Outrageously, rain had set in come rising time on Monday morning. The edge of the storm we’d been hearing about for a few days seemed to have come to visit. We settled for a morning of doing things that people living out normal lives do as a matter of course – laundry, using a shower & not smelling mank, sitting in cafes and so on. By mid-afternoon I was tired of that nonsense & wanted to go ride bikes – even if it was still raining a bit. Somehow I suckered Megan into joining me – it was riding bikes, it wasn’t hard.

We headed back out to Klondike Bluffs as there were a few trails there that I wanted explore. At least the sand had dampened the big sand trap near the start of the trail system – about all it was good for. I think I was pretty wet very quickly. We had intended to stay relatively low & ride Dino-Flow out & EKG back; however, we were duped by friendly moto-x riders that Baby Steps (a much larger loop, up & over the ridge) would be awesome. Dino-Flow was pleasant & holding up well in the rain – on account of all the rock; we climbed up on the Baby Steps loop & proved that the rock is still really grippy in the wet before doing a little bit of singletrack.

The second bit of singletrack was more slippery – I think I had my first little spill of the trip. Lost my front wheel at low speed balanced on a slick small boulder and had a good go of jumping over the bars before I was catapulted over them. We rode under a rock too – really the only photo opportunity of the ride.

Shortly after the soil changed slightly & as it was wet this stuff became really awful mud; not only did it stick to tyres, it stuck just as well to itself.  Soon our bikes had doubled in weight and we couldn’t even push our bikes there was so much mud rubbing between the wheels and fork & frame.  Mercifully there wasn’t more than a few hundred metres of this awfulness; with the rain still falling, we turned & headed for home.  It stopped raining as we got closer to the car.  So a bit of a trial that ride – but it has to be pretty awful for me to dislike a ride, so I was still pleased we’d made the effort to get out.

It was sunny & quite warm back in town as we gave our bikes a good wash at the bike shop, grrr.  Our small riding group doubled in size that day as Jackie (a friend of Megan & Alex from Melbourne in the country on a climbing trip) arrived from Nevada, as did Chad & Michelle (friends of Jackie’s) from Colorado.

It must have cleared up that night, as someone took this

Somewhere in amongst waiting for Megan’s bike to be finished at the workshop, our Sunday plan of a family ride higher up the La Sals was scuppered when we were told there was still snow up there.  Rather hastily,  Megan & I decided it was time for our daytrip to Fruita (across the border in Colorado); Alex didn’t have too much choice but to agree – unfortunate, as he had to drive the hundred-odd miles each way.  The original plan was to stay a night or two in Fruita to get more of the riding in. But a combination of the weather being slightly poorer than Moab, loving Moab too much and a lethargy when it came to decamping & recamping twice (not to mention not wanting to give up our prime tent site) meant it was just a daytrip for Fruita.  I didn’t mind too much, as I was having too much fun exploring Moab.

I don’t think we started riding until after one o’clock – but I rather stupidly declared I wanted to ride every trail there.  That never worked out as Megan & I went out & did Western Zippity downhill fighting quite a wind – that would have been better (comparatively) as an uphill I think.  I next did a lap with Alex on Zippity Do Dah & decided I had to do it again as Megan couldn’t miss out.  So that was the end of my scheme, but I got to do Zippity twice & it was great fun – I pleased myself by riding a couple of steep downhills with sketchy entries.

Good fun, well made singletrack – & it was so smooth compared to the rocks of Moab; that was a nice respite as my arms had taken a bit of a pounding on Porcupine Rim, not to mention a grimace forming every time I sat on my saddle.  It turned out to be my biggest day of riding for distance & climbing (but a lot of that was just riding up the gravel road to the top of the trail centre) of the trip – but by no means the most rewarding.  I did get to do all the western trails, & I’m pretty sure I did most of the eastern ones on my previous visit.  Not sure about Alex, but Megan & I were pretty tired by the end of the afternoon.

