Dreamride LLC
Moab Mountain Bike Guides

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January 9, 2009. Just yesterday Miki Bridgers, Dreamride co-owner, visited Bureau of Land Management offices to renew our commercial permits, settle up payments for the past year's land use, and to make sure those in charge of our account understand additional areas added to our permit for the coming year. Yes, we offer more rides in the Moab area than anyone, but the number just grew to include at least another 75 miles of trail. Everyone should know that the Bureau of Land Management commercial use officer said that Dreamride has a "flawless record and the best reputation of any tour company," and is considered the premier example of an environmental, high quality commercial tour operator. We hear this each and every year, even from our competition, but rarely is this publicized: Dreamride is the only Moab tour company that has never recieved a reprimand or fine for any reason whatsoever. With the BLM, we began with making the right impression when Dreamride was the first and only tour company to receive an original permit without any delay whatsoever. This was due to the work of Lee Bridgers, company owner, who wrote grants for universities and worked in the film location business prior to the guiding business. Our original application in 1996 was so thorough that absolutely no BLM office research was necessary, saving the federal government money and fostering a relationship with land management that allows us to offer rides that others simply cannot. Lee even did his own environmental impact study for the original permit application. In 2008 every tour company in Moab, except Dreamride, was sited for one illegality or another and we know of at least one guide that ended up in jail, leaving his group alone on the trail to fend for themselves as he was carted off by the Sheriff. Most fines were levied directly to guides who took clients off-trail, were rude to law enforcement requesting credentials, or they simply lied about their qualifications. One of the guides who was fined said he once guided for Dreamride to get his job, mentioning this directly to the ranger who ticketed him. Not only had we never even heard of him, the company in question never called us to check up on him, either. If you are comparing services, remember Dreamride has NEVER received a reprimand or fine in all of our 13 years in business, something others receive on a monthly basis. Why are we so clean? Because we are straight-up with everyone, sacrifice profits for safety, painstakingly prepare, uphold the quality of our services and fight for the environment. Our guides are mature, polite, highly skilled, trained by Lee Bridgers personally and, in most cases, overly qualified and highly educated. This is not to say that guides for other tour companies cannot be well mannered and smart, but chances are the company they work for hired them by accident. We ONLY hire the best people we can find. We go through about three or four assistant-trainees a year that never make the cut. And, if anyone gets hurt on a ride, and we feel the guide remotely responsible, we fire the guide. This is why our staff is small and the people who work for us are proud to do so. Bruce Condi said it best, "The reasons I guide for you is that you know how to do it right and your clients are the best people."

Mature guides who are actually hardcore riders who focus on the environment and safety? What a concept!
          I was alone, twenty feet from the bike rack in the middle of nowhere, wearing red, sitting under a tree behind a low pile of rocks, sipping from my water pack, when I began to hear a shrill voice growing closer, "my sister's little girl . . . until . . . cancer . . . (garbled) . . . she was four years . . . so sick that she had to stay in the hospital for months, but she is just fine now. She had brain surgery and one leg is shorter than the other one, and she has some learning disabilities because of the fight with the cancer, but she is perfectly fine now. She is such a great kid. Such a great girl. My boy friend and I are staying together, uh, and, . . . and we want to have babies and all that, and I want to have a baby, too, some day, . . . . but we are not ready right now, but we plan on it. If it is a girl, I am going to name it after my aunt. Do you want an energy bar? I have a chocolate, a chocolate chip and a berry . . ."
           Another depressing scene unfolded. Sad stories of college, family tragedies, boyfriends with herpes, and, "The berry is my favorite flavor." why do companies in town hire guides like this? Money. They are cheap. Our guides wouldn't work for any other tour company in town for good reason. We pay them more. Moab draws clueless wannabes. These "guides" are simply slinging burgers out of a bike shop that looks like a McDonald's. They got everyone in their group and they will take out as many as they can and lump together weekend warriors-on-a-budget, grandmas in a helmet, cellulite never-been-on-a-mountain-bike, and Dr. Liebling's children he could not stand to be. Bottom feeding tour companies scatter sunburned white people over five miles of trail as one by one the grannies, fatties and red-faced kids give out in the heat and are left to fend for themselves sitting on crushed crytobiotic soil in the shade of a tiny juniper tree with a Cliff Bar and a bottle of water. The name might be different, but it is always the same company, same bikes, same van, same run of pitiful tourists, same food, but a DIFFERENT GUIDE every damn time!
           What is the worst? It's hard to decide, but recently, while doing the same sort of thing, accompanying a group guided by one of our staff, a fellow leading another commercial group of people spotted us in the distance. With his group of six or seven riders trailing behind him he sprinted across a huge section of crytobiotic soil crust to ask us where the trail connected from here. Just another Main Street day tour provider in Moab. This sort of thing always reinforces pride in our clients for having been smart enough to search us out and pay the pitiful few extra bucks for a real mountain bike guide over 40, a longterm Moab resident, smart as a whip and part of the landscape, not a hack with a driver's license between semesters on daddy's dole.
           Some people think mountain bike guiding is "romantic," but please take a look at the depressing job description for those "adventure" companies; pack the support vehicle, unpack the support vehicles (the vehicles are always better than the guides, because the company has money), clean chemical toilets, cook beans, set up tents, drive the sag wagon (always needed), wait for the group, watch the water (careful, don't drink from the wrong 5 gallon tank while you are dealing with rehydration in the dark). As a guide for most bike tour companies in Moab, you will be lucky if you get to "pace" inexperienced riders in blue jeans and tennis shoes on funky Chinese bikes with big important American names on the same old dirt road in a crowded national park, and maybe have sex with a client behind a rock (yes--it could happen to you). Think I am being facetious? Yea, but not without telling the absolute truth.
           Completely sincere and elitist,
          Lee Bridgers

