Moab Slickrock Trail Mountain Biking
The Slickrock trail is one of Moab's most popular mountain biking trails. It is one of the most unique trails around. I've ridden small amounts of slickrock in other places but I don't of anywhere else where you're surrounded by miles of rock.I've ridden Slickrock several times over the years but it had been a while since I had done it. Yesterday I decided it was time to revisit it and rode up there. It's not a steady endurance ride but instead an interval workout. You go all out to get up a steep section of slickrock and then recover and get ready to go hard again.
Although there were clouds, it was nice and warm. The views were incredible and I had a lot of fun riding around on the rock. Because it's sandstone, you get amazing traction and if you have the leg strength, you can ride up some very steep sections. One tip is to use a tire without a lot of tread to increase the contact area. Leg strength and balance though will generally limited you more than traction.
I was riding up a steep section yesterday and was running out of power. I hit a bump and stopped going forward. I started rolling backward and couldn't get off gracefully. I slammed my knee into the headset. I got a nasty bruise and some soreness but thankfully it doesn't seem like a serious injury.
I started with the Practice Loop since practice is always good. I got in 18.2 miles, 2908 feet of climbing in 3:14.
I have the Moab Slickrock GPS track uploaded. It also has small photos placed on it. I also have photos of the ride on Flickr.
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Labels: Moab, mountain biking, Utah
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3 Comments:
Ha! Chris and I were there yesterday (Sunday) with some friends. It's a great trail, but I discovered it becomes incrementally more difficult on a rigid single speed (despite Chris making look like a piece of cake). I hiked nearly every up. I hope we can run into you while we're here!
Marni, it'd be great to meet up with you guys! I'm here through Tuesday evening. I emailed my cell # a couple days to the email on Chris' blog.
Only riding Hurrah Pass, Jacob's Ladder, Amassa Back loop today so waiting a little longer to head out. Hanging out the library getting some stuff done.
I didnt get a chance to bike there, but a friend and I went camped and in Moab and it was amazing!
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