mountain biking for beginners?

[fruitionmandolin]

last year was my first tellugrass adventure, needless to say i'm coming back this year and every year possible!  last year i really enjoyed taking the free gondola ride for my morning coffee and guitar jams and then riding back down for the festie, but i found myself wishing i had brought a mountain bike!

i am not an experience trail rider, so i wondered if there were trails down that i could handle?  i have tried some online research but cant seem to find difficulty ratings anywhere.

thanks to jolly old st. nick for the 4-day pass in my stocking! best present ever.

 Listening to: The Bellboys - I'll Be Here All Night

[FaceOnMars]

hey fm, Telluride is mostly up a ways then down a ways .... there's not a ton of flat or rolling trails.   If I recall, most ways down from the top of the Gondola are at least kind of difficult.

River trail is by far the easiest.

Most of the Galloping Goose trail in Illium is flat.  You might want to drive up to the Sunshine Mesa road where it hits the railroad grade, then head out to Ophir & then backtrack (mostly all flat).

Bear Creek is probably one of easier less technical trails.

You could also ride up to Bridal Veil Falls or up Tomboy road, but you'll have contend with vehicular traffic & exhaust.

[Hooch]

The river trail is the only "flat" trail in town.  And trust me...uphill in Telluride is really REALLY uphill!  I've ridden trails down from the top of the gondola and would not recommend them for the beginner.  I'll reiterate a bit of what FaceOnMars said: Tomboy road is wide but uphill, so will depend on your lungs. Bear Creek is also uphill but probably the best bet.  Bridal Veil is way out at the end of the valley, so a flat ride there then turning to dirt and going up.  The car traffic is not too bad but definitely a consideration.  Difficulty ratings are dubious at best because of the altitude.  Typically you'll pass out from lack of oxygen long before your legs get tired if you do a decent amount of biking in your normal life.

[FaceOnMars]

Hooch is probably on target in that most (if not all) ways down from gondola aren't for beginners.  The reason I say kind of is that I haven't taken my bike up there in a few years.   I once had a rule that I had to pedal up to the gondola in order to get another turn at just the gondola up then mtbking down ... the reason being is that it became too "routine" & I was getting careless & the potential for crashing/injury is big.

Another old route I used to take was from the bottom of the gondola in the Mt. Village down to town, not via boomerang (which dumps you out by the shell station), but by riding past and below The Peaks (hotel).  You'll be on a paved road to the right of a hole on one of the golf course and about a couple/few hundred yards before the end of the paved road, there should be a single track heading down to Big Billies (bottom of chondola).   That's a little sketchy, but you can always walk your bike.  Then go past Big Billies on the main road, past a few condos and such, and just before going uphill there's a road/trail to your right.  It winds through some houses, but then goes into the forest for a mile or so.  It was a mellow singletrack which basically follows the whole Coonskin ridgline down to the high way (above Lawson Hill), where you can either cross into Lawson hill (and wind your way through that neighborhood back past the Conoco) or take the highway for a quick high speed pavement run to either the river trail or paved bike path back to town.

[captain pete]

There are "beginner" trails in the Mountain Bike Park, which is located near the first stop on the Gondola (I think)- the trails were fairly soft and loose but completely ride-able for a novice, in my opinion.  Most of the other trails in the area definitely feature some burly climbs.  But, getting your heart pumping means you can have twice as much bacon tomorrow morning.

[Auntie Hope]

Another great run is from Town Park into... well.. town! There are two routes, the first being over the river and past the box office and the second goes over a wider part of the river on the car bridge into/out of Town Park. Paved roads all the way to the two (2) grocery stores, the banks (many), The Historic Sheridan Opera House and a couple of liquor stores, not to mention many other wonderful spots you'll want to visit while in Telluride!

Of course you could also go the other way and ride past the graveyard to the base of Ingram Falls, but... whatever..... 

Either way... BRING THE BIKE!

Auntie Hope