Moab Spring 2001 mountain biking and hiking pictures
(Click the image to see the next)
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So all was going well until I decided to shift while going through a sandy section of road. The 'Dale suffered an injury I'd never seen before--several bent teeth on the small ring (a stainless steel Specialized no less). That was just before I became convinced I'd taken a wrong turn. Riding by myself had put me a bit in "cautious mode" and after the rode narrowed to single track which narrowed to what looked like a hiking trail I decided to turn back. That's when the unfortunate effect of the bent small ring came into play--of course I'd been descending and would have to climb out in the middle ring. Unless...smacked the small ring around with a rock for a few minutes and shifting was at least workable.
About a third of the way up the climb I came across a big group of riders from Denver, Colorado. They reassured me that this was the right trail down, it just happened to turn into a portage. We rode back to the spot where I'd turned around and continued on. There were bits and pieces of ridable single track but for the most part we were carrying the bikes. We did run into a second group of riders, these folks ascending the portage and doing great. Definitely one of the more trials-skilled groups of bikers I've come across. They were dropping off of rocks, hopping through tight spots and overall having a great time and making use of some darn large tires. Back to the picture. Above the seat and curling along the lip of the ledge is the trail I'd just come down. The portage took around 30 minutes and involved some route finding just to get down. More to come... |