Moab Trip Report: A Tale of Obsession

[lph]

i don't do it, but, if I think back to all the times i have fallen while mountain, i think i have bled or bruised my shoulder or upper arm 1 or 2 times. my elbow, uncountable times. FWIW.

[altagirl]

i don't do it, but, if I think back to all the times i have fallen while mountain, i think i have bled or bruised my shoulder or upper arm 1 or 2 times. my elbow, uncountable times. FWIW.

Plus a scrape or bruise on your shoulder, you barely notice compared to your elbow - which you hit on every table, armrest, desk, etc...

And a long sleeve might protect from scrapes but that's it - and shoulder pads mean heavy full armor which is judt too much unless it's real DH.

[Tap]

TOOLS, NOT JEWELS.


way to get after it Arty. hope she's o.k.

[Arty50]

TOOLS, NOT JEWELS.


way to get after it Arty. hope she's o.k.

Yup, nothing a hex wrench couldn't fix. Of course after this trip I needed a new star nut and a new rear deraileur. I may have trashed the latter on the diving board last fall. Not sure since I haven't ridden much since then...early winter ya know.

[Arty50]

Just had to fix this up a bit...

[CS]

Arty,

Solution: ride faster and just air the whole thing next time, endoing won't be a problem.

[watersnowdirt]

On Day 4 I wake up to find a message from Altagirl that they're in town. Woohoo! finally! Some girl energy to balance out a week of testosterone (just kidding Arty and lph).

We meet up with them at the Slickrock Cafe, and after having my first ever "breakfast in courses" from the worst waiter in the world, we catch the shuttle up to the top of Kokopelli for a day of downhill.

On the long ride up, we see what appear to be very dark, ominous clouds waiting for us at the top - about 8500 feet. By the time we unload the shuttle, we are all freezing. People are pulling out their long sleeve shirts, and we decide to just start riding to stay warm.

The first section of Kokopelli/LPS/UPS (AGs - help me out here on what's what) is a long rutted fireroad. Sounds boring, but it was actually super fast and somewhat challenging because of the ruts.

Now, if you haven't ridden with the AGs and their friend Rodney yet, it's important to know this. Do not try to keep up. Do not try to pass. Do not do what they do. Because - they RIP! They are so freakin fast that I felt like we were all in a video that's been put on fast forward. Suddenly, the landscape was flying by me at a million miles an hour.

Back to the trail - the fireroad leads to a fantastic, long singletrack that is very Tahoe-esque. Lots of trees and some lose dirt. The tree branches have a nasty habit of jumping out and grabbing you though, so the tight singletrack becomes that much more challenging. But for those of us from Northern California - this at least felt like home.

Here you get killer views, breathtaking drops, and several "don't fall or you're going several hundred feet down into the canyon" sections.

The trickiest section of LPS/UPS is the steep, lose section that's already been referred to, where lph did his major endo (9 out of 10 on the AGs fall scale!) and wrecked his thumb. I have to say, it was quite a scary fall, and all I can think when I see stuff like that is "Mom is going to be so pissed at me for letting this happen!". Yeah, I know irrational, but what can I do....

Soon after, kokopelli meets up with Porcupine Rim, so we've got another 10 miles of ridiculously fun downhill to go. This is where the speed really comes in. At this point, I"m riding as fast on technical downhill as I ever have, trying to keep up with the AGs. And thus my training begins - speed makes difficult technical sections much easier. This hadn't necessarily been my approach until then.

Near the diving board, with all eyes on me, I endo for the crowd. Just wanted to provide some good entertainment.

Meanwhile, lph is suffering, as clearly something is very wrong with his thumb. He's more quiet than I've seen on a ride, and obviously in pain.

Down the final techy singletrack, I follow Mr. AG for a while, who gives me some great tips on how to handle some particularly tough sections. I still can't manage that tree on the corner, though.

