I’m a former lurker finally getting around to posting. Will be heading to Salt Lake City for a conference in three weeks and am looking for recommendations for road or mountain bike rental and rides of approx 3 hour duration within striking distance of the convention center. I’ve already found Canyon Sports web page, but they are a bit far from the downtown convention center area. Thanks in advance for any help.
Now I should introduce myself. I’m a 43 year old who’s been doing starting my fourth year of triathlon. I’m a mechanical engineer, so love to do calculations of geometry, gearing, etc. and keep a detailed log of training on a spreadsheet using Dan’s “point” system. I’ve been lurking here for at least 1.5 years and have learned lots of great stuf. I built up a '98 QR kilo frame with Ultegra components collected on ebay and rec.bicycles.marketplace for last year’s racing season. Have completed multiple sprint tri’s and did the half Pineman last fall.
I have four children, and my teenage girls swim better than I do without even training. A couple of the kids (the 9 year old boy and the 13 year old girl) plan to do a youth tri later this summer. Hoping to get at least one of them hooked.
They are a nice little shop in the lower avenues, pretty darn close to downtown. Of course they can also recommend rides. If you’re up for a road->trail adventure, City Creek canyon is easily accessible from downtown - and closed to traffic every other day (check at the bike shop). It’s an arduous climb up the avenues, then a few miles of winding road climb to the top of the canyon, then trails from there - even over to Bountiful canyon for a LONG ride home…
You can also put the bike on many of the buses (front rack) and hitch a cheap ride up into the Cottonwood canyons. From there, a tramride to the top of Snowbird sets you up for an incredibly scenic and easy (or scary, if you’re the type) ride down and around the incredible ski slopes.
http://www.guthriebicycle.com - full-service bike shop, offers rentals, totally downtown, a short walk from the conference center. Used to be my LBS, when I lived in SLC. Crap website.
http://www.wasatchtouring.com/mtnbiker.html - great small shop, really all about mountaineering so no roadie stuff, a long (eh, 6 blocks) but pleasant walk from downtown. Pretty informative website!
Try cyclingutah.com. The closest shops to downtown are Guthries (www.guthriebicycle.com), Wasatch Touring (www.wasatchtouring.com), Wild Rose (www.wildrosesports.com), and Contender (www.contenderbicycles.com). I dont know who rents, so you’ll want to call around. Trails…
If you head to the University of Utah and park near Red Butte Gardens (just east of the U) (www.redbuttegarden.org) you’ll be hooked up. Very popular Mtn. biking area. I’d show you around but I dont mtn. bike. Let me know if you have other questions.