My mid-life biking craze started with the challenge of planning a Spring Break adventure for my easily bored teenagers (I didn't conceive of the Frizbo Fifty until two years later). My proposal for a mountain biking trip was met with some skepticism that rapidly dissipated when I explained that everyone would get a new mountain bike.
"Moab, Utah is the mountain biking capital of the world," I enthused, "and it's only two and half days away!"
As we packed the last of the gear in the van, my wife came out into the driveway to kiss us goodbye. "Drive safely! Don't worry about me all alone at home," she added sarcastically as she handed me a half-dozen oranges.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" I asked. "The cooler's packed."
"They're for on the road. Really delicious."
I've seen this behavior before. As my brother and I were leaving for a Canadian paddling trip, my sister-in-law came out of the house at the last second with a pillow and three rolls of toilet paper in a mesh laundry bag. I did not explain to her that a full-sized bed pillow was too big for a canoe trip or that we had packed plenty of TP in waterproof zip-locks. I think it's some primordial maternal instinct and it's best just to go along with it.
"Oranges, good idea," I corrected myself, unpacking the luggage one more time. "Love you!"
Arriving in Grand Junction, we had to stop at the local bike shop to replace some bike parts that mysteriously disappeared (note: always tighten all quick releases before transporting). I chatted up the store clerk and he recommended Fruita's Rustler's Loop as a good trail to get started. We must have been obvious noobs because when we set out on our first single track ride we discovered the trail had signage every 50 yards or so explaining how to ride single track.
Good thing too because even after reading the signs we did not leave Fruita unscathed. Nevertheless, the trails flowed and views were superb.
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| Overlooking the Colorado River, Fruita, CO |
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| Rustler's Loop Trail, Fruita, CO |
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| Mary's Trail, Fruita, CO |
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| Fruita, CO |
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| Red Badge of Courage, Horsethief Bench Trail |
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| Fruita Trails |
The next day we arrived in the mountain biking capital: Moab, UT. Moab reminds me of the Warner Brothers Road Runner cartoons and all those fantastic landscapes -- except in Moab those landscapes really exist!
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"He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking."
-- Spock, The Wrath of Khan., Monitor and Merrimac Trail, Moab, Utah
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For our ride near the Monitor and Merrimac Buttes, I planned a shortcut from one trail to another. On the map, it looked like the trails were only a couple hundred feet apart -- an easy bushwhack to the other trail. When we arrived at the shortcut, I realized the other trail was 500 feet above us! Being from the Midwest, I am often reminded, sometimes brusquely, that much of the planet is not as flat as the cornfields of Illinois.
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| Climbing Hurrah Pass, Moab, UT |
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| A break in the shade, Hurrah Pass, Moab, UT |
The Slickrock Trail is world renown as a trail that cleverly routes riders over the metamorphic sand dunes. The so-called "slickrock" is not slick at all, as bike tires will grip readily to its surface. The name was given by early settlers of
the area because their horses' metal shoes and wagon wheels had difficulty gaining traction on the rock's sloping surfaces.
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| THE Slick Rock Trail, Moab, UT |
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| Another Red Badge of Courage, Slick Rock Trail |
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| Slick Rock Trail overlooking Colorado River |
The Slickrock Trail is one of the more difficult rides in the Moab area, both technically and cardiovascularly, and is not suitable for novice riders which of course did not deter us. We started with the practice loop and then had lunch at Lookout Point. When I asked if we should continue or turn back, the kids insisted we finish the loop.
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| Slick Rock Trail (where did that dog come from?) |
Well before the end of our ride we had consumed all our drinks and by the time we reached the parking lot we were really parched. Opening the van I searched the interior for anything to drink. Floating at the bottom of the cooler with the last of the ice were the oranges my wife had insisted on adding just as we left home. Ice cold oranges after riding the Slickrock Trail -- best we ever tasted. Thanks Mom!
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| Slick Rock Trail |
-- Frizbo
| States: | Colorado & Utah |
| Date: | 2008-03-22 thru 2008-03-27 |
| Fruita, CO Trails: | Rustler's Loop. Mary's, Horsethief Bench (11 miles) |
| Moab, UT Trails: | Slick Rock, Hurrah Pass, Monitor & Merrimac (23 miles) |
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