Friday, December 31, 2010

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.

2 comments:

KanyonKris said...

Sorry to hear about the mechanical issues.

Thanks for reporting on the new trails. I'll have to get down there to ride those.

Grizzly Adam said...

The best way to fix that seat is to get rid of it. I ripped too many shorts with mine.

I like the look of those new trails!