Bike 4:00:00 [3] 35.0 km (8.8 kph) +600m
Full Mag 7 from the top down. We had three vehicles with Anthony's friend Mark joining us so we were able to self shuttle. We reached the top and were surprised to see snow! Certainly chilly at the start but there wasn't any snow on the trail and once we dropped a little the snow disappeared. Getaway was a fun smooth warm up, Bull Run was good intermediate fun with some scenery reminiscent of the Needles section of Canyonlands. We had a break at Gemini Bridges and then a longer break when we fixed Mark's flat tire. Chose Great Escape instead of the usual Arth's Corner/Little Canyon - fun slick rock ledges. Gold Bar single track was a nice climb with some interesting puzzles to climb - this lead into the Gold Spike jeep trail. This was a classic Moab jeep road with a steep slick rock climb to the edge of the rim. At this point we joined the old Blue Dot trail where the technical challenge stepped up a few notches. I really enjoyed this section but I was able to ride 99% of the trail - only several spots where I had to walk or dab. The earlier stuff as fun too but this is the stuff which really makes me love Moab style riding. Awesome views of Moab below, the snowy La Sals, and across to Canyonlands. Finished with Portal - was much less exposed than I expected - the upper section was quite nice actually. Lower bit was a fun chunky descent - fun but a few spots where I couldn't ride.
