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Day 7: Riding Moab’s Slickrock Before we went to bed on day 6, we went down and asked the guy at the front desk how early we can get some breakfast in the morning since we want to…need to… start riding as close to 6am as possible. It will be the only way to beat the heat. He tells us that he is also the day manager of the McDonalds down the street, and he agrees to open 15 minutes early just for us. We are stoked! It’s a plan. The next day, Todd, Jim, Bill and I roll into McDonalds at 5:45am to “fuel up” for the ride. Ray and Paul decide to spend the morning enjoying sleep in a real bed, and coffee at a local book shop (where Ray spends 3 hrs of his morning while we ride). To get to the Slickrock park, we ride 3.5 miles, and climb another 1,200 feet. Normally this would sound like a lot, but given what we did the day before, it seems like just the “warm up” we will need. We get treated to a beautiful sunrise as we climb above the small town of Moab. The morning sun lights just the tops of the canyon ridges on the far side of town. More “photo ops” and we haven’t even reached the single track yet. I have already filled 2 separate 256K cards for my Canon S400 digital camera (which has only required 2 batteries for this trip), and Paul lent me another 64K card just for today. After dinner last night we went to several book stores and read accounts of this trail. It claimed the ride would take 2 to 5 hrs, was the highest difficulty rating, and had a plethora of warnings with every description – just the kind of thing that gets us excited, but yet we are old enough (30 yrs to 49 yrs) to also feel a bit apprehensive. We had agreed to take the “easiest” route as was described in these books once we begin the ride. However…once we start riding, we realize the whole “slick rock” name is the biggest misnomer of all times. They should have named it “traction rock”. This stuff is so incredibly “sticky” – we have more traction and control of our bikes than we have ever experienced. We are accustomed to Pennsylvania wet, slippery, muddy trails with loose rocks, snot slippery roots and mud bogs galore. This is like traction perfection. The route is identified by white painted lines (otherwise you would have no idea where to go), and is shaped like a lollipop – an “out and back” straight section, then a round loop. The loop in one way is apparently easier than the other way, and by the time we get to the loop, we are feeling so strong, we insist on going the “hard” way. We are having a blast. It feels like we are riding on another planet – all we can see is bizarre, rolling rock formations for miles and miles. We are able to descend and incredibly slow speeds, (or fast and crazy like I like to) with complete control, as well as climb incredibly steep descents – standing – without spinning. On one steep climb, I underestimated the steepness, and didn’t have enough power to keep turning the crank – I fell “up hill”. That was weird. Never fell “up hill” before (I was so surprised I didn’t clip out in time). After that, I made sure I had enough momentum, and was able to climb about 95% of the rest of what I attempted. We have MANY, MANY more photo ops, meet just a few more riders, but by in large, we have the entire park to ourselves. This is normally quite crowded according to the accounts we read, but being the summer, few people will brave the heat, or get up at dawn I guess. By the time we hit 2.5 hrs of steady riding, we are starting to tire, and the heat is beginning to punish us. We are ready to head back, but must push on for the last few miles. By the time we exit the park, we rode for 3 hrs, and stopped for plenty of pictures – I filled the 64K card, and Bill got more video as well. It was one of the most memorable mountain bike rides of our lives. As we leave the park at about 95 degrees, we see some people just starting – some without helmets, some wearing black – YIKES! No wonder the various books stress the warnings so much when you have “geniuses” like these frequenting the trails. We can’t figure it out – they probably won’t last even to the lollipop loop. We headed back for town, packed up, and our shuttle to Montrose arrived at the airport. He took us to Montrose (about 2.5 hrs away), and took our bikes back to Telluride for us the following day. We scheduled our flights on the following day, so that none of this trip was “too tight”. After dinner in Montrose, Jim leads our discussion in the hotel room. We each get a chance to share our favorite (or at least one of our favorite) scriptures. It was yet one more different idea to stimulate the spirit within us. These talks have been meaningful, fun, insightful and enriching. We feel blessed that we can be open and honest with each other, without any fear or self consciousness. A deep friendship has grown among us that we know will last as long as our memories. There is a comfort between and among us that could not be “manufactured” or feigned. God has drawn us closer together and we can see His hand in all aspects of this trip. We all agree. This may have been the first, but it shouldn’t be the last. If you are reading this and are thinking you “might” want to do it – do not let yourself be discouraged by some of the accounts of riding/climbing, even if you are new to the sport. Get a modest “medium grade” mountain bike (not a hybrid) and train for it – it is SO VERY WORTH all the effort you will put into preparing and planning. It was indeed an EPIC voyage, a trip of a lifetime that you will never forget. I know I won’t.
More pictures for this day can be seen by clicking the button at the top of this page. A sheet of "thumbnails" will be displayed, and you can click on them to see the full size/full picture.
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