Outerbike and Beyond

I'm sitting here in Colorado looking at fresh snow on the ground as I'm thinking about my recent time in Arizona and Utah. Thankfully I'm still plenty stoked from the trip, which makes our sub-freezing temps more tolerable.

My roundabout journey to Moab first took me to Arizona where I was able to ride in one of my favorite places, Sedona, for my birthday. The drive to Moab then took a slight detour to visit Monument Valley. This place had been on my 'to do' list for a while and it did not disappoint. A few hours later I was in Moab for the first time in a long time.

The next day we rode The Whole Enchilada. Based on the number of shuttles we saw on the road it seemed like everyone else who got to Moab early for Outerbike was doing the same. Still, traffic on the trail wasn't too bad.

This is a 'must do' for everyone who loves mountain biking. Riding from a high point of 11,200 feet in the La Sal Mountains down to the Colorado River through changing trail types and vegetation is incredible. As a bonus, we got to experience peak fall colors and perfect weather. It was a good day. I didn't get any pictures, but thankfully Enve put together a great video for this ride. We skipped the Kokopelli Trail section shown in the video in favor of Jimmy Keen Trail to get more single track and miles.

Outerbike began the following day and was great as well. Seeing many cycling-industry friends and riding the latest and greatest bikes back-to-back on Moab trails is tough to beat. I hope the crew at Revel didn't notice me drooling over their Rascals and Rails. My fingerprints were all over The Offering from Evil as well. There were a few other sweet bikes begging to be ridden, but my hands were full with the Enduro Bites booth and getting in a few on-trail photo shoots for our upcoming website relaunch.

So many bikes, so little time!

Word got out quickly where to go for the freshest ride fuel.

After getting everything set-up and checking out the other vendors, we did a quick photo shoot on Bar M Loops. There were some fun, technical trails there.

Enduro Bites Ambassador Julie Lyon showed off her skills on the Bar M Loops.

The following day we rode the trail that made Moab famous -- Slickrock. It had been so long that I forgot how fun, challenging, and scenic it is.

Trying to figure how I'm going to make it up the next climb!

The view from Slickrock with Porcupine Rim and The La Sal Mountains in the distance.

You can't help but imagine that you're on another planet while riding Slickrock. 

Riding the repeated steep climbs on Slickrock is like doing an interval workout. Many of the climbs are steeper than anything else most people will ever ride. If it were not for the insanely good traction courtesy of the sandstone, attempting to ride them would be futile. They are that steep. It took me a few minutes to remember to focus on putting down maximum power without worrying about losing traction. 

After a slow start to the final day and a little drama with our van running out of fuel on the way to the venue, we explored 7-Up and Mag-7 for a few more photos and riding before quickly loading the van and driving back home.

Riding 7-Up required some route finding to reach Mag-7, but it was well worth it.

Thanks to James, Julia, David, and Julie, as well as the Outerbike attendees and staff for making this event so successful for us. I'm already looking forward to going back.

Anyone up for the Moab Ho Down Mountain Bike and Film Festival later this month?