Hello all! Phew! It has been a busy November! One of my favorite parts about living in Crested Butte is how close we are to so many awesome places. For some vacation means relaxing, reading a book, taking extra naps, and being happy doing nothing. My idea of vacation is a little different. It usually includes riding as much as possible, falling asleep before 9 o’clock, and skipping rest days. As my friend Brian would say,”party on”! Earlier this month my husband Phil and I decided to take a little vacation to Moab to meet up with friends and ride mountain bikes and dirtbikes. The last few trips to Moab have been for enduro races so it was nice to go without an agenda. Well, except for riding the Whole Enchilada! For those of you who have not been to Moab, or have not yet ridden the Whole Enchilada, it is incredible. More about that later.
After a pit stop in Grand Junction to ride the Lunch Loops, we arrived in Moab late Wednesday night. Luckily setting up camp is a breeze with the camper so we were able to sit back and relax. The next morning we woke up, made an awesome breakfast and got ready for a day of dirt biking. This year was my first year riding my moto on singletrack and WOW is it a workout! Moving the 230 pound dirt bike is much different that my 30 pound mountain bike! Good thing it has a throttle and I don’t have to pedal it! This past summer I was getting tired after about 3 hours of singletrack because of how much strength it requires. Since then I have been working on upper body strength at the gym, so I was excited to see how it translated onto the moto.
Riding new trails is always a little intimidating to me. Not know what is coming up next, and wondering if my skills are up to par for the trail. Luckily, I was with Phil and our friend Austin who are both experienced moto riders, so if I got in a pickle they could help me out. We spent the day exploring new trails, eating snacks, and laughing at my poor line choices. Five hours later we were back at the camper and I was tired! We were sitting down having a snack when it dawned on me that I had made it 5 hours! My longest moto ride to date! Those gym hours must be paying off!
Friday morning came quickly and we were up and at em’ early to make the 9 o’clock shuttle at Moab Cyclery for the Whole Enchilada! We were so excited to still be able to do this ride so late in the year! The ride starts at about 11,000 ft up in the La Sal mountains, and drops you 28 miles down to the Colorado river. That is about 8,000 ft of downhill shredding! After the big moto ride the previous day, it took my muscles a bit to warm up. We had a blast flying down through the trees of Burro Pass, the open dust of Hazard, the rocky roller coaster of Upper Porcupine Singletrack, and the final techy ledges of Lower Porcupine Single track. So.Much.Fun. Although this ride is mostly downhill it is deceivingly tiring. The single track is techy so you have to be on your game. The high speed drops, and chunky singletrack make for an unforgettable day. By the end my body was yelling at me, I think it was telling me it was ready for a Milts chocolate malt. Needless to say I was in bed early that night.
After another two days of moto and mountain biking we headed back home with permanent smiles on our faces, and exhausted bodies. There is nothing better than a shredcation!