Sunday, October 18, 2009

Moab Mountain Biking


I just returned from Moab, Utah where I spent three days mountain biking with an awesome group of riders from Innovative Fitness.





Cool little town in the midst of seemingly endless amounts of awe inspiring red rock, desert-like terrain. TONS of world renowned mountain biking. If you like to ride, you should DEFINITELY put Moab on your "list" (you do have a list right?)


We spent three 4-6 hour days riding mostly intermediate to expert level terrain - some awesome downhills, some technical, rocky trail, plenty of "ledgy drops", lots of slickrock.


The final day was the highlight for me. We drove to 8,400 ft, rode to about 9,000, then descended to about 4,000. That, my friends, is about 10 minutes up and a couple of hours down, in other words, a ratio that = FUN. We were blasting down Hazard County, Upper and Lower Porcupine Rim, and Kokopelli until my rear tire couldn't handle the fun anymore and punctured about 3/4 mile from the end.


I know many Innovative Fitness customers and trainers read this... if you are looking for a fun destination that is manageable for almost every skill level GO TO MOAB!! Our local guides (Rim Tours - Brooks and Sylvie in particular) did a great job of splitting groups up when appropriate, so everyone got to ride to their ability and enjoy every minute.


It was totally awesome. I may be able to procure some video from a friend who sported a helmet cam. We'll see...

In the meantime some more pictures:

This was Day 2 at Bartlett Wash - an awesome area for enjoying the Slickrock. Home to SuperBowl (site of the weekend's worst crash by poor Simon - check my facebook profile to see the video...).

These next three I call Unnatural Van Fixation... I just love vans (esp. vw) and bikes and the two together meant I had to take a lot of photos...


On Day 3 I had a minor tumble and smacked my shin on a rock.... have a look (go ahead, click to enlarge.) It was visually disturbing to say the least... but not that painful (thank goodness).


Day 1 at "Baby Steps".


Day 2 at Bartlett Wash. (I need a new pose...)


Brooks (our lead guide) - 62 and a damn good rider. He made everything look easy. Powering up slickrock sections that I swear are 45°+. Unbelievable... hat's off.

These trees are beautiful... don't know what kind they are...

It was an awesome group, a spectacular location, unbelievable weather, and tremendous riding by everyone.

Thanks for reading!

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6 comments:

JC said...

WOW - that looks fantastic! Nice shin - OUCH!!! Great photos, glad you had such a great time.

Ryan D said...

the second one of you on the bike makes it look like you are climbing at a 60% grade!

runninggunner said...

Looks Killer! Definitely on my list to do one day.

jameson said...

AWESOME! i'm jealous!

2Grandmas2 said...

You might save the shin smacking for the left side. ;-)
Beautiful pictures. Someday...
Nancy

onelegmatt said...

UH!! SO JEALOUS!!

I've done three tours with Rim Tours, they are the best.

Good Times, good times.