     "If you're looking for a guide and are willing to pay top dollar for top-dollar services, give Lee Bridgers a call at Dreamride. Lee pioneered many of the area's best rides and shares them only with elite mountain bikers who appreciate highly customized service: you'll eat in his house, listen to him play the guitar, and try to keep up as he shows you secrets." ~ Outside Magazine

Dreamride founder/co-owner LEE BRIDGERS guides standard rides occasionally, focuses mostly on invitationals, skills clinics and is available as a private guide as part of SUPER ELITE custom ride series. Lee leads or oversees packages away from Moab in Hawaii, San Francisco and the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Lee is designer and builder of our Dreamride mountain bikes. Riding and tinkering with bicycles off-road since the 1950's, he has supported a passionate cycling hobbie for thirty years by playing music and teaching fine art film production in some of the best mountain biking areas of the country. Lee's San Francisco Art Institute and University of Colorado film classes were notorious for uniquely funny and touching personal films, camera-laden mountain bike rides, wheelie drops off of lab tables in adjacent departments, and trips to Moab, Utah to "shoot film." Lee's Moab trailguide, MOUNTAIN BIKING MOAB, documents 40 trails, Moab's history and local color, as well as twists and turns on his journey to Mecca. Lee has edited and provided photographs for other guidebooks and for other authors. And yes, Lee is a musician. He writes songs as DK Bridger. There is a somewhat sound isolated music room in the bowels of the Dreamride house, so visiting musicians are more than welcome to bring instruments. Click on SHORT STORIES AND ARTICLES for uncensored writing samples. For more information on Lee go to the BIO, TRAVEL SERVICES, and CURRICULUM VITAE.

Click on the image above for free samples of Lee (Dink) Bridgers' music. All selections are copyrighted by Lee Bridgers 1972-2006. It is forbidden to reproduce, reprint, copy or publish any audio or visual materials from this website without the written, signed consent of Lee Bridgers and Dreamride LLC.

AUDIO/VIDEO ~ MUSICAL NATURE

"There are trail guides; and then there's the real deal." ~ Bike Magazine "This guide is setting a new standard for guidebooks. Lee Bridgers' first-hand accounts give the reader a sense that they have some behind-the-scenes information about Moab." ~ Brian Fiske, Senior Editor of Mountain Bike Magazine

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Miki Bridgers co-owns Dreamride, personally books all packages, leads Moab area hikes, and assists with families, Elite level bookings and Invitationals. Miki worked as a professional herbalist for twenty years before moving to Moab, is an amazing cook and multi-lingual. Miki ran Lin Ottinger's Moab Rock Shop and booked for Ottinger's Land Tours for three years. She is quite good at mineral identification and rock art theme hikes, but her knowledge of herbs is what people appreciate most. Even Navajo elders find Miki's knowledge of herbs helpful. Miki is Belgian, speaking fluent Flemish and Dutch. She knows what you are saying in German, French, so watch out.      "You can't get this kind of food anywhere! It is incredibly delicious, but what is really special about Miki's cooking is how it makes you feel, so happy, so strong and healthy. I'll back Miki in her own restaurant if she moves to New York." ~ David Karmelli, Damoka Corporation, New York City      "One of the reasons that Lois and I want to do this Hawaii trip with you both is your absolute joy for doing anything. I never felt so good as when I was in Moab. You both have a lot to do with that. Most important was the concern you showed for Lois, who was suffering through a medical problem. We can't think of two nicer or better people to spend our quality time with." ~Bruce Jacobs, New Jersey

