http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29514640
It was now time for the last ride of our mountain bike trip, the infamous Porcupine Rim trail. I had read about this trail many times and I was honestly really nervous about riding it. All I could think about was the exposed singletrack that was mentioned in all the trail books I've read. But then I figured I was probably ready for this trail after everything else we did during this trip. This was the final test.
Today's ride got the Canadian treatment. No driving and no shuttles. We were going to ride from town, up Sands Flats road and back to the condo, which adds about 9 miles to the ride. It was going to be a tough slog up the road after 5 consecutive days of riding...but we all wanted to maximize time in the saddle.
We started the ride out from the condo and it was really nice outside. Blue sky and shining sun. We all filled our Camelbaks up to the max and carried a couple waterbottles as we knew the hard part was going to be climbing under the hot sun for 2 hours. The two toughest parts of the climb were before the Slickrock trail so they were pretty early in the ride...which was good for warming up the legs. After an hour and fifteen of moderate climbing we reached the trail head. It was now time to cross Porcupine Rim off the list must-do trails in Moab and I was starting to get pretty excited.
The trail started out with a quick jeep trail descent into the saddle but soon we were back to constant climbing. This time it was a pretty rocky climb coupled with short sections of slickrock/sandstone. It wasn't an extremely techincal climb like in Sovereign but it was still a grunt to get to the top. Just before we got to the top we encountered another cyclist who was walking his bike up the climb...he looked pretty drained...and he was not even at the halfway point.
When we reached the top of the lookout we encountered a small group of riders from Pennsylvania. Apparently they had done the Slickrock trail first and then decided to finish the ride off at Porcupine Rim so the whole group looked pretty tired. They were lying down and seemed to be facing a water shortage issue as well. We took a short break and took a few photos and headed out before the group so we wouldn't have anyone in our way on the downhill.
Overlooking Castle Valley at the lookout point
After the break there was a little bit more climbing but when we finally crested the hill we got ready for the 10km of downhill. We got to the downhill and it was AWESOME!!! The first part was really rocky jeep trail but it was super fast and required almsot no pedalling. My suspension was definetely getting a full workout going down and there were a lot of sections that could really hurt if you weren't paying a attention and looking at your line well in advance. The downhill seemed to go on forever...it was so awesome. There were a few section that were pretty sketch and we had to walk/dab but it was all rideable...depending on your confidence/skill level. I'd rather walk a section then take a ride home in a helivac.
When we got to the bottom of the first downhill section we came across the famous 4 foot rock ledge. None of us dropped it as the landing was super flat and so could potentially wreck your bike (and you) if you took it wrong so we took the chicken line down just to the right. I got Brent to take a couple photos and as we were getting ready to go again, the group that we met and the lookout had caught up to us. All the riders except for one took the chicken line but one defiant rider went for the jump. The rider landed in a bit of a nosedive and completely bottomed out the suspension on his rental Nomad, so I'm sure he wasn't super concerned about its well being...but his jump could have gone wrong in so many ways.
Next came the section I had been thinking about the entire trip. The Porcupine Rim single track. The trail started out with a quick descent down some slickrock to a canyon and then crossed over to the exposed single track section. The exposure wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I personally think some of the stuff on the Kokopelli trail in Fruita was much worse but there were still some really technical sections that could spell disaster if you bailed, so some parts were much safer to just either dab or get off and walk. As Brent always says...sometimes you have to think about the risk vs. reward...and some areas were way to risky.
After navigating to about halfway down we came to another canyon where there was a portage down a pretty steep area. It looked sorta rideable if you took the right line on the switchback but we chose to just dismount and carry our bikes down...which was still pretty tricky. I personally could not see a line that would not be uber technical/risky.
Halfway down the singletrack section
As we decended the final part the trail became slightly wider but was still really technical. We could see the parking lot but we were still pretty high up. The descent was not too bad and we finally made it all the way down in one piece. I had done it...I did one of the harder trails in Moab trail with no injuries and I know I had a huge grin on my face. For me it had been a great accomplishment to not only do this ride...but also do the manly version which included the big road climb. I probably rode about 95% of the trail with most of the walking being in the really technical/exposed sections of the singletrack.
After reaching the parking lot, we were all smiles but pretty tired. We had a quick breather and then shifted into our big rings and rode back to our condo on the side of the highway.
This was my last ride of the trip. I would have gone the next day but I decided that it would be best to give my knee a rest. I was on painkillers to make it through most of the rides as my knee had still been pretty achy from Tuesday so I really was riding through the pain most days.
Final thoughts:
This trip was probably one of the best trips I've ever done. It was great group to ride with and I found that all my crazy winter training had really paid off. I had orginally been pretty worried about doing 6 days of mountain biking in a row...but it actually wasn't really a factor after getting adequate food and rest after each day. The vacation almost seemed like a full-time job in the way we approached each day but it was actually really fun and very memorable. If you're a mountain biker you should absolutly go to Moab but I also suggest spending a couple a of days in Fruita as well. The riding is great in both locations and totally different. Fruita isn't really far from Moab so you could even make a quick day trip to do one of the sections and then drive back to Moab.
- Kyle
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment