so I had no way to fix the tire. Had to walk on out, and drive the two hour drive of shame back home.
Strava ride summary here
Since then, I've been having tubeless troubles. HED Big Deal wheels are the shit, but they are very finicky when it comes to getting them set up. More on that later. . . . . .
Overall verdict: this trail is a must visit. When paired with the slickrock playground, and some of the local climbs, it should put the Cody Wyoming area on your map as a riding destination, even for people as far away as Bozeman, Billings, Cheyenne, etc. . .
See you in Cody!