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Joachim Maehner has been with Dreamride for more than a decade. If you have been with us before you will remember Jo as the cut German fellow who launches rocks into outerspace with his front wheel. Once a top Cycle Ball player in Germany (the picture is a good demo--with the correct bike and ball for the sport), Jo moved to Moab in 1996 for a beautiufl woman and the natural beauty surrounding us. He began working and guiding here as part of the Marlboro Team. Jo's slow speed skills, balance and hoping technique are extraordinary due to his background in Cycle Ball. His specialty is the Moab Slickrock Bike Trail where he demonstrates unique and useful slow speed skills for clients fit and skilled enough for us to allow him to take you there. Just don't follow Jo when he tells you not to! If you want a fluent German speaking guide who knows Moab, here he is. Jo is a gentleman guide with experience that brings a calm and duty to the job that is truly unique and appreciated. Jo guides on a Dreamride Stud Muffin play bike hardtail. Jo is a contractor in Moab and loves long motorcycle trips into Mexico and along the west coast, so reserve Jo far in advance if you want to guarantee his company.

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Bruce Condi joined our staff in 2006 and began guiding parties in 2007. Bruce's day job is with the National Park Service, where he and his wife work as Biological Science Technicians monitoring plant life in remote areas. Bruce has performed this kind of work in Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Dinosaur National Monument, Natural Bridges, and other park and monument lands. In conjunction with Miki, our hiking guide and company co-owner who is a professional herbalist, you can get a real education in identifying and understanding uses for native and introduced plant life in the Moab area. Bruce is well-versed in current geological mapping and is very helpful in identifying individual layers and specific fossils and plants found in each. Due to his work for the park service and other land agencies that require he hike and camp in remote areas far away from civilization, his services must be co-ordinated with his Park Service job during peak season. As a result of that job, Bruce is a good navigator. Bruce's mellow attitude, his knowledge of trail systems in and around Moab and his drive to ride his bike as much as possible make him a perfect fit at Dreamride. Bruce is a quiet man by nature, so ask questions. Otherwise, Bruce will be attentive to your needs without much verbal interchange (something you may find quite refreshing).

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Mitch Atkins currently works for a bicycle parts manufacturer in Grand Junction. For a while Mitch was guiding regularly in Moab, but now due to family responsibilities (he has four small kids), he is only available as Lee's assistant on high end trips reserved far in advance. He has worked as a real estate appraiser, wine importer, contractor and waiter. We have hired three waiters over our thirteen years of business. Mitch has amazingly gracious social skills, but he also has serious bike skills. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas in Austin and has traveled extensively in Europe. His warm personality, smart and refined finesse mountain bike skills and thorough knowledge of what it takes to make people smile.

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Sam Morris has been with us for many years now. Sam is our native guide on the Navajo Reservation where we find the best remote and wild technical slickrock cycling in the west. We are the only tour company we know of with a Navajo mountain bike guide living on the rez. Once a BMX world champion and still a very talented rider, Sam is not only a huge resource as a cycling guide, but he also as a cultural interpreter and logistics assistant. Sam is an educated, trained and accomplished musician--a rock drummer who counts as his friends many of the rock stars he worshipped as a kid. His band opened for KISS just last year and he is so appreciated by other musicians that he rarely has to pay for studio time or rent in Los Angeles. Sam's family is our family (Lee was adopted by Sam's mom) and their help with trips on the rez makes magic happen. The family home of Lukachukai, Arizona has mountains and slickrock nearby, and cultural experiences that go far beyond expectations. Sam's extended family assist. Laws forbid the use of motorized vehicles off road on the rez, a welcome situation where dangers of coming into contact with idiots off-road on motorcycles and ATVs has almost been completely eliminated. The possibilities for perfect riding conditions in complete solitude are almost always there. That slickrock you see Sam on is not Moab. This is Indian territory.

