I’ll be honest, I was dreading this ride all week. 11 miles up on a Black diamond run sounded like a big challenge, especially after day one was only 18 miles. Nearly 100% of the riders of this trail take a shuttle to the top and ride down. Not us, we committed to peddle up and then enjoy the fruits…
The previous weekend, passing through Moab, I had a morning ride around the Moab Brands area. It was a good warmup area and in between where we were camping and Dead Horse Point. We made quick work of it and with our early start had the trails to ourselves. Then it was on to Dead Horse, getting close to the…
After getting some advice from the owner of Rim Cyclery we decided to check out the Navajo Rocks area. This section has two loops and we choose the southern loop first. It worked out fine but probably would have been better to do the North loop first before it got crowded. Oh well, it wasn’t that bad but definitely way…
With heavy rain and wind overnight we felt lucky that come sunrise it had stopped and we could drive to town. On the way we hit more storms with a section of highway that held two inch deep hail, yeah that was fun until we slowed down a bit. A relaxing breakfast at Love Muffin was followed by waiting out…
After a filling breakfast at Jailhouse Cafe we were on the trails by 8:30 for a long day in the saddle. In terms of riding here is what we checked off: Day 1 – 17.9 miles Amasa Back Area HyMasa (Blue/Black) Amasa Back (Black) Overlook Pothole Arch (Blue/Black) Rockstacker (Double Black) Upper and Lower Captain Ahab (Double Black)
With typhon season in Fiji my friend Carl was free for another trip to Moab. I felt lucky, getting a week of riding the week before in Arizona to give me a sliver of fitness for what was a lot of miles. Just like our previous trip we camped in Bartlett wash (after our first night in Onion Creek). This…
I have a group of friends who I met whitewater kayaking and we have been doing a yearly mountain biking trips for a number of years. Last year we were overwhelmed with the crowds at Cuyuna and with my friend Nora moving to Duluth we decided to change it up and use her house as a base for the weekend.…
Needed a little break from the plane building after 14 days straight. And truth be told Carl on SkyPond and I had been planning this trip for a long time. Carl is a stud and has ridden Moab trails for the past twenty years making him the ideal guide, or so I thought. Let’s just say he loves the extreme…
Today’s plan had been for a 19km hike that went up 500 meters into the hills surrounding St. Remy. The forecast was for 35 degrees (95 degrees F) and lots of sun. The heat and past two days convinced us to dial it back and instead explore St. Remy and follow along the Van Gogh trail. The city has a…
Day two brought an easy 11km downhill to Collias on the Gardon river where we exchanged our bicycles for a two-person kayak. This leg would give us 8km of paddling, taking us under the Pont du Gard annd over a few minor rapids. Initially we planned to eat at Pont du Gard but since that would be a repeat of…
So the plan was hatched, a few days in Paris, a high speed train down to Avignon where we would pick up bicycles and explore the country-side. I love it, perfect! Since it was our first time on a cycling trip we opted to work with a company to organize everything. We knew we didn’t want a group ride, preferring…