May 10th - Moab, Gold Bar Blue Dot

We headed over to Moab again this weekend thinking that it will likely be our last visit until the Fall arrives and temperatures cool down again. We will see, but it is certainly warming up in the Desert again with the highs getting into the mid 80's. While that is very ridable, particularly if you ride early and late in the day, it is less attractive to us as the mountains start to open up. Also our dog Moab is getting older now so we have to leave her behind in the vehicle while we ride if the distance is more than about 10 mile and that just doesn't work if the temperatures are that hot.

So since this might be our last trip over here for a while we went with a classic and one of our favorites in Gold Bar Blue Dot. I wanted to try it after the winter riding to see how I felt on the more technical sections and also see how my new wheels & tires felt on a familiar ride.


Spring has come a few weeks late in the desert, but it makes for pretty pictures.


Amber was full of energy and worked on a couple of technical up sections that previously she never really bothered trying. She has been riding technical downs (that don't involve air) all year now so progression on the technical ups was great news, particularly with our planned summer trip to Vancouver Island in July.


Steeper than it looks with a tough slow left turn on top.


If you haven't ridden the Gold Bar blue dot section up to the Rim, definitely add it to your list of must do rides. It is a fun little 4 mile section of great single track that joins into just as good single track across the Rim to the Portal trail (or Poison Spider).


I always enjoy this little move up near the Rim. I have to be fully committed otherwise I always step out somewhere mid-move.


This is a better sequence of shots of the steeper than it looks section that I got Amber on from a different angle the last time we rode this. It freaks me out because the first move is narrow and a (seemingly) bit of a tire grabber before you roll down to a couple of drops.


Amber rolling the first and just in front of her is the second. It is bigger again.


Scenic Rim Shot.

We turned around a few miles across the rim as the heat started to get to us and our lazy boots made their way to our feet. Once you turn around you have a fairly tough stretch back to where Gold Bar jeep trail first touches the rim and then you have a great 4 miles back down the single track to the start of Gold Bar (which is where we park).