As above, on a two week fly drive to US coming through Moab 1st weekend in Sept (Labor day weekend) does anyone have any recomendations for bike hire, route, precautions etc.
Not taking my bike as will be a total of 3 or 4 days on the bike over a 2 week trip. Were bike shops happy to swap brakes over?
There are loads of well marked trails.
Slickrock is the classic desert rock trail.
Amassa Back is also a classic.
Edit: Ask on some MTBR forums for local riders. There are bike shops in Moab, so you can pre-arrange hire / brake swap overs.
Slickrock - you can't really get lost....
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/2900284687/ ]Follow the dots....[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/brf/ ]brf[/url], on Flickr
Amasa back - great start....
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockymtnway/4003870022/ ]descending waterfall[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/rockymtnway/ ]rockymtnway[/url], on Flickr
The Whole Enchillada! Probably one of the best trails in the world! Get a lift up to the start, plenty of ppl in Moab offer it. Its pretty hot once you start descending off the mountain so make sure you start early.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyalexmtb/6164412844/ ]The Enchillada Awaits[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ladyalexmtb/ ]LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr
Slickrock is interesting but its more of a playground for a couple of hours entertainment than a full ride. And VERY hot! Had to get outta there by 9am!
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyalexmtb/6164461950/ ]Slickrock[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ladyalexmtb/ ]LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr
White rim trail is stunning but I'd choose the Enchillada if I couldnt do both. Got a lift to the start and a jet boat pick-up at the end to travel back to Moab along the Colorado! Superb!
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyalexmtb/6163875619/ ]Bikes in a Boat[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ladyalexmtb/ ]LadyAlex mtb[/url], on Flickr
Not sure about the brakes... took my own bike out there, suffered a failure and the guys in the bike shop were flabbergasted that someone might run their brakes 'the wrong way round'. Maybe drop an email to a few bike shops in Moab? They're pretty friendly...
Don't forget Porcupine Rim - classic. You might want to arrange a shuttle in town to cut out some initial road/track to get there.
In September it'll still be pretty damn hot, so I'd recommend an early start and be off the trail before the full heat of the day. Take loads of water with you and don't ride alone.
Amasa back works great as an evening ride.
Never had a problem with shops swapping brakes over, just remind them when you take it back.
I would contest that, perhaps apart from Slickrock, the rides on the whole are not that well-marked. +1 for the MTBR forums - it'll be a whole lot more fun with some locals.
Get an uplift and do The Whole Enchilada, that includes Porcupine Rim which you could do on it's own if the weather is inclement or if you don't want a whole day out.
Or for a different experience (not technical riding) one of the local tourist firms will take you out to Canyon Country to ride the White Rim trail. They'll pick you up later from the banks of the Colorado with a jet boat - an amazing way to travel and see the landscape 🙂
...Alex beat me to it 😉
In September it'll still be pretty damn hot, so I'd recommend an early start and be off the trail before the full heat of the day. Take loads of water with you and don't ride alone.
That's when we went. It's not too hot really. 90-ish degrees. BUT as its so dry you won't feel it but you WILL dehydrate a LOT! We easily got through 4 litres of water each on Porcupine Rim.
You'll love it. It's brilliant in Moab. Good bike shop service, fantastic trails and it's a lovely town too. Ive been and I still envy you. 🙂
Crossed posts - Yes Whole Enchillada includes most of the downhill bit of Porcupine Rim (though the climb at the start of Porc Rim has some nice little tech challenges too!)
Woo!
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another trail to check out is 'soveriegn' very good
I've been twice and went beginning of October both times and it was still hot then
theres so much stuff to do there both biking and non biking you will be shattered after a week
Yep, Sovereign was good too:
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2638/4019915588_baf5e2a6f0.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockymtnway/4019915588/ ]ben getting extreme[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/rockymtnway/ ]rockymtnway[/url], on Flickr
I must get back out there soon, so many good memories and great trails....
Im trying to squeeze a visit whilst Im out there too...
Thanks All, anyone got a particular bike rental place they would recomend?
We used Poison Spider Cycles and were amazed at how helpful they were, but there's another 3-4 bike shops in town and I don't think any of them are duds!
Ride Amasa Back as a climb, then descend Rockstacker. Brilliant.
Amasa Back climb then ride Rockstacker and back round to descend Amasa back the way you came up. The descent is fast, rocky, technical and it will take you several hours to remove the grin once you've reached the bottom 😀
Porcupine rim either as a loop from town or you can shuttle up to LPS / UPS and ride down taking in all the higher level singletrack / techy stuff and then finish with the Porc Rim singletrack which is mind blowing. Did this 4 times on the last trip, sooo good ! You can as mentioned above also do the Whole Enchilada which is all the way from about 10'000ft in the La Sal mtns down through Hazard County and eventually Porcupine rim. That's something like 30 miles of downhill - it doesn't get much better.
Slickrock is fun and a good workout so worth doing if you have a couple of hours spare. Good for warming up on and experiencing the grip! Careful though, it's like sliding along on sandpaper if you do come off.. I can vouch for that.
Poison Spider including the Portal. Walk the life or death section and enjoy the downhill afterwards - another technical epic.
Rode some of the Moab Brand trails last time. They were fun but I just found myself wanting to be back on Porc or Amasa..
Gemini Bridges is worth a shuttle and ride back to town. There are some super fast jeep track sections and the scenery is amazing. There are some good singletrack sections that loop off now too.
May ride White Rim next time. Have not tried that yet and the boat trip back looks fun.
Have been 3 times and found the Chilli Pepper bike shop the best. Friendly, helpfull and they can arrange shuttles etc for you. We tried elsewhere too last time and got messed around a bit. Chilli Pepper / Coyote are so on the ball they even called our hotel one morning to see if we wanted to go back up Porc Rim !
I tore my achilles on Slick Rock Trail, straining riding up all the ridiculously steep inclines, luckily it was right at the end of three weeks riding in the States, so only missed one day's riding because of it.
I will be in Moab from the 1st of September for a few days,i will be renting a bike.Love Moab, this will be my 4th time!
Poison Spider including the Portal. Walk the life or death section and enjoy the downhill afterwards - another technical epic.
+1
Forgot to mention, but September will still be pretty hot, but starting to cool down. Potential for thunderstorms almost every afternoon. Stay hydrated.