# palm spring area



## p lo (Sep 26, 2002)

after Easter for the week

Mt bike or Road bike? which should i bring?


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## tete de la tour (Oct 26, 2006)

road bike. much easier the weather will be nice and more chicks to look at.


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## MTBMaven (Dec 17, 2005)

If you want to bring the MTB look into the Art Smith Trail. Never done it personally but everyone I know that has done it has loved it. Bring lots of tubes or use Stans (and still bring tubes). Lot of flats on that ride due to the cacti.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*mountain*



p lo said:


> after Easter for the week
> 
> Mt bike or Road bike? which should i bring?


I was there last spring, and checked in with a local shop about routes. They said there were far more options on a mountain bike than a road bike. Since I took my fixed gear road bike (which I've ridden double centuries on), I spent my time riding up and down the road up to the tram. The roads are fairly busy there, and not a lot of them have climbing. if you want climbing, especially, take the mountain bike. As soon as you get there, go to this shop and ask about routes or trails: http://www.socalmtb.com/shops/openshop.cgi?loc=socal&lbs=rc__18 They were very helpful.


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## MTBMaven (Dec 17, 2005)

So Cal MTB has kind of gone to hell in a hand basket. You will likely find better information on So Cal Trailriders. I found 28 posts on the Art Smith Trail on STR, link.


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## p lo (Sep 26, 2002)

*thanks*

thanks for all the advice

I guess my father-in-laws new place is actually in rancho mirage. so, close to palm springs but maybe could change the bike i bring?

pl


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## tete de la tour (Oct 26, 2006)

Fixed said:


> I was there last spring, and checked in with a local shop about routes. They said there were far more options on a mountain bike than a road bike. Since I took my fixed gear road bike (which I've ridden double centuries on), I spent my time riding up and down the road up to the tram. The roads are fairly busy there, and not a lot of them have climbing. if you want climbing, especially, take the mountain bike. As soon as you get there, go to this shop and ask about routes or trails: http://www.socalmtb.com/shops/openshop.cgi?loc=socal&lbs=rc__18 They were very helpful.



ii live here and believe me if you want climbing and streets that are not that busy I can put together a route that i do. it's about 65 miles but you can easily extend it to 85 or 100, plenty of long climbs that very from 4-6% and if you need more I have a couple that exceed 10% easily ( more like 12-16%) let me know. Rancho Mirage is actually better than Palm Springs because of less traffic and closer to better climbs if needed. if you are interested in a group ride you could check out cycleclub.com and they have some routes maps on there. This place is actually really good for cycling and training. for casual riding downtown palm springs, probably to much traffic if you are not comfy in that environment. I ride min 30 miles a day 6 days a week living out here. :thumbsup:


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## endo verendo (Nov 22, 2005)

While the road riding is good, the mtb'ing is close to epic. Just make sure you're tires are Stans'd or bring extra Slime tubes. I second Art Smith, challenging and scenic. You also might want to see if there is a group doing the epic Palm Canyon ride when you're there since there is a shuttle involved.


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## Guest (Feb 13, 2007)

You can always ride your mountain bike on the road, but not your road bike on the mountain...besides, there are a lot of elderly folks who live (and drive) out there. If you do take a road bike, keep your head on a swivel and don't let gramps sneak up on you!

Take the MTB and enjoy the desert. Watch out if it rains, since flash floods are not uncommon...Palm Canyon is a great trail!


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

Here's a link to a mountain bike route from geoLadders (note you may need to get a login, but everything is free and there's no email spam, etc.):

http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=378

And here's links to Mountain Bike Bill's rides in the area:

http://mountainbikebill.com/PalmSpringsGoatTrails.htm

http://mountainbikebill.com/PalmCanyonPinyonFlatsLoop.htm

You can find a few more on his links (left side of the page). 

If you don't mind a short drive, hit up Idyllwild also. Especially Hurkey Creek (the 24 hour course), and if you like a bit of a challenge descending, climb up Thomas Mountain and descend the Ramona Trail.

That being said, the area does have a lot of 6 lane roads with a big middle divider, so I imagine riding in the mornings on the road would be fine.


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