Moab: more biking

There is such a monumental amount of riding in Moab that sometimes it’s hard to decide what to ride. The day after the Porcupine Rim ride I thought time to ride the famous Slickrock trail. There has been so much written about this

Looking down from Slickrock onto the end of the
 Porcupine Rim trail & Colorado River

trail and it would be wrong to come to Moab without doing a lap. I had picked the brain of the shuttle driver (Brenda) the previous day, I wondered if a local would ride the trail often. Apparently yes, 1-2 times per week as a training ride, good for strength. Brenda when fit, does the loop from town in 2.5 hours, so there was a benchmark. She also has the 33^rd best Strava time (overall) on LPS/Porcupine too, so she is not slow.  Leaving Fiona and Symi to schoolwork I rode from the RV Park up Sand Flats Rd which involves a huge climb to get to the trailhead. The trail begun with some easy ups and downs before coming to a junction. Somehow I went in the not recommended direction, I kept coming across all these people going the opposite direction until I realised it was me going against the flow. By then I was about ½ way

around. Apparently it’s just harder. I must admit some of the climbs were crazy steep and defeated me mentally before I attempted them. However the further I went around the more I started trying the climbs and realising it was somehow   I screamed down the road descent back to the RV Park for a 3.00 hour round trip. Not bad considering the many photo stops, harder direction and that the RV Park is 2 miles out of town.

Just follow the white lines.

possible. In the second half of the circuit everything was attempted and cleaned (ie no foot down). Eventually the circuit ended. I have ticked the Slickrock box, great to have done another famous ride. Would I do this trail once per week, no. 

That afternoon was a two hour family ride at the Moab Brands trails. We rode North 40 (blue/black), Maverick, Lazy and Sidewinder. Symi was at her most determined ever trying to clean climbs that were technical (rocky) and steep. She got plenty of encouragement from all who saw her, other riders were amazed at her climbing ability. Sidewinder was a highlight, super flowing singletrack with a strong tailwind. After I left Symi and Fiona to ride wind assisted down the bike path to the Arches NP entrance while I slogged back

New Nomad 27.5, hmmm want one.

into the wind to pick up the RV. Lucky it was a ‘rest’ day the next day as we were heading to the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands NP. Prior to heading to Canyonlands we were filling the RV with fuel when a pick-up pulled up next to us with two bikes in the back. One of the bikes looked suspiciously like the new Santa Cruz Nomad that had only just been announced. Turned out it was a development bike, complete with SC test rider. A few days earlier and this would have been a great ‘spy’ shoot!

After two amazing nights at Canyonlands NP we made a visit to the neighbouring Dead Horse State Park. We were recommended a loop that was green rated trail with some

great scenic views. Big Chief loop starts at the visitors centre and is a nine mile singletrack circuit. It has great flow and is fun at any speed. At the top of the trail we were rewarded with a great view over Big Chief Canyon. There have also been some more trails just added to the area so after a lap I did another blast of the Big Chief loop then onto the more technical new trails.

The next day Friday, Jim who we had met in Sedona came over from Durango for a couple of nights. Friday we rode the Amasa Back area starting up the HyMasa climb and then doing the Captain Ahab again. Much better the second time with softer suspension (I have dropped the rear pressure 13 psi!) and no wind. The first time I rode the trail the wind was nuclear and was knocking me off line at times. We then climbed

Jackson: must ride. You could throw a stone from
here and hit the Colorado River.

HyMasa again and did the Jackson trail that descended back to the car. The trail goes along the side of the cliff that goes into the Colorado River. It came with a long list of warnings at the top: edgy, ledgy, steep, exposed, tight switchbacks etc. It could have read, this trail is massive fun, just make sure you have a high skill level and walk when out of your depth. This is a must do trail. Jim and wife Tammy came over for an RV dinner and invited us to stay at their house in Durango. We will head there over Easter. The next day Jim and I had a quick early morning blast of the Moab Brands trails again before he had to shoot off for some soccer coaching duties. The afternoon was time for another Arches NP outing.

Sunday turned out wet and rained all day. Great chance for a recovery day and lunch at the Moab Brewery. I booked a shuttle to do the Mag 7 trail Monday. Luckily Monday morning turned out fine but with the wind from the north it

Bull Run

was cold. I jumped on the shuttle up the trailhead at 6500 ft where there was fresh snow on the ground. Chatting to the driver, turns out 4 people have died on the last trail, Portal. With this in mind I thought it might be good not to ride on my own and asked a couple of guys from Quebec (Dan, 54 and George 59) if I could join them for the day. They looked fit and both had carbon bikes. The trail starts with an almost 10 mile gradual descent down Bull Run and the Great Escape. Great mix of slickrock and singletrack. It was a great opportunity to get some riding photos and we made the most of the opportunity. The scenery again was out of this world, photos never really doing any justice to what the eye can see. The LaSal

Bull Run

Mountains were a constant backdrop and were stunning with a dump of fresh snow the previous day. The payback for the descent came with a massive climb up to the top of the Moab fault. At the top of the fault that was a trail marked that we decided to follow, it would eventually lead us to the top of the Portal Trail. However it was slow going with some of the most technical riding I have seen 2yet and some route finding difficulty. It seemed like a long time and we arrived at the top of the Portal. It was here that I find out that George is afraid of heights. The trail quickly heads to the side of a cliff. I took off first and stopped at a suitable photo point to wait for the others. It was hard to see where the trail could continue and standing there looking down at Moab below

Moab fault line, Moab town is the green bit. The
cliff is massive.

was not the most relaxing wait. Eventually George came round the corner walking on a part of the trail that I thought was fairly rideable. Hmmm, it’s getting late, cold, I’m hungry and have one energy bar left. Just after a sign, walk here 3 have died appeared. Apparently a friend of George and Dan had decided how hard could this section be and rode on, clipped a rock and feel down the short slop stopping just prior to nearly plunging to his death. It was videoed and he then emailed to video to his girlfriend! Talk about dumb ways to try and kill yourself. I walked this

section, then another before the trail became less exposed. Again long wait for George, I took time to enjoy the view and try and track the trail down the hill while ignoring the fact I was cold. The trail continued down to the Colorado River with constant technical challenges right to the end. Then it was just an 8 mile ride back to town, arriving 6.5 hours after starting. It was time to jump into the hot tub, melting into a fatigued mess. I would do this ride again and again, it would rate highly in the best rides ever list.

Pelvic floor about to get very tense