At the end of the ride, the AGs share their beer, we hang with the dogs, and then drive back to town.

Dinner at McStiffs that night, and after Day #4, we know we're tired when we're say no to campfire and s'mores with the AGs. We must be pooped if even AG's caramello s'mores can't lure us out for a later night....

Stay tuned for Day 5 - the final ride.

[altagirl]

We had so much fun on that ride!! You make it sound like you're slow - and you're not even close to slow! (And I'm not close to fast either. We just watched the dual slalom at Deer Valley - holy crap THOSE guys are fast.)

[freshies]

This is where the speed really comes in. At this point, I"m riding as fast on technical downhill as I ever have, trying to keep up with the AGs. And thus my training begins - speed makes difficult technical sections much easier. This hadn't necessarily been my approach until then.

ding! ding! ding! the faster ya go, the smoother it gets! counter-intuitive when ya first start riding, but after awhile this sinks ina nd you just start to bomb technical/rocky, etc sections....

great TR so far, thx for sharing!

[watersnowdirt]

On Day 5, lph is out because of the wrecked thumb. Arty and I are moving VERY slowly in the morning. 4 days of hard riding in a row and admittedly, we're both a bit sluggish.

At this point, the Moab bruising has already begun to take over my entire legs. Even with armor, I've got several dozen bruises on my legs. Apparently, Altagirl has the same affliction of bruising ridiculously easily, so at least that makes me feel better.

We meet up again with the same crew, and head back up to the colder elevation of 8500 feet to get some more of the Kokopelli singletrack goodness.

Knowing the trail a bit now, we can navigate the ruts easily, though after 4 days of hammering, my bike is starting to throw a temper tantrum. It's not shifting well, break pads are wearing thin, and overall it just seems to need a break. As do I. My riding that day was less than stellar, and every turn seemed a bit too tight, and things I was climbing up with ease caused more problems today.

Arty, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten his second wind, and was riding much better that day. Except for the several burly falls he took, which left him in a state of disrepair on the ride home.

AG had a major battle with a tree branch that claimed at least 4 of her spokes, so she had to forfeit and ride the road down. You were missed, AG!!

We hooked up with two youngsters from Atlanta who were happy as clams to be riding out west, and rode like champs for kids who said they mostly ride in Florida, where the peak elevation is 345 feet .

More singletrack, more Porcupine Rim yumminess, some solid rain sprinkles, and then, the end. Just in time, since not an hour after we were off the trail, it downpoured like nobody's business.

And that was it - as quickly as it started - our riding in Moab was done. By then, I have to say, I was ready for a day off. Moab had treated me well, spoiled me rotten, and worn me out.

The ride home the next day was relatively painless, though I know we were all sad to leave what I think we all think of as home away from home.

Now, to start planning the fall trip back out there....

The end.

[lph]

Great TR, WSD!!

Really summed it up well.

Maybe Arty will chime in with a couple more pics.

If summer never comes to Tahoe, I may not wait till fall to go back. I will ride in the heat. There isn't that much climbing there anyway.

[Arty50]

Maybe Arty will chime in with a couple more pics. .

I've got broadband now! I'll get to it later today.

[watersnowdirt]

bump so that Arty posts more pix!

[Arty50]

I'm such a slacker...

[Arty50]

So as most of you know, Moab is a very beautiful place.


A place where you just have to stop for a second and take in the view.


And it's even better when you can share with the best people in your life.


But eventually you get back on your bike.


And then go jump off of something.



And then get ready for another...


...sweet buttery air...


...over things in the way...


...to the cheers of those along for the ride.


But it's not enough. You need more.


And even the parking lot turns into a show.


Rad!

[watersnowdirt]

nice to see these - brings back really good memories. Can't wait to get back there....

[Ski Monkey]

I'm excited.

[Sutter]

I like the guy falling over his bike next to the trailer in the background of that last shot.

[edg]

Sweet pics. Looks like a great place to ride

edg