Moab: This Whole Enchilada Tastes Different

8,000 ft of elevation descent over 34 miles over 7 hours as a first timer. On Trek Top Fuel 2012.

Doing-It-The-First-Time Tips:

- Bring more than 2L of water

- Bring some juicy fruit

- Bring 2 spare tires and all the tools you may need to fix bike

- A lot of sunscreen. I would wear a long sleeves and long pants if you do not want farmer's tan

- Book the shuttle through Poison Spider

- You should stop frequently to enjoy it

- Get water from Lions Park before you turn into town

Getting There:

Unless you have a someone willing to shuttle you (1 hour each way), use the local Poison Spider Bicycle Shop (https://poisonspiderbicycles.com/bike-shuttles/). $30 Per Person. Our driver is a mountain biker and funny as hell. The pickup point in downtown has plenty of parking spots. You can choose either 7am or 10am departure.

The Trail Head:

The trail head has a unisex toilet and beautiful view. You can gear up here.

Burro Pass Trail and Hazzard County

The initial climb of approximately 700 ft is not bad at all. As soon as you get through it, the view opens up tremendously, and you will get to an area where most people take photos. From hereon, you will be riding among trees and bushes, on soft black dirt trail. I was a little because my tires were not wide enough to plow through the dirt steadily. Notably, we ran into a group that was trying to fix a flat tire and a broken seat. You can't get too prepared...

Kokopelli, UPS and LPS (Upper and Lower Porcupine Singletrack)

I would say these three sections are the highlights of the trip. Most of the time you will be hugging along the cliff with a view of the majestic Castle Valley and Round Mountain. In certain sections, your bike will not be more than 3 feet away from the edge of the cliff! As you progress, the Round Mountain will appear bigger and bigger. These sections were where I started to gain more confidence and started to take on bigger drops and more technical sections. With energy level still high and rush of adrenaline, I enjoyed these sections the most. Also, these sections have some of the best backpacking campsites! The terrains here are mostly slick rocks, small rocks and soft brown dirt.

The Porcupine Rim

As you notice that you stop hugging along the cliff, you are probably on the Porcupine Rim trail. By now, we were already 4 hour into it. We actually started to panic because we were running out of water. I had 2L and another guy had 1L. Absolutely under-prepared. I would advise no less than 3L if this is your first time and you want to stop frequently to enjoy the views. Also, another teammate was exhausted so he walked a lot. If we were much more prepared, we would have enjoy this section more. But the trail is very fun and views were awesome in a different way. We started to get into some canyons, and eventually hug along the cliff was on top of the Colorado River. It was surreal to see ourselves riding along the cliff 5,000 ft above the river.

Water!

By the time we started to descent to the Colorado River, we had ran out of water and rather dehydrated. Our number one thing at that time was to find water. We rode along the rather easy trail along the river, trying to get back to town as quickly as possible. We contemplated buying water from the campers along the river..... At the end of the Colorado River trail, we saw the Lions Park and found a water fountain there! We each probably drank half a gallon of water there. Lying on the grass and staring at the blue sky was how we ended our trip.

#Moab #mountainbiking #outdoor