Mountain Biking in Moab, Utah

My friend from high school, Chad Staker, emailed me last month inquiring about a possible mountain biking trip to Moab, Utah. I had long dreamed about riding the world famous Slickrock Trail in Moab, so it did not take much convincing for me to say yes.
Flying with a bike and camping gear seemed to be a big hassle, so I decided to make it a road trip. It was pretty easy to get Kern and Sean (a friend from work) to join the trip. We set out on a Wednesday after work and roadtripped 1,100 miles straight through the night from Portland to Moab in my old 4Runner. Chad woke up the next day and left from Denver to meet us there early Thursday afternoon.

We got a short ride in Thursday before the sun went down:

riding the famous Slickrock Trail in Moab

We were lucky to snag the last available campsite (out of over a hundred sites, only one left!)

our campsite, located about 0.25 mile from the trailhead

We woke up early on Friday to ride the full 12 mile Slickrock Loop.

Kern, Sean, Chad, and I

Sean hits an endo for the camera

The trail lies precariously close to the edge of a canyon down to the Colorado River. My Ray Bans broke, so I had to bust out my Old Skool Oakley wraparounds from the 90's. :)

Sean powers up a hill that proved too steep for the Jeep crew below.....we all (barely) made it up this torturous climb, causing the Jeep crowd to actually cheer for us! It is amazing how much traction you can get on the sandstone; you are limited in what you can climb only by endurance and strength.

Sean poses for a panoramic shot

We finished the trail in the early afternoon and were exhausted, but not ready to call it a day. We decided to take Chad's Tacoma out for some 4X4 action. I was too paranoid to take my old 4Runner out....mainly for fear that if it breaks down, it is a LONG ride back to Portland.

the view from the cab as Chad drives up Hell's Revenge...there's not much room for error

driving down a fin at Hell's Revenge

getting vertical - the back tires are barely touching the ground

up to the doors in water....Chad at his best :)

random lizard on our firewood at the campsite

At night, we donned headlamps and did a quick night ride on the Slickrock. It was probably not the smartest or safest thing I have ever done.
I took a break and let the others disappear into the night. I laid alone, with my back on the sandstone, which was still warm from the day's sun. As I stared up at the stars, I had a surreal experience akin to nirvana. Just me and nature...at one....in peace and harmony. Utter silence and indescribable natural beauty all around me. I contemplated spending the entire night there on the rock.

On Saturday, we rode the Porcupine Rim trail for some technical, rocky singletrack. The trail starts with a 4 mile climb, gaining 1000 ft elevation.

This climb reminded me how seriously out of shape I am!!

Chad and Sean enjoying the view at the top of the climb

the view at the top

Our efforts during the long climb were more than rewarded with a 12 mile descent into the canyon. This is definitely the best trail I have ever ridden....it has lots of tough sections and plenty of places to get the adrenaline flowing strong.

Kern cautiously navigates a turn...no worries, the canyon two feet to his right is ONLY a 2000 ft drop straight down to the Colorado River.

this would be your last view if you miss a turn on the Porcupine Rim Trail

Chad found just the right spot to setup for a photo....he figured one of us would biff....and he was right. It was me. This pic is about 0.1 seconds before I went flying over the handlebars.

OK, now I am managing to keep 2 wheels on the ground

The trail dumped us out in the valley below. We had a few miles of light cruising through the valley with stunning views before having to ride back uphill to the campsite.

Kern and I ran out of water and severe fatigue was setting in. The last several miles were a steep uphill climb and we were seriously hurting. We had covered a total of 26 miles of terrain and just wanted to make it back to the campsite. Luckily, Chad was a true friend and picked us up in the 4runner about 0.5 mile from the campsite before I almost had a heat stroke.
We had originally planned to stay another night, but instead decided that Moab had already done enough damage to our bodies so we packed up our gear and started the trip home. We left Moab Saturday evening, drove through the night again, and returned to Portland around noon on Sunday. With 3 days of riding and 4 days without a shower or running water, it felt good to be home.

I think we all agreed the trip was epic; Moab definitely deserves many more visits.