Look at all that singletrack winding its way down

What you can’t see is the almighty wind trying to blow me off the ridge; it got a bit hairy in more exposed places

We headed into Fruita to feed the ravenous; unfortunately Jeremy’s pizza recommendation was closed on a Sunday so we hit the brewpub – of which Finn was having none.  He seemed to like Mike the Headless Chicken though, perhaps just because he got to climb things to stand next to it.

With the spill the previous day, Jeremy proved to us that he is in fact mortal by having a rather tedious, I imagine, strained elbow & having to opt out of the day’s ride. We were intending to go & ride Captain Ahab, on Jeremy’s exhortation; his ailment meant that we would save it for another day & instead go out & do a family ride at Dead Horse Point State Park (so-called because the point well above the Colorado used to be used to corral horses & once they got left there without any water, the rest is rather obvious) and then Alex & I would ride the top part of Magnificent Seven – this being my favourite ride on my last trip to Moab (I think mostly because I had a riding buddy).

Good views as I expected down to the Colorado River, the trail was rather flat – but as I was still on a high from yesterday’s ride I had to keep reigning myself in so as to not get too far ahead of others. I remember there being enough on the trail to keep me interested provided I rode fast enough. A few breaks/catch-ups were provided by numerous viewpoints.

Feeling smaller than usual

We desperately tried to time jump-shots with the self-timer; we met with resounding failure, but at least entertained Finn (& ourselves for that matter)

After that pleasant little ride, we lunched at the point & admired the views a little more – managing not to lose Finn over the edge.

Serendipitously, the Magnificent Seven theme song was playing on the radio as we pulled into the parking lot at the top of Gemini Bridges Rd – reminding me of Dad, as it’s one of his favourite westerns. Megan had managed to blow the seal in her forks and had next to no brake pads left (always handy to discover in the middle of Porcupine Rim), so after dropping Alex & me off she headed to the bike shop for repairs. We trundled down the gravel road, me all too aware that last time the trailhead was very difficult to find. Not any more – there was a parking lot, map boards & signs and everything. An opportune time to say that all the trails around Moab we were on are extremely well signposted & marked – I was most impressed.

I think I enjoyed the ride more the previous time, at least that’s the impression my last ride report gives me; so I’m not going to spend too much more time on the ride details. Suffice to say, it was still a great ride out (& probably better than most I’ve done over England way recently); maybe a bit of Moab complacency was setting in already – at least the views were still worthy.  Bull Run is probably my favourite part of that which we did; I think there were still plenty of nice technical step-ups, as well as nice downhill parts & enough cliff-side exposure to keep us on our toes.

More canyonside riding

We weren’t ambushed by marauding Boy Scouts

Gemini Bridges

The gap between the two bridges above

Alex on a typical piece of trail

The ride out on the bottom of Gemini Bridges Rd to the Highway 191

The 191 leading south in to Moab, the La Sals hiding in the cloud in the background

We arranged to meet Jeremy, who had not quite achieved demigod status by this stage, Friday morning as he was camping (well as far as it can be called camping when you have a VW van) in the area.  I was keen to show Megan the famed Porcupine Rim ride later that day & Jeremy was keen to come with.

Alas, as we rode up to Campsite A (we were in C3, fwiw) Jeremy & his camper seemed to have ascended – so Alex & I went for a little play on the Slickrock Trail.  What luxury it is when you can just go & play on the Slickrock Trail – arguably the most famous mountain-bike trail in the world.  We didn’t have a heap of time so contented ourselves with doing the Practice Loop (which is no easier than the rest, but a lot shorter) and then riding up the stick of the lollipop (the trail proper is roughly lollipop, or lasso if you prefer, shaped).  It wasn’t long before I remembered just how grippy the rock is and had the confidence to ride across rather steep slopes knowing that my rear tyre wouldn’t slip down into a chasm or such.  The middle of the stick has some nice steep descents & climbs (dependent on direction of travel of course) which challenged both of us.

Showing off my Combe Raiders shirt – I got it at the (pre-) Christmas CR party & this was the first time it was warm enough to wear riding!

