We rolled into
Fruita on a Monday evening with just enough time to drop our things off at the hotel and sneak in a quick ride before dark along 18 Road. Once we got there we decided we would do Joe's Ridge. The
single track had us climbing right off the bat. My legs really did not want to respond after the long car ride, but the excitement of being in this wonderful part of the country overshadowed any physical discomfort I was feeling.
A wrong turn or 2 later we found ourselves not on Joe's
Ridge but on
Zippedee, the expert trail. No problem, we can do this. Pretty much the entire trail was set up as a knife with sharp drop offs on both sides of the trail. Here is a picture to better describe it.
We all stopped before a rather steep descent with a rather steep ascent right after. I asked what do we do now? Cole said, just point her downhill and go. I did. Instantly I went for zero to 21.9 miles an hour, a second later I hit the transition and carried that speed up the other side. I could see a part of the trail maybe a 100 yards away, so I thought the trail over this hill went straight. I could not have been more wrong, it jogged to the left. As I crested the hill with more speed than I should have, I had a split second decision. Do I try and hold it together and ride my bike off the knife and
plummet down the side of the mountain or should I
ditch the bike and try to grab onto Mother Earth and remain on the knife. I chose option #2. As my tires landed
into the
overly soft dirt, I grabbed a handful of front brake, let the bike dig in beneath me and did my best impression of Superman or was it Super Idiot? Anyways, I would typically attempt to roll with the fall, however that would have me cascading 200 feet down a steep hill. I used the 3 prong attack and jammed both hands and my head into the ground for traction. Poof!!! All Cole and Jason could see was a cloud of dirt and my bike sailing through the air. It took a few minutes for me to recover. I have had wrist problems all year and now both of them hurt equally bad.
Needless to say, the "women" I came with walked their bikes down and up the hill and came to see if I was
OK. I said you're not going to try that??? They laughed. Getting back on my bike and feeling the all too familiar pain in my wrist and the crick in my neck had me concerned if I would be able to ride the next day.
After an evening of food, beer and ice, I awoke relieved knowing I did not need a halo and 2 casts.
We drove to
Moab that morning to ride some trails there. We chose
Amasa Back. It is a sweet out and back
single track just outside
Moab. I can say, this is the most fun I have had working through a trail. We took our time, enjoyed the view and chatted about the awesomeness of this area. Once we made it to the top, the view was just amazing. You could see for miles down into the valley below. The trail was made up of deep sand, baby heads, dirt and slick rock. It made for interesting and challenging riding. The descent was just as much fun as the climb up.
You can check out photos from the links below:
http://www.pbase.com/dondo576/cole__moabhttp://www.pbase.com/dondo576/donovan_moabhttp://www.pbase.com/dondo576/jason_moabIt was the craziest thing seeing the homes that people had built in the side of a rock cliff as we left the trail head. I could not blame them and it made me appreciate the things I have in life.
**ADD VIDEO HERE**
We headed over to Slick Rock. The winds were picking up and blowing about 25 miles an hour when we arrived. Slick Rock is a 12.7 mile loop so we were figuring on 2 hours to ride it. The sign we read at the trail head made us reconsider.
We ended up doing the practice loop to make sure we were not in over our heads. After riding the practice loop, I could not figure out why they call it slick rock. My tires stuck like glue and I and sure if I had fallen, my skin would have too!
