We picked up Amber's new DH bike on Thursday and headed to the desert for the weekend so she could start to get used to it. It has so many different options for tuning and set-up it is a little intimidating so we figured that just riding it would be a good place to start.
Intense M9 (small frame) 41.12 lbs with pedals
- Boxxer RC2 Fork, Cane Creek Double Barrel Rear Shock
- Saint Cranks, shifter, rear derailleur, Code Brakes
- Hadley hubs to Mavic Rims
The guys at The Fix Bikes Shop once again looked after us and Mike Kreger did an awesome job on the parts spec and the build (Sam helped as well :) ).
We planned to head to Green River, UT and ride some desert spines. Unfortunately a snow storm that came through earlier in the week dropped a lot of snow over the entire region and although we awoke to blue skies and lots of dirt without snow it as not really rideable. The snow had melted into the dirt and had not dried in most places yet leaving a goopy nasty mud to deal with.
Amber's shoes after we hiked around a bit looking for dry dirt.
Amber was antsy to try her new bike so she pushed up a steeper road section and came down it - like 5 or 6 times. First impressions of the new bike with very favorable. "Super Smooth", incredible traction and amazing brakes are the highlights so far.
That afternoon we packed up the tent and drove over to Moab in the hope of finding some good dirt to try and start tuning the new bike. We took a quick drive up Hurrah Pass in the hope that it might be a good shuttle even though it was on a dirt road. Unfortunately the road just wasn't steep enough and while it had some fun sections mostly it was just a long pedal even though it went in a downward direction.
We grabbed a hotel for the night and planned on checking out Portal on Sunday.
In a fit of optimism we decided to drive up to the Porcupine DH Shuttle in the hope it was ok to ride. Unfortunately it was buried in snow and not an option.
On the way over to Portal I dropped Amber for a run down the Chillie Drops DH trail. It was the first test for her on her new bike.
Steep is the only way to describe the last sections of this trail.
Amber cruising a much steeper (and looser) section than it appears in the photo. Amazing blue skies and dry dirt. Moab always comes through.
The new bike does look pretty.
After Amber's run on the DH trail we headed over to the Portal Trail. We pushed our bikes up and up and up.
Pushing up. The Portal Trail is an optional finish to either Poison Spider or Gold Bar Rim trails and drops down very quickly from the top of the plateau to the River.
As a trail it has to offer some of the best riding that Moab has - and this is without exaggeration and a mighty big statement when you remember the other trails in Moab. You have to earn your descent either by one of the long (but classic) trails or by pushing up from the bottom.
The photo's don't do justice to the amount of flow and fun that this trail packs into it's descent. There is a little of everything and it is really close to a perfect DH Race Track in feel.
Fast sections to drops abound everywhere.
Flowing corners to technical moves.
Rollers into corners.
Fast into chunky sections and drops.
Amber even managed to steal the camera and get a photo of Sean.
Overall Portal descent just rocketed way up anyone's "should do" list of rides. Hard work with a long push up but oh so fun and oh so repeatable. We will be back again this winter to spend a day pushing up and riding down.
