mountain bike trail near Castle Creek, where a seasonal unravelling of matrix-supported gravels had failed from the edge of a high fluvial terrace. May have to modify a short section of the trail this coming spring.
First tracks on freshly fallen flurries...
in the backyard mountain bike park below Adobe Mesa, after a brief overnight snow squall. Wonderful.
Glorious conditions exist...
on the trails and jeep roads in and around Castle Valley.
My neighbor on his eMTB can be spied near the center of this image.
A significant milepost was passed...
without me realizing it a few weeks ago. Since September 2020, over the last three years, I have ridden 10,188 miles, the cumulative mileage from my stable of eMTBs. That’s 41% of the Earth’s circumference! Yep. They’re big fun.
A long shadow accompanies me...
on both my early morning and evening rides. It’s a wonderful time to be out on both ends of the day.
Self portrait early this morning during the cool, calm and quiet dawn.
Casting a long shadow as sunset approaches.
During an early evening ride...
I enjoyed this lovely view on the long descent back into the lower valley.
A proper baptismal ride...
was made this afternoon on the newly acquired Trek Powerfly FS 4 Gen 3 eMTB. Here’s the requisite brochure shot.
Link: Trek Powerfly FS 4 Gen 3
Brutally windy...
but I had to get out to survey the back yard.
Click on image to enlarge.
The best day of riding...
so far this year, with trail conditions being nearly perfect, coupled with sunny skies, calm winds and temperature ~ 50° F. I managed two outings today, 17 miles (27 km) in the morning on the RadRover 5 and 14 miles (22.5 km) in the afternoon on the Trek Powerfly (with about a 2,800 foot (853 meter) cumulative ascent). Fantastic and energizing day!
It's going to be a while longer...
before hitting the local trails again, still a muddy and rutted mess from all the moisture we’ve received this winter.
The RR5 after yesterday’s challenging trail inspection.
First tracks are shared...
between myself and the local mule deer on the recently fallen snow that dusts Castle Valley. Sunny and calm but chilly at noon, and sublimely quiet.
There’s a well camouflaged mule deer between my bike and the nearest green juniper.
A cloud-free sky on a chilly day...
set the scene for a nice eMTB exploration of the area southeast of Round Mountain in uppermost Castle Valley. Quite the uphill climb (1,945 foot ascent) but the views are stunning, and the downhill run is big fun.
View south-southeast towards the La Sal Mountains, with Willow Basin on the left and Bald Mesa above Porcupine Rim on the right.
View northward, down valley, with Round Mountain on the left.
Portion of GPS track showing the area explored southeast of Round Mountain (lower right in image) on Google Earth.
The Dewey Bridge area...
north of the Colorado River was explored with my neighbor today on our eMTBs, following a rough jeep track on the edge of the high escarpment. The ~13 mile ride was spectacularly scenic, sunny and comfortably warm. Priceless.
Panorama looking south, with Dewey Bridge on the Colorado River in the center of the image. (Click on image to embiggen.)
Typical southern Utah billboard.
Descending Kokopelli’s Trail above Dewey Bridge near the end of the three hour outing.
'Moab Man' is my copilot...
on my recently refurbished RadRover 5, now approaching 4,300 miles (6,900 km). The vinyl explorer is seen below, with aluminum cargo found discarded along the road.
We’ve had a week of stunningly beautiful days. Here’s the view today, at high noon, looking south from the base of Parriott Mesa.
My Trek Firefly eMTB continues to be super fun and now registers 1,091 miles (1,756 km) on its digital odometer.
Riding the jeep roads...
in Castle Valley with my two neighbors. Endless big fun on our eMTBs.
A millennial milestone...
has been achieved on my green RadRover 5, notching the first 1,000 miles on this eMTB during my morning inspection of the wetlands. Time to recharge the battery, too.
Here's a brochure shot...
for Trek Bicycle Corporation.
Trek Powerfly 4 eMTB.
The Slickrock Bike Trail...
is arguably the classic mountain bike trail in the Moab area. I spent three hours in the cool early morning cranking around the ~10 mile route on a rolling sandstone surface that is awesomely fun to ride. Be assured that this trail is appropriately rated ‘difficult’ and it’s a workout even on an eMTB.
Map and trail information posted at the trailhead.
A seemingly endless but complexly eroded surface of Navajo Sandstone on which the Slickrock Trail meanders. (Click on image to enlarge.)
View of Moab and Spanish Valley and The Portal, the Colorado River canyon to the right of center. (Click on image to enlarge.)
L to R: Colorado River canyon, high La Sal Mountains and Shrimp Rock. (Click image to enlarge.)
Critical intersections are well marked on the popular trail, and I couldn’t be happier with my new Trek Powerfly 4 eMTB.
My GPS track superimposed on Google Earth.
Here’s the trail information at MTB Project.
A new and exciting addition...
to my family of bikes, the Trek Powerfly 4 eMTB. I’ve wanted to broaden my access to more technical trails, narrower single track as well as steep slickrock where the RadRover does not perform very well.
2022 Trek Powerfly 4 eMTB with large frame and 29 x 2.3 inch tires, hydraulic disc brakes and Bosch CE crank motor. I’m eager to hit the trail in the cool of the evening shortly after sundown.
Four thousand miles...
was digitally tallied this morning on my RadRover 5 eMTB during my early ride below Parriott Mesa. I’ve had the bike about a year and a half and ride it nearly daily. Yep, it’s that fun.
