Bicycling for Fun in the Pacific Northwest and occasionally beyond: Moab Mountain Biking 2022

When Will assembled his bike in Salt Lake, he discovered his rear wheel wasn't freely spinning. He tried to adjust the cassette's tightness and adjust the "gasket" in the cassette, but those approaches didn't work, so we headed off to Moab's The Bike Fiend where Will was told they could look at it on Monday. Will was quick with the request that he use their torque wrench which they allowed. After removing the cassette, Will asked where and how that gasket should be seated. The mechanic said "that looks like a rubber band which shouldn't be in your cassette"! As he looked closely, Will agreed. REI had assembled the bike a couple years ago with that rubber band in the cassette, and somehow Will had disassembled and reassembled it several times with that rubber band seated somewhere thinking it was a gasket. The wheel would now spin freely, so we departed for the Lazy Lizard Hostel happy that the problem was fixed, our trip would proceed, and with no charge from the Bike Fiend. Instead of heading off for the shakedown cruise as planned we went for dinner.

Day - 0 Thur 66 Oct 22

Lazy Lizard Hostel across the Colorado River

10.6 miles, 1:24 riding time, 331 ft elevation gain

The evening temps were very pleasant, but the purpose of a shakedown cruise is to find problems which a bike may have after shipment. Although the freewheel was now spinning freely, his rear wheel was making an irksome squeak that would take a couple days to figure out and correct as the noise continued to annoy the rider.

Steve on the bicycle bridge over the Colorado- photo by Will

Will on the bicycle bridge over the Colorado

Day 1 Fri 7 Oct 22

Behind the Rocks- a jeep trail and Hunter Canyon Rim Route - a hike a bike

41.1 miles, 8:14 riding time, 3,599 elevation gain

Will's the planner for most of our adventures, but ever since our 2018 climbing of Jacob's Ladder, I've been checking out the plan to see that it's not too ambitious. This year I was bicycle touring in New England when he submitted it, and because of my time shortage approved his plan without looking at it. Behind the Rocks, a trail behind the cliffs that face Moab, went well although recent heavy rains had washed out parts of our roads on the Moab side of the cliffs.

Our route will soon take us to the back side of the rocks on left of this photo exiting Moab

Will crossing the nearly dry steam bed where the culvert and road were recently washed away

Will's rear wheel was still squeaking with a slightly bent rotor, so throughout the day he was adjusting the brakes but we could travel on. Soon we were on the lightly traveled jeep trails on the back side of those hills enjoying the scenery.

Will on the Jeep trail on the back side of Moab

Steve enjoying lunch with a view - photo by Will

Occasionally we had to "hike a bike" up or down something too steep as in this photo of Steve on a well worn Jeep trail

Scenery remained excellent on "Behind the Rocks"

The camera doesn't catch how steep this is, but Steve's body position does - photo by Will

Just after lunch, Will, who is normally an excellent planner was estimating 4 miles more to ride and projecting an arrival back in Moab as early as 3:00 p.m. However, as one hour turned into two and then three, the estimated distance remained the same. Then we arrived at this sign- my first indication of what lay ahead.


Will's bicycle leaning on a sign that reads "Route Ends No Vehicles Past this Point"

With a time stamp of 4:50 p.m. on the above photo we wouldn't be getting back to town by 3 or 4, but initially parts of this trail were rideable when the drop into the canyon wasn't too intimidating, but it often looked like the photo below.

Will pushing through an early section of Hunter Canyon Rim Route

There were no more signs, and the trail became increasing faint although most of the way whenever there was sand there were tracks from a motorcycle. About two hours later as dusk was falling we reached a side canyon where the trail became too faint to follow. Will got a bit ahead of me, so I couldn't see him. I found a cairn and followed what I thought was the direction it indicated, but no Will. I could see and hear a group of people 50 to 100 ft below me, but I couldn't see any kind of route down to them. Soon Will came back to retrieve me, and we headed up the side canyon which for a short while was easier walking, but it led to a dead end. The motorcycle had also gone this way, as we could see its repeated circular tacks as the rider looked for a way out. We decided to go back to the cairn and then found some more cairns which indicated which rocks to jump to. By this time there was no trail and no tracks to follow across the rocks as we descended the canyon's wall following the cairns. Often one of us had to jump down with the other person handing the bikes down to the first person. Finally, we reached the bottom of the side canyon where the route again became hikeable (not rideable), and with just a little more hiking we reached the dirt road that goes from Moab to Hurrah Pass. However, it was time to turn on the lights. We had more than an hour's ride to Moab followed by a late dinner. It was another warm evening, so we didn't suffer in the cold. Somehow we took no flash photos once darkness fell. This was an adventure that Will might like to repeat, but in the future even if I'm cycle touring in New England, I'll be reviewing his plans.

