Moab and Fruita

Things have been fairly quiet for me lately.  I fell flat on my face (not literally) at the end of September.  Most of October was spent being lazy.  A few easy bike rides here and there, but nothing to taxing.  It had been a long season, but a trip to the desert still was in order.  Tim and I put a few things in the E Thursday after work and drove to Moab.  We got to camp late and the stars were out in full force.  I never use a tent in Moab as I really like looking up at the stars from my sleeping bag.  Words can't describe a clear night in the desert.

I guess thats a few things in the E

Home for 3 days

Friday morning we got up to ride Amassa Back.  I had never ridden there, so it had to be done.  Its a shorter ride with many rocky features to ride.  We even rode Rockstacker, the wrong way mind you.  Rockstacker is an all mountain sort of trail well suited to short travel cross country bikes, I mean 6 inch travel bikes (we don't have these).  After Amassa Back, we packed up the E and drove to Sovereign Singletrack for another ride.  A wrong turn and my tired legs lead us to a little earlier quitting time than anticipated.  Saturdays totals here.  Paraxdox Pizza fueled us for the the next days rides.

Paradox Pizza, the best place in Moab for a Pizza Pie

Saturday's ride was a ride I wanted to link up for a while.  Moab-Slickrock-Porcupine Rim-Moab.  I thought this would be a fairly big ride.  Turned out it was fun too.  Fred joined us for the ride out of town and through Slickrock.  The crazy pitches at Slickrock were difficult for me as I had little to no pop in my legs.  The descending is fun though.  You can descend and climb (typically) pitches far steeper than you usually can due to the tackiness of the rock.  Quick lunch and it was on to the climb up Porcupine Rim.  This is one of the first times I actually really wanted a longer travel bike.  Porcupine Rim. Saturdays ride data here.

 Follow the white line

Me, Fred, and Tim overlooking the river below

Sunday it was on to the Kokopelli trailhead for some exploring.  Every previous ride here I had been on the same few trails.  The area is a nice mix of flowy technical trails.  But I wanted to ride more.  We rode the usual trails and then continued on to Steve's loop and then Troy Built. The new to me trails were great.  Its always good to get in new trails.  Sundays ride.

Rocky terrain

Wednesday night mountain biking tradition

 The city, full moon, and me

 

Eric D.

It started a little over a year ago.  A handful of friends head out for a weekly night mountain bike ride almost every Wednesday starting in late August as the sun starts to set a little earlier.  Its turned into a pretty nice tradition.  We typically aim for 2 to 2.5 hours, and most of our rides take place at Buffalo Creek, one of my favorite close trails.  Riding at night adds a new element of fun to familiar trails.  Also very few riders are out, which is a nice change of pace compared to the weekends, which are especially crowded this time of year.  While there may be less people to see them, these night rides always bring plenty of smiles to my face.