From: Kevin_Bailey@qmgate.anl.gov ()
Subject: I visit Moab & Durango - report all
Followup-To: rec.bicycles
Organization: Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:18:29 GMT

I just returned from vacation with stops in Moab and Durango.  I posted
about a month ago asking for info on both places and since several people
asked to know how it went I am posting this report.  My vacation was not a
bicycle vacation in fact I was only able to get on a bike once but I
learned enough to pass along a few things.

*****
The following is my impression and opinion only.  I have no connection with
any outfit listed, agreed or implied.  All relevant disclaimers apply.  : )
 Mistakes and typos are mine. : )
*****

MOAB:

I had such a great time here and I hardly touched a bike.  From mid June to
the first of September it is too hot to ride here, at least so say the
locals.  I spoke with people from all the bike shops I could find and all
were very helpful but none recommended riding after 10am.  (the days I was
there temps were 99,102,and 103 deg F, remember we're at 5000 feet here and
I hail from Chi Town)  None of the shops I went to had tours during the
period mentioned above. 

Bikes:
Bikes in Moab rent for $22 per day, this seems to include Helmet,
waterbottle, and often a few tools.  The price varied a bit but that's
close. 
 
Poison Spider Cyclery has Diamond Backs, with a suspension fork Axis for
$30/day and they include Mr. Tuffys with all bikes.  They will also rent
for a half day for about $18 (1pm to 8pm)

Kaibab Cyclery rents Scotts and Murrays

Rim Cyclery (actually Rim Tours rents the bikes) has Specailized
Stumpjumpers and a very nice tour schedule if your there at the right time.
   : (    FYI the tours are run by Kirsten Peterson

Motels:
I stayed at the Inca Inn.  $38/double.  They prefer no bikes in the room. 
I wonder if that's typical??  Does anyone know if the rates are lower in
Moab in the Spring and Fall?

Food:
I found some really great Trail Mix at the grocery store there.  Not
healthy but real good.  Nuts, M&M's and raisins.   MMMMMMMMgood!!

Good milkshakes to be had all over.

Catrinas has pretty good Italian food.

Maps/Books:
The Bike Map and the Arches/Canyonlands Trail maps overlap some and work
real well together, you can see all the jeep roads and the topology is
better on the A/C map.

I got a book in the bookstore that lists most of the popular rides and has
maps, directions and points of interest.  This will be of great help when I
go back.  Oh, and Slickrock Trail Maps  on Bandanas and T-shirts. Cool!


Conclusion:
I am going back with MY bike!!!!!  I really wanted to ride while there but
after so may said "IT'S TOO HOT" it began to sink in and I wimped out.  I
hiked in Arches and a little less in Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point and
drove thru the La-Sal Mts Loop.  There is probably good riding up in the
mountains where it's about 20 deg cooler, but we didn't think of it until
our way out of town.




DURANGO:
Durango is much more the tourist town than Moab and it shows.  If Moab is
the place in Spring and Fall, Durango is the place for the summer riding. 
The  drive from Moab took four hours and was very pretty.  Temp was about
75 deg F both days.

Bikes:
Bikes here rent for about $20 per day,  a helmet is included .

Mountain Bike Specialists (got to the Outdoorsman in Durango, and MBS in
Purgatory)
They rent Specailized HardRocks and do a lot of tours. See below.

Hassle Free Sports rents for a little less than $20 and does half day rents
as well.  I forget what bikes they rented but they has KHS and Ironhorse on
the floor.

Hotels:
At all times of the year the hotels fill by early afternoon.  Get
reservations early or you'll be sorry, trust me we were.  Prices are high!

Food:
Try the food at Romero's in either Silverton or Durango
Franciscos in Durango has really good food.
 
Maps:
The Moab area is better maped for biking than Durango, but the forest
service puts out a nice guide showing the popular trails and gives
elevation changes in graphical form.  The San Juan Forest Map is also of
great use since it shows most of what is in the bike guide and all the jeep
trails too.

TOUR:
The largest quantity of riding seems to be between Silverton and Durango. 
We signed up for a wimpy (easy) tour thru MBS leaving from Purgatory.  The
ride was the Old Lime Creek Trail.  For those not familiar with the area,
Lime Creek Trail was the original road from Durango to Silverton and is now
a jeep road.  My bike map show the route leaving from Purgatory riding up
the current highway about 5 miles and then getting off into the dirt for
about 13 miles of DOWN, a short climb for a mile and then about three more
miles of downhill leading back to the highway about a mile from where you
started.  This sounded good to me.

One of our guide was Ed Zink, who was the organizer of the first World
Mountain Bike Championships held in Purgatory in 1990.  Nice Guy.  He told
me we were to ride the mapped route in reverse, well part of it anyway.  
Off we went under a slight drizzle.  We hit the dirt and climbed for three
miles or so and it rained off and on all the while.  At the top of the
hill(?) was a beaver dam complete with ducks and mountain peak backdrop,
very nice.  The sun came out and it was a great day.  Four of us pedaled up
around the next hill to look down the glacial carved valley.  I had time to
eat a power bar before the sky turned black and we headed back.  When the
four of us stopped for those waiting at the pond we decided to meet at the
lodge of a nearby resort we passed just before getting off into the dirt. 
I was ready for some down!  As soon as I lost sight of the beaver dam it
started raining, then pouring all the while I was screaming(?!) down the
hill.  I have never had so much fun.  Then, I heard
...pink...clink,clink...hail?  YUP and lots of it.  I rolled for a couple
hundred yards in it until it began to hurt, I didn't want to stop but I
found a tree big enough to stand under and stopped.  When the hail quit the
ground looked like it had snowed.  I raced down hill the rest of the way.  
Four miles of downhill, what a kick.  And this wasn't even one of the "fun"
rides nearby  I'm going to do more of this!!!!!  

Final remarks:
So that's why there is a Mountain in mountain bike.
I understand what bar ends are for now.
Power bars work.


Your Humble Reporter
Kevin

Rock and Roll!!!!