Headed down to Moab, Utah with my buddy Sean and his buddy Sam for a birthday bash weekend filled with some of the best mountain biking in the world.
There are lots of amazing trails in the Moab area. But since none of us had ever mountain biked in the area, we decided to knock off some of the classics. We oped for the ever popular, Slickrock Trail, just out side of town and the mega classic, The Whole Enchilada, on Sunday.
Rather than ship my bike, I chose to rent instead from Poison Spider Bike shop. I went with a brand new 2013 Yeti 575. Sweet ride, but the shop guys made me super paranoid about charging me for the most minor of scratches. In the end, they didnt charge me for anything, but it did make me rethink some of the harder lines, to the tune of, "Dont ride that you'll probably bail and cheese grade back down the trail!"
We found an amazing campsite tucked into a larger canyon/slot canyon with awesome stone chairs and cool overhanging sandstone.
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| Sean. Feeling pretty primal in his caveman chair |
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| Morning! Sam was the chef of the trip. Thanks Sam. |
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| instagram for cavemen |
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| Sean walking back into the campsite |
We indulged in the complete line up from Moab Brewery and watched the local rock crawlers make their way over amazingly brutal terrain.
The Whole Enchilada was quite the ride. We got drive up with Coyote Shuttles to 10,250ft in the La Sal Mountains. Unloaded our bikes, then proceed to ride a vertical kilometer in one mile to 11,250 ft. Coming from sea level really kicked my ass. We then proceed to descend roughly 8,000 ft down to the Colorado River. We passed through tight alpine switchbacks, flowly aspen/cottonwood forests, fast high desert sage brush, bomber fireroads of the Kokopelli trail, and onto the slickrock of UPS, LPS and Porcupine Rim trail. We bombed through it as fast as we could since i had to have my bike returned by 5pm. I didnt take too many pictures because of that but I hope to have some of sean's pics up here soon. There will last for now.
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| We started up on the other side of that pass. aka Burro Pass |
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| Yell O! yes that was a Oregon Ducks reference. |
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| This is a on the go self portrait of me just after a bee got stuck in my helmet and stung me in the forehead which resulted in me eating shit while bombing down some knarly singletrack |
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| Sean looking tough for some reason. Sage brush high desert. |
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| UPS or LPS. Big drop |
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| Sean decided to take the trail sign with us |
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| This is the last shot that I got. Hopefully Sean has more. |
On monday, while Sean was at work in SLC, I headed up Mill Creek Canyon to do a little trail run in the infamous Wastach area. At least i think Mill Creek is considered part of the 'satch...
I was directed towards the Pipeline trail, and it did not disappoint. I wish I would have brought my camera on the run because the views and colors were breathtaking. Fall was coming on strong with bright yellows, oranges, red and pinks.
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| Heading up Rattlesnake Gulch/Canyon to connect to Pipeline |
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| End of Mill Creek Canyon. TH to many fantastic places |
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| Trees |
While the run kicked my ass, it definitely left an imprint within me. I vowed to return some day to conquer, well.... at least complete a race in the area.
UNT
Bryan
