Cactus, Antelope & the Spirit of Woody Guthrie
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| Double-track & small rolling hills |
The folks at the bike shop told
me that to get to any of the mountain biking near Laramie, you had to drive to
the trailhead.
I remember from my time living
here “back in the day” that there was a trail we used to ride from town called Coyote Canyon. When I asked about it, the bike shop staff told me that it is and has
always been private property and discouraged me from riding it. Being a little
bit rebellious (And really wanting to go on a ride without driving to a
trailhead!) I set out to find it.
What awaited me was a very
pleasant surprise of double track, single-track and rocky, rolling terrain. It
seemed endless and I ended up riding here three days in the course of my week-long stay
in Laramie.
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| Very cool rocky terrain. Wyoming slickrock? |
As someone with a bad sense of direction, I felt very comfortable riding here. A maze of ride-able terrain went off in every direction but there were several landmarks in the distance and keeping them in sight helped.
One
very cool part of the ride was this rocky expanse I came across. I have
never ridden anything like it. Some folks call it slickrock but it was
rather lumpy and I imagine slickrock to be slicker.
Whether
it was true slickrock, Wyoming slickrock or something else, it was fun
to ride and gave the area a very exploratory feel. I came across several
sections of rock like this during my three days of riding here and in
some spots it was wide enough that I couldn’t see across it. I just
assumed that some sort of trail continued on the other side and it
always did.
I would highly encourage any avid mountain biker to check out this terrain. To avoid pissing off the locals I won’t give too much information but just head to the edge of Laramie, look for rolling hills and get riding. A few landmark should be obvious.
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| An example of some of the rocks and single-track |
To address the trespassing element of the ride, it was very questionable if I was actually trespassing. At the edge of town, in a newer neighbor near some recycling bins, a double-track headed off in the distance. There was no signage of any kind so I assumed (Or naively convinced myself) I was fine. Eventually there was a fence with a “No Trespassing” sign on it so I told myself that as long as I didn’t cross the fence everything was okay.
I couldn’t stop thinking of a line in a Woody Guthrie song… “As I went walking biking I saw a sign there. And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." But on the other side it didn't say nothing. That side was made for you and me.”
Remember this when you ride Coyote Canyon.
As seen along the trail...
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| Ride like an antelope out of control |
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| Cool rocky terrain right at the edge of town |
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More Posts About Laramie, Wyoming
Keep this on the down-lo. Don't want to attract a lot of greenies to sweet Laramie!
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