Moab – the self styled “mountainbiking capital of the known universe”. Despite the intense heat (around 110°F / 44°C) I decide to venture out and tackle a couple of the best rides in Moab.
Porcupine Rim – this was billed as one of the best rides in the Moab area. I picked up my rental bike the evening before and headed on out at around 07.30 to try and get some miles done before it got too hot. The first 4 miles were on tarmac and then the next 7 on a dirt road. All of this was pretty gruelling due to the heat and the fact that it was all uphill! (Check out the description of the trail at www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/porcup.htm. I met the shuttle van for the softies on it’s way back down again. I finally reached the trail head at 09.30 and headed straight on up. The first four miles were still climbing to the rim. Much of this was unrideable due to numerous rock steps and a lot of sand. Some sections were ok. I finally made it to the rim and was rewarded with an immense view of the Castle valley – see pic.
Porcupine Rim – this was billed as one of the best rides in the Moab area. I picked up my rental bike the evening before and headed on out at around 07.30 to try and get some miles done before it got too hot. The first 4 miles were on tarmac and then the next 7 on a dirt road. All of this was pretty gruelling due to the heat and the fact that it was all uphill! (Check out the description of the trail at www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/porcup.htm. I met the shuttle van for the softies on it’s way back down again. I finally reached the trail head at 09.30 and headed straight on up. The first four miles were still climbing to the rim. Much of this was unrideable due to numerous rock steps and a lot of sand. Some sections were ok. I finally made it to the rim and was rewarded with an immense view of the Castle valley – see pic.
- After 3 hours of hard toil the fun section now started. 12 miles of downhill. The trail although a wide jeep track was pretty technical with hundreds of rock steps and technical sections. The last 5 miles were single track with one section involving lowering the bike down a small cliff face! I finally ran into 2 more bikers having seen nobody all morning. We proceeded to ride the last section together. How I made it to the end without wiping out I’ll never know. The riding was fast and technical but finally led to the road and the easy cruise along the highway back to Moab.
- Slickrock- this is a fairly short but awesomely sweet trail which consists mainly of riding across giant boulders and rocks rising above the desert floor. Check out the link at http://www.utah.com/bike/trails/slickrock.htm. Most of the trail is ridable but there are many short but severe climbs which you have to push otherwise you would just flip over backwards. The rock is however very grip and great fun to ride over. The guide reckons you should allow 4 to 5 hours but anyone reasonably fit should be able to do it in less than 3…I was back for my McDonalds breakfast by 10.00 a.m.
All in all Moab is an amazing place for biking and I certainly intend to return at some point in the future for a pure mountainbiking trip!
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