9 Wake-Ups

Be at my place, 4022 W 13th St Davenport, at 6pm Friday Oct 3rd to load up and please bring your trip $ at this time. It'll be 8 of us and we'll pick up Ray n Rage in IC on the way. Beer optional, just be aware the 2 dudes with the weakest bladders are driving. ;-)

Accommodations: Moab cabins sleep 6 each. The cabins have killer AC, a small fridge, plenty of outlets, and bedding. Fruita cabins have decent AC, sleep 5 each, and have *NO* bedding. Pack a sleeping bag and pillow for our stay in Fruita.

When we get to Fruita, we'll have access to full laundry services. It isn't necessary to pack an entire week's worth of riding gear. The lighter you can pack, the easier it will be on everyone.

Trip Itinerary: we'll operate largely on a loose schedule, outside of the day's planned riding. We should roll into Moab around 3pm Saturday afternoon. Check-in is at 4pm so we'll have some time to goof off. Likely we'll roll into town for those dudes who plan to rent bikes, check out the shops, and if'n yer wantin to see sumpin sweet, we'll roll through Arches. We made it about 1/8th the way into the park last time and it was one of the highlights of the trip. I know many dudes are really looking forward to checking this place out again.

We'll spend Saturday thru Wednesday in Moab. Wednesday will be a "play-by-ear" day. There's a nice area north of town with tamer trails, by Moab standards, known as Klondike Bluffs. I've scoped out the system extensively and you can ride as little or as much as you desire out there. Depending on the mood of the group, we'll do whatever--ride Klondike, drive to Fruita for lunch and/or 18 Road, relax. We then move into our Fruita camp. HOT TOMATO!

Wednesday evening thru Saturday morning in Fruita. Drive home early Sat morning.

Trails: Amasa Back Area, The Whole Enchilada, Magnificent 7 (Mag 7), Klondike Bluffs, 18 Road, Kokopelli Area Trails (Steves/Marys/Horsethief/Moore Fun/Mack Ridge/Lions/Troy Built), Lunch Loops. All of these trails are covered in great detail, including maps and downloadable GPX tracks at www.utahmountainbiking.com.

I'd say the average day will be ~18 miles and 5-6 hours on the bike.

Be prepared to handle most trail-side maintenance: flats, chains, bent saddle rails, etc.. This terrain is relentless on bikes. If your bike requires a specialized tool and/or part, be sure to have said tool/part in your pack. Also, stock up on nutrition for your pack--clif bars, gu packs, shot blocks, etc--whatever works for you.

This is what a typical day will look like--up reasonably early (earlier on the 2 days we'll be shuttling), breakfast, ride ride ride, drink beer, clean up (beer in the shower), drink beer, in to town for grub, drink beer, laugh and recap the day's shenanigans, drink beer, back to camp, drink beer, pass out. All that has historically happened before 9pm but there's no curfew.

Temps are looking to be mid-80s during the day and mid-50s at night. 85* in Moab, fully exposed on slickrock is much hotter than 85* at Sunderbruch in the woods. Lots of water during the day! Pack a hoodie and a pair of pants for our adventures after sundown.

There are no rules from the standpoint of where you have to be and when other than the 8am shuttles on Monday and Tuesday. It's been known to happen within this group to split up come dinner time, and everyone's always been cool with that. The only limitation is we have 2 vehicles. I'd say if you wanna go somewhere or do something beyond what either vehicle is headed for, you have a bike!

Lastly, no whining.