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Call 1 (888) MOAB UTAH in the states.
If you are calling from foreign shores the number is 435-259-6419.
FAX number is 435-259-8196.
or write to:

Dreamride
P.O. Box 1137
Moab, UT 84532

For email contact information click on:
CURRENT DREAMRIDE EMAIL ADDRESS

copyright Dreamride 1997 None of the material, written, graphics, or photographs, may be broadcast, published, re-written, re-edited, or used in any way outside of this site without the written consent of Dreamride Mountain Bike Tours and Film Services and Lee Bridgers. Use of this site signifies agreement to terms of use.

There have been visitors to this page since August 1, 1998.

In 1996 Dreamride originated a unique environmental small-groups skills-specific approach to mountain bike touring in the Mecca of the sport, Moab, Utah. We cater to the smallest private parties and set up open groups of four comprised of riders matched in skills and interests to offer more challenge and solitude. This is accomplished with better equipment, smarter guides and a thorough hard-won understanding of our craft through experience. Our small staff of mature professionals possess unique talents, skills and knowledge specific to our services. Most have been with the company for over 10 years. Our list of trails and ride options are practically bottomless. Trail(s) and guide(s) are carefully chosen to suit each group daily, as we work to share pure mountain bike thrills, beauty and solitude with a clear environmental conscience and a high level of safety. Others look to copy, but no one can duplicate our methods on the trail or in the shop. Other tour companies require a pulse from their clients. Dreamride requires passion for the sport and the environment. Dreamride is not only for cyclists who demand quality and experience. Anyone who wants to balance safety, challenge, and intellectual stimulation within the mountain biking experience of a lifetime is going to be very happy with the decision to choose Dreamride. Our uncanny knowledge of Moab geography and history comes from Dreamride's origination as a professional mountain bike film services company, specializing in location scouting, bike stunts and equipment co-ordination services for film, video, photography and print media productions and features. Lee Bridgers, Dreamride owner, first explored the Moab area from fixed wing aircraft and helicopter. Every desireable area was noted then fully explored on the ground with a Jeep and a mountain bike. From this research, Lee created maps of challenging and scenic routes, producing Moab's best guidebook and the Dreamride Tour and Equipment Company in the process. We offer much more than classic Moab trails. We hold special permit for unknown riding areas, rare sidetrips and unique fun routes through mazes of old mining roads and across slickrock. Our standard packages offer a wonderful balance of safety, thrills and levels of luxury in-town accommodations. VACATION UPGRADES are available for more flexibility in services, scheduling and activities. Additional services include bike purchase combos, food preparation, creative shuttles, night rides, road rides, rides from town, guiding by company owners, and expanded travel into Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Rides are staged from and supported by our SHOP AND TOUR OFFICE located in a quiet cul de sac next to a wildlife preserve in the center of town. Restaurants, pubs and the finest accommodations are within easy walking distance. Trails and bike paths leave from our door, heading in every direction. Leave Moab a better cyclist.
Dreamride's private skills clinics have been featured on Good Morning America and in Sunset Magazine. Don't bust the crust!
Dreamride's mountain bike vacation services began after a privately-funded study of the effects of commercial mountain biking on sub-desert ecosystems. Your safety, enjoyment and the preservation of fragile ecosystems are prime concerns. The first day of any ride series serves as a class for environmental and skills tips and an evaluation of fitness to enable our staff to tune following daily rides to abilities and interests of the individual, couple or group. Combine a vacation with purchase of the ultimate mountain bike:
Dreamride is an authorized dealer of Moots, Ventana, Pegoretti, Land Shark and Lynskey bicycle frames, all in-house manufacturers that allow us to customize every frame we sell for perfect fit and performance tuned to individual needs. We are the only bike tour company around to produce its own line of extreme high end biycles, using our experience in film stunts, years of R& D for well-known manufacturers, and guiding in Moab's hardcore environment to produce the revolutionary DREAMRIDE F-69, currently our top-dog mountain bike. Special attention goes to MOOTS BUYERS with free lodgings as part of any three day package. Custom handmade road bikes
Looking for an exotic custom road bike built by an expert? Call us. We are authorized dealers listed by Bicycling Magazine as one of the ten best cycling studios in the country. We build exclusively with frames manufactured by MOOTS, VENTANA, PEGORETTI, LYNSKEY, and MERCKX.