Bozeman riding

Hey hey, anyone w/ some Bozeman 411...

I'm heading up there next week to get married, but inbetween and after the craziness I will NEED to be riding my bikes.
Any suggestions for some good trail riding? I don't need to be doing any epics, more interested in some of the "daily" ride/afterwork kind of stuff...2 hour-ish.

I'll have both my trail and DH bike and plan on hitting Big Sky (probably after the wedding 8/7, 8/8) but I was wondering if there are any shuttles that are ok for a big bike in the area. PM me if you want to keep it on the DL.

Is there a good guide book or map I should pick up that could help out while I'm in the area?

Does Bozeman have DJs?

Oh yeah, if anyone in town happens to have or know of a beater tandem, I'd be interested in renting it for a day too.

Thanks, Joe

flowtron, congrats on tying the knot. I would pm cowdog. He is an avid biker and lives in Bozeman. He will point you towards the right trails.

I've biked all over the West and lived in Bozeman for about 13 years. Honestly, Overall, Bozeman is pretty damn average for trails. Also, there's no dirt jumps, and no real shuttles. I've heard good things about Big Sky lift-served but never been.

The best trail, which might be closed to bikers soon, is Emerald lake. Head south of town on 19th. It will curve west (near the mountains) and a couple miles after the curve is a big sign for Hyalite area. Go left and up there for many miles, past the lake after it turns to dirt road, until where the road splits. Head left. It dead ends into the parking lot. It is an out and back ride, you can't get lost.

Doesn't your wife know some good trails? History Rock, etc.

Summit Bike and Ski is on Grand Ave, a half a block south of the main street right downtown. Brad, Aaron, and Steve will help you out, mention my name, (not that you will get anywhere with that) but they have maps there and I know them well.

A downhilling buddy of mine stopped Big Sky for a day during a norba trip, probably Idaho, and said it was pretty fun. More cruiser than jaw chattering dh but lots of nice berms and roller jump stuff. Sounded like you could easily get away with your 575 there.

There is a book called i think 'fat trax bozeman' should be available from just about any bike store in the area. It covers most of the mountain bike rides in the area. Lots of rides around here are 'suffer on a fire road for 10 miles up hill breathing dust and baking in the sun followed by 5 miles of fun single track downhill'. I suppose anything like that could be done as a car shuttle, but nothing is especially technical. Maybe Leverich Canyon from Hyalite?

I only rode Big Sky once, bring pads and bulletproof clothes. that Big Sky shale that rips your skis apart in the winter is still there in the summer.

Congrats on tying the knot!

by the way, are you getting your wedding catered? my wife runs a catering company (Custom Dining Experiences), maybe she is doing yours.

Cool, thanks guys. Nora has mentioned Emerald Lake, gonna have to check that out. Any other good recomendations that I could pursue in the book? Whats out by Spring Creek or Spring Hill?

Shuttles don't have to be technical, I'm thinking more of something I could bring some not so hardcore riders on that they could have fun riding w/out a climbing sufferfest.

Fez, I am lucky enough to have my future mom-in-law handle most of the logistics so I'm not sure of the caterer. Its agust 5th @ Pincus' house.

Cool flowtron, i just emailed my wife to see if she is doing that event.

Near spring hill you will mostly be riding the west slope of the bridgers, rides in that area include sypes canyon and cottonwood canyon (note: there are two cottonwood canyons in the bozeman area, one in the gallatins (?) and one in the bridgers). Both sypes and the bridger cottonwood are pretty steep single track up and backs. If you want you can hook into the bridger foothill trail and come out at the M. the foothill trail can be pretty technical. For a mellower car shuttle in that area you can drive up either side of flathead pass and ride the road back down. you will need high clearance for that road though. Its a pretty mellow mountain bike ride, but not an especially mellow drive.

Sypes Canyon to Cottonwood would be good, but it's kind of a bitch of a climb. The downhill is great, and Cottonwood ends above Spring Hill. You could have someone drop you off at the Sypes trailhead (there are signs to it on Springhill Road).....they could continue on to Spring Hill (I'm presuming they'd be going to the Spring Hill Wedding Pavilion Thingy) and you could bike from the bottom of Cottonwood after the ride is done to the wedding area...or her house if she lives out there. Also look for signs for Truman Gulch on the road to Spring Hill, a good out-and-back ride with a nice brutal uphill too. You could do Sypes out-and-back as another option. Just turn back when it splits....left goes to Cottonwood and right goes to the bottom of the M....yet another option.

I don't know anyone who shuttles in Bozeman, it's not very practical. The best one would be up Olson Creek. It's a mellow-ish downhill, and you can eliminate a 3 mile dirt-road uphill and 6 mile road ride by shuttling. But you still need to climb a little bit. It's not hard to navigate but it would be easier to have a map for that one. It's on the other side of the Bridgers from Springhill (actually it's in the Bangtail Mountains on the right side of the road), maybe 10 miles from downtown. Without a shuttle it's maybe 2 hours?

Another ride is Stone Creek, up the same highway, also on the right, that goes to Bridger but a few miles before Olson. Just drive up it until it dead-ends into the parking lot and start climbing up the singletrack on your left. Turn around at the top or whenever you feel like it, I like that ride. A good short-ish ride close to town.

I'll second the Emerald ride. but don't stop at emerald, go up to heather. another nice lake and the downhill to emerald is fun.