bikes in the desert, pt. 1

Figuring B had had more than enough fun camping last weekend, we dropped her off at the kennel last Thursday morning and hightailed it down to Moab for a long weekend of MTBing, road cycling, hiking and general desert revelry.  We love Moab.  Yes, it's a tourist town - it seemed like every other person was speaking French, and every third person was speaking German - but it's still got a mellow, outdoorsy vibe.  And the scenery!  Well, Moab could scarcely be more different than what I grew up with in New England, and the novelty of the red rock has not yet worn off for me.  The main purpose of the weekend was for H to do the Moab Century Tour like he did last year; this year we decided to take an extra day to get some more MTBing in.

Happy to be back in Moab

Like last year, we stayed at the tiny, adorable (but not for everyone) Kokopelli Lodge.  Check-in wasn't until 3 p.m. so we popped into the Moab Brewery for lunch and a couple of beers, then drove out to the Moab Brand trails to get our wheels dirty.  We did a combination of the Rockin A and Bar M trails (9.13 mi., 1 hr. 13 min., 536 ft. climbing) before I pooped out from a combination of it being hot (about 90+ F in the afternoon sun) and the Rockin A's terrain being more than I was comfortable with.  The Bar M trail I like: wide, rolling up and down, combination of easy slickrock and gravel jeep trail.

Why, of course I rode my MTB up there

After our ride we checked in, cleaned up and walked about two blocks to the funky Miguel's Baja Grill for dinner.  Although the service was a little rushed, and the salsa boring, our meals were good: I had two roasted lamb tacos, served with a lovely spicy red sauce, pico de gallo, rice and beans; H had the "Mother Of All Burritos" with roasted pork, black beans, rice and both chile verde and the red sauce.  We also had margaritas (along with a spirited discussion of whether the bright blue wall color would be suitable in our own home).  Then, en route to Eddie McStiff's for another couple of drinks, we stopped into one of the storefronts along Main Street and bought cowboy hats - yeehaw!  (Pictures coming later. )