Day 2 - Sat 8 Oct 22

Uranium Arch and Monitor and Merrimac

44.8 miles, 6:11 riding time, 2,989 ft elevation gain

Monitor and Merrimac is a favorite ride of ours and we decided to add in Uranium Arch this year. We rode from town up to the steep jeep trail that goes to Uranium Arch.

Will at the top of the first Jeep Trail hill

Steve getting near the arch - Jeep Trail on the left

Will standing in front of the Uranium Arch

Will standing on the Uranium Arch

We had lunch in the shade of the arch and moved on to Monitor and Merrimac.

Steve nearing Monitor and Merrimac - photo by Will

Will ready to descend to Moab Canyon

Instead of riding down the extensive slick rock and out the sandy draw we've ridden before, we rode out the usual entrance missing much of the slick rock. At the Chevron Station about 10 miles north of Moab, it was warm enough to enjoy a Klondike Bar before descending the paved bicycle route down Moab Canyon to town where we arrived early enough to return to the Bike Fiend. Will had identified that his rear rotor was slightly bent, so he requested a new one. The Bike Fiend had only a high priced $80 SRAM Centerline 180 mm rotor and $27 brake pads Those pretty much fixed the problem though it would take a couple days to wear the brake pads into perfect silence.

Day 3 - Sun 9 Oct 22

Get-Away, Bull Run, Great Escape, Little Canyon Trails, and Gemini Bridges Rd

31.2 miles, 4:53 riding time, 1,299 ft elevation gain

Will thought we could only do these four trails if we took a shuttle up to the top and rode back to town. I suspect he'd like to do the Magnificent 7 (7 trails that get quite technical toward the end), but he settled for four. I had some residual tiredness from day 1 and was glad for a shorter day although five hours of riding isn't all that short, but the van loaded at 0845, so we got to sleep in a bit. I left my camera in the cabin, so all photos this day are Will's. I found Bull Run a little too technical, but enjoyed the other trails. Will's a more technical rider and enjoyed them all though he had to wait for me especially on Bull Run.

Steve in front of the shuttle which is nearly loaded and ready to go - photo by Will

Steve checking out a canyon - photo by Will

Will riding almost under a rock

Will at the top of Gemini Bridge Rd with Moab Canyon and the La Sal Mountains in the background

Laundry night occupied most of the extra time allowed by this shorter day.

Day 4 - Mon 10 Oct 22

Dead Horse Point State Park

15.8 miles, 2:35 riding time, 1,001 ft elevation gain

We drove out to the state park for this easy day of riding. We rode a big circle around the park and then did some hiking.The park offers some great views and is high enough that we were sometimes in pinion forests. Trails are generally easy with some surprises of short difficult sections. Will's always saying "trust the trails", but although these trails are generally not technical, there are enough significant surprises that the trails should not be trusted.

Will in a sandy section of trail

Will in a smooth section of trail

View from the trail - photo by Will

View from near the viewpoint - photo by Will

another view from near the viewpoint

The Colorado River snaking below - photo by Will

Day 5 - Tue 11 Oct 22

Sand Flats Road, Eagle Eye and Falcon Flow Trails

35.6 miles, 6:11 riding time, 4,193 ft elevation gain

Will had initially planned Flat Pass for today, but we thought it might be too much like Hunter Canyon, so we rode up Sand Flats Rd and down Eagle Eye and Falcon Flows Trails. With an early 0730 start, no mechanical issues, and just over 4,000 ft of elevation gain mostly on a primitive road it was the perfect riding day getting us into town for a 1600 dinner- before the Moab rush starts around 1700. Most of the climbing is on the primitive and steep Sand Flats Road which neither of us found too tiring this year.

Steve on a bit of slick rock - photo by Will

Will and Steve at the Porcupine Rime turn off - we didn't take this year

Will on a steep section just before we reached the top of Sand Flats Rd

lunch with a view - photo by Will

Workmen were out plotting a course for a new trail between Eagle Eye and Falcon Flow, so in the future riders may not have to get back on Sand Flats Rd to connect the two trails.

Steve coming down Falcon Flow - photo by Will

Will coming down Falcon Flow

Will lower down on Falcon Flow

Day 6 - Wed 12 Oct 22

A short ride at Bar M before returning home

6.9 miles, 1:41 riding time, 917 ft elevation gain

The travel day home is less sad if we can do a short ride, so we stopped north of town at Bar M and added Lazy and a couple other trails. Lazy was a great way to get fully awake and start the ride.