Alex unperturbed by being on the edge of the Abyss (Canyon)

That’s me following the dotted line (route finding is easy when there’s a big line painted on the rock) down & then back up again, inevitably

Returning to camp, we found Jeremy had got back from running errands – by which he means joining the Moab Bike Patrol, answering the prayers/requests of the mountain-biking flock and generally being worthy.  Alex & Finn kindly shuttled the other three of us up a long & winding gravel road (during which we wondered about the mental stability of those riding up) to the trailhead of the Kokopelli section of the Whole Enchilada on the La Sal Mountain Loop Road – we found the trail too wet & muddy so went back down to start on UPS (Upper Porcupine Section or some such) – with a 125 m climb over two kilometres to start.

Porcupine is another really famous Moab ride – mostly Jeep track – but there are some sections (UPS & LPS) above that are in a more forested area & provide singletrack & sufficient interest when you’re not trying to ride off the edge of a cliff into Castle Valley.  Porcupine Rim itself is more open with fewer trees & actually gets away from the rim as you drop lower & lower.  Last time I rode it I rode alone and was on a bike with less suspension & remember huge amounts of cliffside exposure & really large drops on the Jeep track that I had to walk some of; consequently I didn’t rate it as highly as the hype had indicated.  With this in mind & Megan’s lack of recent riding on anything other than smooth, forgiving snow – I may have built up the challenge a bit much & freaked her out, just as well she was still willing.

It was good to follow Jeremy through the singletrack UPS & LPS sections & see what was possible to ride & push myself a bit over things I wouldn’t normally ride (the bike probably had a bit to do with that – that’ll get a post of its own later).  We stopped for the odd photo as the scenery was not to be sniffed at.

Across Castle Valley

Still trying to comprehend the vastness after too long on the British Isles

A good spot to get off the bikes – trying to get a decent photo of Megan & me together for our families and posterity, we largely failed (unless we weren’t facing the camera)

The rocky-ness of the Jeep track began & I really enjoyed chasing Jeremy down the hill.  We kept a good pace with few stops & I was surprised by how much more I could ride this time & how much easier things were.  After Jeremy had an unfortunate encounter with terra firma due to landing a jump in a sandy patch (which would later rule him out of riding the next day), I found myself leading for much of the rest of the way down.  That was fine by me as my confidence in my bike & my ability kept improving – gradually I found myself riding off & over obstacles that I never dreamed I would ever attempt, much less land.  Usually I will take an easy & smooth line with not too much of a drop; if there was a big drop coming up, I’d usually see it in plenty of time, slow down & inspect it & realise I’d lost too much speed, chicken out & walk it or take an easier line.  Not any more, I was carrying a lot more speed and had the confidence to just keep going over & off anything the trail would throw at me – much to my astonishment & delight I was soon riding off two-foot drops with a previously unheard of confidence & landing them (not always in style, but always cleanly).  I was thrilled.  It’s hard to convey how exciting this was for me; you’ll just have to believe it was a big step in my skill & confidence levels – which had been reasonable stagnant at a competent, but not too exciting, level for some time.

So it was with that development for me, that this became one of my two favourite rides for the whole trip & easily my best ride since Downieville almost two years prior.  Trumpet blowing over.

The Jeep track ran out & turned to the final section of singletrack down the edge (really close to the edge in fact) of a canyon to the Colorado River.  I remember this singletrack being well constructed, but really technical and with the exposure to certain death by launching oneself off the bike to the bottom of a large canyon, requiring a lot of walking.  Oh how things had changed.  The trail had been sanitised somewhat, but not in the usual detrimental way – it was exciting to find that this final part of such a good ride flowed well, I could ride all of it (except one handlebar pinching point & one wash crossing) at speed & it was no longer so technical I was worried about falling to my doom.  It was a great finish to a most excellent ride.  Jeremy & I had previously shuttled his VW to end of the trail & he rose higher in our esteem as he pulled out post-ride celebratory beers from the cooler (esky/chilly bin for those in the Antipodes).

The problem with leading is that people don’t have sufficient opportunity to get a good photo of you – this is the best I have of Jeremy – on the lower singletrack section

Bikes + rocks + sun = fun for Megan

Back in town, we treated ourselves to showers and the celebratory dinner was a big feed at the local brewpub – Moab Brewery.