Well, I have a moment to breath finally (been going full out on vacation the last week) and I thought I would post the happenings on the Moab spring 2013 guys trip.
So this is a 2 year delayed version of the moab trip we did in 2010 and just like then, it was Wade's friend Steve's party. This year Wade Tom and I got down there Friday night, instead of Thursday night with the rest of the group, but its just as well since they had to hunt around quite a bit to get a campsite. They were kind enough to snag us a spot, it wasn't sand flats but it did have showers, a pool and cottonwoods....lots and LOTS of cottonwoods. Coby and His friend Wade joined us as well, which was great since, as much as we like steve and his crew, the crew pictured below are the more "veteran" riders and we all kind of know each others rhythm.
So for our first ride, we wanted to do something different than slickrock (as fun as it is, its getting played out). We were thinking Amasa back, since its such a familiar name in Moab mountain biking and none of us, amazingly, had ever ridden it. Plus there was a new trail off it that was supposed to be very fun, Captain Ahab.
Regarding Amasa back as a mountain bike trail: skip it. The trouble is that its also called "metal masher" and is a hardcore 4x4 trail. Not that we experienced any traffic on the trail, but bear in mind that you will be getting wide and technically challenging (practically unridable) uphills and rocky wide trails other places. We didn't take the trail all the way out where it becomes single track, but we got a sampling of the trail enough to call it as such. I will say that the views are stunning and once you get past the horrid uphill, its a very pleasant and easy ride. I would say that its suitable for novice riders assuming they will walk a few troublesome spots (an most of the uphill)
Captain ahab on the other hand was a lot of fun, and I would recommend it for good riders with confidence or great riders who are risk averse; the double black rating isn't merited, maybe a single black.
Lets clear things up right now though, this is NOT a downhill trail. For one, the trail climbs for the 1st third, so be prepared for a mild to strenuous climb from the cutoff at the top of the hill for a little while. If you were coming strait from the car, it would be a long uphill for a decent while, you may want to take a breather at the top. Once you get rolling on it, its very fun; just fast enough to keep a breeze, and technical enough to make you commit to a line. You should be aware though that drops that looks impossible almost always are graded or fixed to be completely ridable, and are all about the same level of skill. I would liken it to an amusment park ride, or bungey jump, its a little intimidating, but someone has taken the time to make sure its consistent and reliable so not really scary. Once you figure out the flow, you can ride it with confidence.
This is about what you can expect from 95% of the drops that look harder than they actually are.
The views, by the way, are great! As a last note, take it easy on the last part, it gets tight, sandy and off camber and there is a lot of exposure to the right down into the canyon. I recommend you don't fall there.
That night we decided to christen Wade's truck, his 2013 Tacoma TRD and do some off-roading.
is now totally graded and passable by any old car. You keep heading up this road until you get to the signs for bull canyon, its a nice little drive thats totally suitable for any vehicle with off road pretension, or even some that aren't if you don't mind getting them bagged up a little underneath.
The payoff of the drive (other than just a nice drive) is that you gain access to a small trail of the bottom of gemini bridges. I had seen the bridges 100 times (5 maybe) from the top, but never from the bottom. It was beautiful, ask Wade.
Totally worth it, even without the off roading fun.
The next day we packed up and headed out to Klondike Bluffs area for one more ride...what a great area! Anna and I had ridden the 4x4 trail and it was easy peasy, but we wanted to do something different, so we took dino flow to something yellow and terrible (can't recall the name) and then went down UFO. it was the best moab ride I had done it a while, Dino flow wasn't technically challenging in the least but it was smooth and fast and flowey...I liked it a lot. UFO was a blast too, although short. I took some GoPro footage and Coby is editing it together, but none of it was very good. The ride though was excellent.
As soon as Coby gets a video put together I will post it here, in the meantime, here are the maps for the rides:
Amasa back and Captain Ahab
Klondike bluffs area
Coby's Ride video
Bonus pictures
Coby walking stalwartly
Even Tubeless tires can pinch flat if you curb them hard enough.
At the end of the Amasa back tail, heading back to Ahab. snacking.
