Wow what a day!
After a night of listening to RV air conditioning units switching on and off then a 3am drive by my tent I decided this campground was not for me! So by 06:30am I was up and out of there, chased off by a cat trying to pinch my breakfast. At 7am, I was outside Moab Cyclery waiting for the shuttle to Hazzards County Trailhead. We left at 07:30 and by 08:30 I was at the front of 11 guys pedalling up a climb of a mile at 9500ft around 3000m altitude I guess – ow my lungs were screaming for air they felt as if someone had torn them out of my chest twisted them around a few times and stuffed them back down my throat.
But from then on it was downhill pretty much all day- for 30 miles! And the first bit of singletrack was sweet flowy dirt through woods and over rocks stunts that had been built up. It was fast as we dropped 500m altitude over 5km, twisting and turning. This riding is more like the North Downs when its dry- but longer and more downhill gradient- we're talking golden birdies for 5km, and dropping twice the height of Leith Hill!
I'd decided to try and start ahead of the other 10 riders so there was someone to find me and pick me up on the trail if I had a problem (especially as 4 of them were from the Seattle Fire Dept)- and being the only girl I feared being at the back and being left behind- sureley they will all catch me up eventually, but I was wrong- I was the one doing the catching up. I guess groups do too many chat, faff and photo stops.
I crossed over the road from Hazzards into Kokopelli double track, fast and very rutted by 4WD to be taken with caution, fantastic views open up over the valley below and the incredible rock formations- as seen in all those spaghetti western movies!
We skirted the rim for another 10km of singletrack on the UPS and then LPS trails- sometimes flowy but often times bouncing up and over rock slabs or down rock ledges, avoiding the rim edge where a fall means sudden death. This was tough as the view kept calling your eyes away from the trail and we all know that where you look you ride!
An hour or so of grin factor later I reached the top of Porcupine Rim where a Squirrel was about to rummage through a camelbak lying there. Turned out the Camelbak belonged to a guy from Denver named Will and for the rest of the day we rode together trying to contain our grins as our facial muscles started to hurt.
Porcupine skirts along the rim over rock drops and sandy singletrack mainly downhill but a couple of sharp ups. Eventually it turns away from the main rim to skirt the Colorado River some 100m or so above it I guess and here its narrow singletrack over rocky ledges, sometimes fast lulling you into speed then sharp edges where you could easily mess up and be over the edge. Keep eyes on trail- do not look at river view!
Miles and miles, 4 hours and smiles and smiles later we emerged down by the Colorado river through a tunnel and hit the tarmac for a 5 mile roll back to Moab. I had such a great ride and my legs and shoulders and hands are all aching with pleasure from it. I am shattered!
I highly recommend the $20 shuttle up to Hazzards County trailhead – the singletrack down for 30 miles and 4 hrs is worth every cent.
I've joined Will at a wild campsite up on Sand Flats road- not an RV in sight but just views of mountains and rock formations- its beyond awesome- I cannot believe my luck! (There are no facilities just a Pit toilet and a bench and fire pit by my tent), I'll stay there for 2 nights before I head to St.George for the Grand Canyon tour. (Don't worry I'll grab a shower in the bike shop in town- yes they do that here).
So we're off to enjoy a beer by the campfire as reward for our tough day!
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