An old post about a good trip to Moab
(from Feb 06) MOAB - Tom Hayes, my Xterra buddy from Seattle convinced me that I should meet him for a little training camp in the high cold desert. What a kick... Two guys who just want to do a little riding. I blasted out of work early last Thursday for a quick flight to Salt Lake. Tom picked me up and we headed out to harass the yahoos at Kinkos that were struggling with the simple task of copying (isn't that what they do??) some work documents of his. Once the last minute work obligations were out of the way we spent a lovely night at one of the nicest hotels in Provo Utah - yeehaw. The next morning presented us with one of the biggest challenges of the trip: finding a good ole cup of joe. I thought that Mormon issue with caffeine was just a stereotype.... ha. Even Starbucks with their global domination hasn't cracked that religious resolve. After stumbling upon our best bet - a Noah's Bagels with halfway decent coffee, we hit the road for a beautiful 4 hour drive south to the motherland of mountain biking.
No, I'm not really grumpy... though it was a bit of a climb to get to this point.... This is the top of Hurrah Pass... I guess that's what you say when you get to the top?
Tom, psyched to be in sunshine.... I did tell you he is from Seattle? Here prepping for Slickrock trail.
After a quick stop at our respective shops - I picked up what would turn out to be a rather fun Gary Fisher Cake as a rental - we rode out of town towards the famous Slick Rock trail. Tom kept telling me that I was putting on too many layers and that I would start sweating like a pig on the first climb out of town. Good thing I am a bit stubborn as the added gear not only saved my skin from the piercing cold wind but from a nasty slide down a particularly steep rock face. What a blast ripping up and down all those whoop-de-doos of solid rock. The views of the snow covered LaSalle mountains were incredible! Killer was the brutal wind we experienced Friday afternoon. I estimate 40 knots on some of the ridges? Both Tom and I had trouble staying upright at times!
3.5 hrs of riding Friday was a great start to the weekend! We celebrated with some good local brews at the Moab Brewing Co - that and a hearty pasta dinner!
We had an epic ride planned for Saturday and that's just what we got! 6 hours door to door - it was the longest ride I have done in a long time! This incredible ride started from town, went out past Amasaback, to the top of Hurrah Pass, down to Jackson's Hole (there was a bit of route finding involved here), up Jackson's ladder (I think that's the name) - a hike-a-bike straight up a cliff!!!, then down Amasaback, and back to town...... wow. That evening we added to the beer and grub a nice soak in the hotel spa...
Sunday Morning we were both beat. A casual spin was what we wanted to finalize the weekend. The only problem was timing - we had to go early. Early + Moab in Feb = 13 degrees Fahrenheit.....brrrrrrrr. So, we shivered our way through a 1 1/2 hour ride along the Sovereign trail.
All in all a great weekend escape!
No, I'm not really grumpy... though it was a bit of a climb to get to this point.... This is the top of Hurrah Pass... I guess that's what you say when you get to the top?
Tom, psyched to be in sunshine.... I did tell you he is from Seattle? Here prepping for Slickrock trail.
After a quick stop at our respective shops - I picked up what would turn out to be a rather fun Gary Fisher Cake as a rental - we rode out of town towards the famous Slick Rock trail. Tom kept telling me that I was putting on too many layers and that I would start sweating like a pig on the first climb out of town. Good thing I am a bit stubborn as the added gear not only saved my skin from the piercing cold wind but from a nasty slide down a particularly steep rock face. What a blast ripping up and down all those whoop-de-doos of solid rock. The views of the snow covered LaSalle mountains were incredible! Killer was the brutal wind we experienced Friday afternoon. I estimate 40 knots on some of the ridges? Both Tom and I had trouble staying upright at times!
3.5 hrs of riding Friday was a great start to the weekend! We celebrated with some good local brews at the Moab Brewing Co - that and a hearty pasta dinner!
We had an epic ride planned for Saturday and that's just what we got! 6 hours door to door - it was the longest ride I have done in a long time! This incredible ride started from town, went out past Amasaback, to the top of Hurrah Pass, down to Jackson's Hole (there was a bit of route finding involved here), up Jackson's ladder (I think that's the name) - a hike-a-bike straight up a cliff!!!, then down Amasaback, and back to town...... wow. That evening we added to the beer and grub a nice soak in the hotel spa...
Sunday Morning we were both beat. A casual spin was what we wanted to finalize the weekend. The only problem was timing - we had to go early. Early + Moab in Feb = 13 degrees Fahrenheit.....brrrrrrrr. So, we shivered our way through a 1 1/2 hour ride along the Sovereign trail.
All in all a great weekend escape!
posted by Anonymous at 5:02 PM
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