Dixie First Impressions

Written by  //  June 28, 2010  //  Bike  //  5 Comments

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When the feeling in my hands returns, I’ll have more to write. But for now, some impressions:

The Dixie Lite is horribly, horribly named. There is nothing “lite” about it. Nothing.

Utah is home to some incredible, vast, enormous terrain. I already knew that. But still. It’s fantastic.

I don’t think I’ll need to ride the Virgin River Rim Trail for a long, long time.

Thunder Mountain, on the other hand, I’d ride again today.

The Panguitch Lake General Store was Heaven on Earth for 20 minutes.

The Spruce “trail” is more obstacle course than trail. 3.5 miles took 90 minutes. About 10 of those were on the bike.

My feet hurt.

The full moon on Saturday night was bright enough to ride by without lights.

The sunset, and then the sunrise at Thunder Mountain was worth the 90 miles I rode to see them.

The sideways glances I got from tourists at the various outposts were priceless.

Nothing, and I mean nothing is better than a cold mountain stream.

Except for red cream soda. And a snickers bar. And a turkey sandwich the size of my head.

Snaking singletrack through aspen forests might just be mountain bike nirvana. Even at mile 165.

Would I do it again? Ask me later.

Related posts:

  1. The Dixie Lite: Part One
  2. The Dixie Lite: Part Two
  3. The 24 Hours of Moab: Impressions
  4. The Dixie Lite: Gear
  5. Dixie Focus

About the Author

Grizzly Adam is the author of Mythical and Tangible: Tales of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Singletrack. He is also a frequent contributor to Cycling Utah and XXC Magazine. He spends his free time chasing the advice of Ben Franklin, that is, trying to "write something worth reading, or do something worth writing about."

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5 Comments on "Dixie First Impressions"

  1. SirenMary June 28, 2010 at 12:26 pm ·

    Nice! Can’t wait to read more.

  2. Greg June 28, 2010 at 1:10 pm ·

    Sounds like an epic mountain bike ride: Equal amounts of pain and pleasure.

    But of course, each one massively magnified due to the number of miles ridden.

  3. 8th white tag June 28, 2010 at 1:34 pm ·

    Please tell me you got some funny looks at the Panguitch Lake General store…We stopped there during the RRAMU last year and if looks could kill…..

    • Grizzly Adam June 28, 2010 at 1:45 pm ·

      The guy behind the counter asked me if there was any good mountain biking in the area.

  4. Brandon June 28, 2010 at 2:11 pm ·

    Man, that sounds like a journey for the ages………..looking forward to hearing more about it.

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