Mitch finally got to Moab

May 21, 2000 on 6:59 pm | In Mountain |

Part of the ever-present lure of mountain biking is the fact that there will always be greater trails that one has yet to experience. Mountain biking vacations give one the opportunity to test fitness and skill in the environment of fantastic new scenery and trail systems. Everyone holds a certain trail high up on a pedestal until that trail is finally reached and experienced. The system of trails surrounding Moab, Utah could possibly hold the universal honor as mountain biking’s Mecca; the end-all destination point for every rider out there. No other trail system has been more photographed, ridden, or dreamed of on the entire planet. Reaching Moab after more than five years of dreaming has my head spinning, and the experience has to be shared.

The four-hour drive from Salt Lake City to Moab is a warm-up to one’s senses for the unique terrain that you’ll witness during your stay. Mountains give way to mesas, and forests give way to desert. The rock turns from shades of gray to shades of red. Red rock goes on forever in the shape of various spires, arches, canyon walls, boulders, and cliffs. The surreal drive up into Moab is only made sweeter knowing that you’ll be soon riding through everything you’re seeing.

The town is probably larger than you imagine it. The main road through town shoots by endless bike shops, motels, restaurants, and any other tourist oriented business you can think of. My narrow mind took a hit when I quickly realized that there were people vacationing there for reasons other than riding! Hundreds of people from all over the world were there to rent Jeeps, hike, motocross, climb, or just take everything in.

With only three hours or so to squeeze a ride in before dark, we decided to head over to the Slickrock Trail to play around on the 2-mile practice loop till dark. After experiencing the most famous trail on the planet I’ve got to say it felt more like a heavenly urban assault than a trail ride to me. For those into the circus-type ride you’ll have your fill of fun but for me after two hours of slickrock riding I was ready for the more varied terrain of the Porcupine Rim Trail.

The following day’s ride on the Porcupine Rim provided us with a fantastic 4+ hour ride starting back at the motel. The trailhead is further on down the same Jeep road as Slickrock, and the road provides a nice 45 minute warm up for your legs. This warm up serves you well, for the first few miles ascend up to the rim. The climbing is technical, with plenty of dynamic ledge hops and endless smooth line searching. Once the crest is reached, the rim goes gently up and down for the next two hours providing countless vistas from the 900 ft. cliff. This is one of those rides where you’re trying hard not to stop every five minutes and take in the new scenery. Eventually this levels out into some long flat hammering on top of a plateau overlooking Slickrock. The trail then tips downwards for the longest descent of your life. It starts with long stretches at a gentle downward grade, which leads you into a final technical descent of Jackass Canyon. This descent is of the grade that will run out the suspension on most long-travel bikes when taken at speed. I usually bottom out the SID once or twice on a ride but the final descent had the SID hating me for sure. Probably the most focused 30 minutes of my life. Just try not to stare too much at the Colorado River on your right.

Amasa Back Trail was our destination for the following day because it was part of the race course for the Tour of Canyonlands on Sunday. Amasa rivaled Porcupine on the fun scale, for it contained similar ledgey climbs with similarly ledgey descents (has something to do with the fact that it’s an out-and-back). The wide nature of the trail makes it a popular Jeep trail, and we were alongside Jeeps much of the time. Watching these guys slowly try to pop their fat Jeep tires up over a three foot ledge alongside a 300 foot drop made me more than satisfied with my chosen transportation up the trail. For anyone who has seen the Everest OmniMax movie, Amasa Back was where they filmed the Moab footage. The trail finally dead ends alongside a ledge with a 900 foot drop. The ride back down to the start seems to fly by. The rock formations randomly litter the fifteen foot wide trail, and give your trail-reading skills the ultimate test. A relaxed grip on the bar is hard to come by the entire way down, so hand and wrist spasms are frequent. This is downhilling at its finest, and I had the best time.

The Tour of Canyonlands was the longest 1 hr. 45 minutes I’ve ever raced off-road. The prologue involved a gravel road “road race” for the first hour or so of racing. This led us to Hurrah Pass, a slightly elevated ridge ride that included a fast downhill stretch. The technical riders made their presence known here, as they blew by the skinny guys along the downhill. One more Jeep road led the racers to the bottom of the dreaded “Jacob’s Ladder,” a 15 minute hike-a-bike straight up a bouldery, switchback climb 500 feet up. Everyone suffered here, even those with competitive running backgrounds. Whatever the guy in front of you was doing was a satisfactory pace for everyone. There was no passing or desire to pass here, just get to the top is all we had in mind. The conquerors of Jacob’s Ladder were rewarded with the descent of Amasa Back, and a 4 minute gravel road ride to the finish. What a race! Only in the West would a mountain bike race have access to such terrain and beauty.

Despite the beating the terrain put on me, I felt my Jamis Dragon steel hardtail (w/ USE suspension post) was exactly what I wanted to tackle Moab’s famed trails. In looking around at what all the locals are riding, it doesn’t take long to figure out that it’s all full-suspension (with plenty of travel) out there. There were no doubt countless times when I wished a had some more bounce in my rear wheel. I’d have to say though that I had almost as much fun climbing that I had descending, and my hardtail climbed like a champ. Climbing Moab involved countless dynamic maneuvers up and over rock and nothing climbs dynamically like a hardtail. The straight-tracking frame made last minute line-adjustments on the descents easier for me as well. Sorry full-suspension but you’ll have to wait another few years for me. The Dragon’s got me hooked on hardtails for sure. The Geax Sedona tires I used front and back turned out to be a good choice. They were fast and they hooked up on everything but sand.

So was Moab a big let-down like Star Wars - The Phantom Menace, after all these years? Had I built it up too much in the previous five years so that it couldn’t possibly live up to my expectations? My conclusion after six days in Moab is this: five years of stories and photos and hype can’t possibly live up to the actual experience of riding Moab. It is incredible, endless riding that tests your skills no matter how good you are. All I have to say is make the trip happen, for it is your Mecca.

here are a few pics from the archive.