Moab Day Trips

With all the snow we have been receiving, we have take solace down south a couple of times. The first was on Christmas Eve. The plan was to do some MTB riding and then have a little time for Chris to take his Gas-gas out. Well due to a lack of planning which resulted in what seemed like endless mechanicals, we spent the entire allotted time riding MTB and no time was left for the trials bike.
So we tried it again a few days later. We each took Tuesday off and headed down again for a repeat. We fixed what needed on our respective bikes. This ride went better. Well, I still keep getting my trash kicked on Sovereign, but the lack of mechanicals was better. I can't seem to muster my technical skills, fitness, and courage to sustain the entire route. Something always seems to give out and I ended up frustrated.On our second try Chris was able to take his "new bike" out.

Getting ready

So these are not our usual rides (bikes).The majority of our shocks are in the shop/being sent back to Sram--both XX forks from our Superflys and Chris rear shock from his Hi-Fi. None the less, we were still able to find something to ride. If you look close you can see Chris' trials bike mounted to the back of the car. Chris made a pretty cool rack for the Wagon.

We started at the parking lot just North of the river outside of town. In fact, we did not enter Moab for either of these trips. We never made it over the bridge, but I think the bridge might be completed.We then take the newly paved old highway which is not a path up to the Bar M trails.

They (I am not sure who "they" are but I am pretty fond of them) have been adding trails to the Bar M area. We rode Lazy and attempted EZ. As we started on Lazy Chris proclaimed it his new favorite trail--it was that good! EZ is having a bit of a tumble weed problem. Hopefully the fence will go up soon to remedy this issue. I anticipate EZ will be equally joyful.

Just across from Lazy/EZ is Deadman's Ridge which will take you directly to Bar B. Chris has always said the biggest problem with Bar B is that it is too short. Deadman's Ridge is essentially an extension of Bar B--same type of riding. Problem solved! According to the maps, Deadman's Ridge extends beyond Bar B and spits out to the old highway/newly paved path. It is still under construction, but once finished we will need to capitalize on this also. The portion to Bar B is great fun though.

They are also working on a trail or loop beyond Lazy/EZ, called the Back 40. We are looking forward to this completion. Again, I don't know who they are but they are good.

 A view of Deadman's Ridge from Lazy/EZ

 Chris starting Lazy/EZ

Chris on EZ

 I have to get Chris to "fix" my seat. Those devil horns keeping snagging my shorts.

 Chris glove fell in such a way to sum up our frustration with mechanicals on Christmas Eve.

The plan was to be on Moab again today. This time with Erica (Tingey), Jen (Hanks) and Erin (Collins), but I totally wimped out. With the chance of winter driving conditions and a high in the 20's, it did not seem that enticing. Hopefully, we will get another, better chance.

Crosstraining

Shoveling is great cross training but this is getting RIDICULOUS!

A Belated Birthday Party

A couple of months ago or so, I was in Moab riding with Chris having a really great time. It hit me that this--mountain biking--would be a great way to celebrate my birthday. So I sent out a mass email and invited people to join me. To be honest, I did not get that great of a response and then as the date approached, it seemed as if interest was continuing to fade. I fully expected it to be just Chris, myself and maybe a couple of friends.
To my surprise, we have more friends than we expected. A group shot was taken, but I have not seen it yet, so I am going from memory as to who was in attendance:
Keith, Adam, Ty, Heather and Jed, Gayle and Paul., Jeff and Emily, Jen and Tim, Tiffany, Chad, Cody, Brad, (his friend) Craig, Dave and Lynda, and then Phil and Cathy (sort of). I was blown away. We can rarely get anyone to join us for a ride, let alone a weekend trip!
And it was delightful! The weather was warm and sunny. The trails were in good condition. It was a bit difficult to keep everyone together, but I think we did alright.
One day one, we rode the race course, Zen, Barrel Cacti to Stucki Springs, Barrel Roll, Rim Rock, and back through the wash or some variation. In retrospect, I think I was the only one who rode all of that--Chris (and Chad) unfortunately missed most of Zen due to a mechanical. Day two we parked in Coral Canyon by the Harely dealership and rode Church Rocks and Prospector. We caught a snack at Red Rock Campground being careful not to disrupt anything and back again.

I did not get any photos of day one as Chris had the camera. Here are some pix from day two though.Thanks to all those who could join me. It was a great weekend.

Getting Ready

Out on Prospector

Coming down Church Rocks

Grabbing a drink

Check out that sky!

As I mentioned previously, I broke my pedal last week mid trail and had to borrow one. Incidentally, Chris had already purchased some of the new eggbeater pedals as a birthday gift. Practically perfect timing.

Expensive pedals let's me know he cares

And this is the most recent addition to our bike collection. It is a bit different from what we normally get, but Chris has wanted one for years. I am excited that he finally got it.

Chris practicing on his new trials bike

He just attempted a wheelie and was a bit successful--he still needs to get a helmet.

Trials bike or not a trials bike? Trials bike!

November

November was a crazy month for me. I spend the week after Frog Hollow and the week after Thanksgiving traveling for work. None the less, I did not do as  much riding as I would have liked. We usually put in miles and hours down south over the holiday weekend, I instead spent it traveling. In fact I spent six days doing no physical activity. That is crazy for me and I don't like the way I feel because of it. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things...my normal kinda life.

I went out for a ride today. And I broke my pedal. Chris is my hero though. I called to see if he had anything in the car that I could use. He didn't so I was going to turn back after only riding for 30 minutes. I was disappoint, but what could I do. He insisted that I call around and see if I could locate something. He would use his lunch bread to pick it up and bring it to me. Racer had something I could borrow. I dropped off the trail a bit, removed the broken pedal. He threw the new one on and I was ready to go again. Thanks Chris and Racer!

A broken spring

 While I really did not have any time to enjoy it, this is what I left:

 Batu Ferringhi Beach (Penang, Malaysia)

 Batu Ferringhi means Foreigner Rock

I came home to this. At least I can enjoy it, although I probably should not breath too deep. 

So November is gone with its preparing to travel, traveling, and catching up from travels I don't feel like I have done much. Hopefully December will treat me better and then I can start getting serious again in January.