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Moab is every mountain biker's must ride

Mountain biking the destination town is a shoulder season rite of passage
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It takes about 21 hours to get there and my riding posse will tell you without hesitation that it is worth the drive.

Seven guys, seven bikes, two vehicles, two beer coolers and one common goal: to ride every day for as many kilometres as possible.

In Ogden, UT we shake the rust off with a ride on a network of great single-track trails above the university.

The morning started cool but warm sun combined with a steady uphill climb leads to layer shedding within the first half hour.

The soil, the climate and the vegetation are all so different from the moist roots and tall timbers we're used to in Sea to Sky territory.

After a quick sample of Ogden's offerings we put the bikes back on the racks head out for the real prize — Slickrock.

The most popular and accessible riding area in Moab is the Slickrock Bike Trail, a managed area with trail-markers (to ensure nobody goes over a cliff and plunges 50 metres to certain death) and excellent maps.

Moab is arid and it presents riding challenges unfound in B.C. We quickly discover how pesky the thorny Utah vegetation can be. Inner tubes and thorns don't get along.

The perma smiles plastered on all our faces aren't even close to being chased away by a series of mechanical issues that keep forcing us to stop to replace flats and repair broken chains under a hot sun on a blue sky day.

At the end of the day we break open our beer cooler in the parking lot and relive the experience while pestering Roland for owning a bright lime green bike we have taken to calling "Kermit."

We visit Arches National Park after dinner and roam through it in the dark, our lights bright on a cloudless night. Looking up presents us with a brilliant display of silver dots in the sky. Occasionally an aircraft floats through Mother Nature's movie screen. The natural formations Moab is famous for prove spectacular.

Day two has us packed like school kids into a van bumping up a forest service road high above Moab to feel the thrill of a day-long descent down to the Colorado River. Known as Hazard County, the trail starts just below the snowline. The terrain is varied, ranging from grass fields to stands of aspen trees and rocky drops tight against a rock face to the left, and certain death dropping off to the right.

We stop frequently. There's scenery to drink in, fluids to replenish, photos, video, fixing flat tires, repairing broken chains, recovering from crashes and refuelling.

"Ever seen a frog fly?" I bellow at one point as Roland and "Kermit" roll at high speed over a half-metre drop with video cameras rolling. "Now you have!"

We meet some new friends on the trail. Rusty and Don from Colorado tell us their dream is to ride our trails.

"You guys have epic trails," says Rusty, a flamboyant character who apparently dressed Don in all the wrong clothes.

We catch up with them a little farther down the trail and Don's once pristine white tennis shoes strike me as out of place. They have stopped for an early 4:20 break and they wave and cheer as we stream by.

We come across four dirt bikers next. We grind to a halt thankful for a break. Two Moab dirt bike guides tell us they are surprised to see anyone using the trail during the "cold season." We look at each other in our riding shorts and tech shirts confused that anyone thinks 25 Celsius is cold.

"Most riders are done for the season," says one of the guides.

The two being guided are bikers from France. Striking up a conversation proves impossible so we saddle back up and point wheels down.

The final few kilometres of this ride features a thrilling rocky downward plunge that challenges the mind as much as the body. One poor choice in a few places can require a call out for the Moab search and rescue team to recover a body from one of the many scary slopes that drop from the trail edge down to oblivion. No search and rescue required as this seven successfully descend out of Hazard County.

Some argue Fruita, Colorado offers superior riding terrain to Moab so on day three we drive a few hours across the state line to sample the terrain.

Fruita is distinctly different from Moab with less dramatic scenery and a friendlier danger level. It's a great day and I'm impressed at how Fruita makes a serious effort to cater to mountain bikers.

Our final big ride in Moab is the infamous Poison Spider. This trail includes a mandatory walking section due to a number of trail deaths.

We started out as six started but by the end of the day only two had completed the objective.

This ride offers a long uphill grunt on smooth red rocks to a spectacular lookout. Three hours of steady climbing under the hot sun on the hottest day of the trip left most of us with no water and little energy.

Two keeners split off and found the entrance to Poison Spider while the rest of us mumbled something about valuing our lives.

Sometimes having a fear of spiders can save lives.

Seven B.C. riders agree that the 21-hour drive will be done again, soon.

Moab information can be found at discovermoab.com and learn more about Fruita at gofruita.com.