48. Mountain Bike Moab, Utah

Every mountain biker needs to make at least one trip to Moab. After the first time any rider goes he most likely tells himself he has go back. At least once a year. Or more if he has the time. The only issue is it is pretty far from home.
I had the pleasure of traveling with a really fun crew of rippers on this trip, including BLC, Colin, Johnson, Justin, and Ryan. We borrowed Lina's parents sweet Chevy Express XL van that is about 40 ft. long and can fit 17 passengers more comfortably than a 747. We fit 3 bikes inside, 3 bikes on a hitch outside, all our gear and everyone still pretty much had their own bed for the long drives to and from Moab.
We split the driving all the way there. While everyone was sleeping on the 1-5 AM shifts, Ryan earned some OT pay and drove a double shift through dumping snow near Bryce Canyon. We were cruising at about 40 mph, just trying to keep the van straight while a Mack Truck going about 80 downhill came barreling down behind us. Unsure of what lane he was, really because you couldn't see the lane line underneath the 4 inches of snow, we pulled to the right of the truck 2 seconds before it was about to crush us like a bug. Poor Ryan almost wet himself as most of the crew snored unknowing of their near death experience. Thank you Ryan for saving our lives!
A few hours later we arrived in Moab, and it was cloudy, cold, and wet. But that would not slow us down. After a BOMB breakfast and at least 1 coffee fueled trip to the john a piece, we hit the closest trail to Moab that seemed to have the best weather conditions: Amasa Back. While we were preparing to ride it was about 40 degrees with 30 mph winds blowing sideways rain, splatting us on our bare limbs while we quickly lathered on our warmest bike gear.
We finally started riding and as we hit the trail head all my fantasies of Moab mountain biking were realized within the first 20 seconds of riding: the entrance to Amasa was a playful yet heavy set of ledgy rock rollers leading to a 3 ft. drop, turn a corner to roll down a couple more steep rocks into the beautiful red dirt that makes Moab famous. Awesome! Then the climbing began, all the way to the top of amasa peak in the rain cruising through slick rock (not slick even in the rain) and red dirt (very red especially in the rain).
The ride back down was just a taste of how fun the place is. Rolling rock ledges and small drops that can all be taken at high speeds. Just so fun and everyone in our group cleared the trail like they had ridden here 10 times before. When we finally got back to the van where the cold beer was awaiting, we noticed these funny shaped mud streaks on our backs.













After a couple technical issues we had to hit up a local bike shop for repairs. On the way to the hotel we were unfortunately slammed into from behind by a hopeless young kid joyriding in daddy's truck. No licence but at least dad had insurance info in the glovebox. He f-d up Colin's bike pretty badly so back to the shop for more repairs. Everything ended up OK although it was an eventful day.

Day 2: Porcupine Rim. The trail that made Moab famous was so awesome. High speed rocky downhill filled with short rock gardens and awesome drops and hits all flowing together for 12 miles. Not to mention the first 2 miles were cruising through snow and wet rocks (still not slick) with amazing views of the La Sal mountains and numerous Moab canyons and cliffs. Looked liek the tazmanian devil would be right at home. We spent hours on this trail having the time of our lives and enjoying the scenery. I was following the ultimate ripper Johnson down most of the trail. He has an eye for the best sections of trail and I just followed his lead. It was epic.
After lunch, a couple Pabst BRs, and a chillout session playing our Gorillaz theme song for the 24th time we hit the equally famous Slick Rock trail. Thinking it was going to be mellow, it combined short spurts of insanely steep downhills with even more insanely steep uphills. Mountain biking is taxing and it was truly exhausting to get through this 10 mile loop. But so fun!


As quickly as our trip started, it ended and we had to make the 700 mile journey back home. We made a quick pit stop at delicate arch to take in the awesome scenary of Moab. I am coming back soon, staying longer, and riding more. Woo hoo!!!!