Moab in November

We went down for a Homeowners' Association meeting for our condominium development this past weekend. Drew is now the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the HOA. Don't be surprised if his next post is Mayor of Moab.

Our friend Steve (here he is)


came with us so Drew would have someone to hammer with. Since all of that endurance racing this summer, I have not been especially excited about biking. Once I'm out there, I have fun, but getting out there on a 55 degree overcast day is somewhat challenging for me. I guess I'm a fair weather biker. Thus the aversion to cyclocross.



To make the trip more fun for me, Drew picked up a RacerX 29er at Revolution bike shop for me to demo while we were down there. What a trip! The first time on a 29er on Sovereign Singletrack. Hmm, perhaps not the safesty trail choice on a bike with radically different geometry than I'm used to. Here are pics of Drew and me on Sovereign.


I actually only ended up with a skinned elbow and a small chain ring gash on my calf throughout the whole weekend.

In addition to Sovereign, I rode Bar-M (super easy) with friend John and his dog Lucy (why do so many pets have my name?) while Drew and Steve did Porcupine Rim (pic of Steve on the rim overlooking Castle Valley)

(I just wasn't ready to face that trail again, as my wounds from last trip have not healed).

On Sunday we all rode the Amasa Back loop onto Jackson's Trail. Here is me on the exposed part of Jackson's. All fun, but I was pretty cautious with that big bike.

My final assessment of the 29er is:
Pros:
Very much easier to go up over obstacles
Rolls smoothly over little babyheads
Cons:
Tough climbing
Squirly on the decent, and I don't think it was only because I had knobby tires and tubes instead of tubeless. I think the big wheels just are harder for me to handle.
For me, maybe a 29er would be fun as an alternate bike, like if the magic bike fairy left one on my back doorstep, but I'm not going to rush out and buy one.
Besides biking, we had a mini dinner party at our place. My old boyfriend from high school in North Dakota who I had not seen in 20 years owns the condo two doors down from us. Trippy small world. Anyway, he and his kids and their mom came over for dinner. It was good to catch up, and now we know what a full house in that condo feels and sounds like.
Moab is great. Long live Moab.