Slick Rock is one of those classic rides just on the edge of Moab you have to do. The area is a mass of undulating sandstone hills that was first a motocross and off-road trail – the Mountain Bikers came later. It’s called slick rock because horses slip on it. Humans don’t – you stop almost instantly due to the sand-paper like texture – if you fall off on this stuff you will loose skin.
We had very limited ride time as we’d hiked in The Arches in the morning, eaten lunch in downtown Moab and by the time we’d rented bikes (from Chile Pepper) we only had about three hours including getting out and back to the bike shop. So we chose to limit our ride to the 1.6 mile beginner loop.
It was a fun ride and certainly a good way to acclimatize the legs and lungs – nothing super technical but a few very sharp, short climbs and a few sand-traps. It’s mostly just a lot of fun as you roller-coaster around the well-marked trail – once you get used to the amazing friction you’ll find you can ride just about everything here. Back near the start of the trail – the kids discovered a decent descent with a little jump at the end so we goofed around there for a while. Half our party drove back into town with their bikes – the other half, including Jack and I blasted down the road back into town and added another couple of fast miles to a fun ride.
Again – great warm up for the week – should I ever get back to Moab – I’d definitely head out there again and do the full 11 mile main loop.
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