The clocks went back last night so we had an extra hour in bed. It still didn’t feel like it. It didn’t matter too much that we weren’t exactly up and at it because today we were going to go cycling, and even with it going darker an hour earlier, we were still going to have plenty of time to ride.

After breakfast and getting ready we walked across the road to Poison Spider Bicycles. Once there were discovered that they no longer rent out road bikes. We could have tried elsewhere, but instead decided to try mountain bikes for the first time. The bikes were full suspension jobs and, after completing the paperwork, we were given brief instruction on how to raise and lower the saddle and how to change gear. After a couple of laps around the car park, we were let loose and we set off north through the outskirts of town to connect to the Moab bike trail.

The trail started after a mile or so and from there on the ride was all off road. The surface trail crosses the Colorado River on its own bridge and then runs alongside the main road until after Arches Park entrance, where it winds its own way up through the rocks.

The trail leads to the Moab Brands area of mountain bike trails, and I had researched EZ and Lazy as being amongst the easiest options.

We started with EZ, a trail that was probably quite easy, but for us novices still had some places where we had to climb off, and quite a few places which required quite an effort to navigate. About a mile into EZ, there was a signpost for a connector trail to the Rusty Spur Trail, which was an easier dirt singletrack route. We stopped at the end for a snack before following the Bar M loop and Copper Ridge conector trail. These two trails had great views of the La Sals and the windows section of Arches.

Once we got back to the start, we took the paved bike trail back into town.

After an hour or two of recovery, including muffins and coffee, we drove up to Arches for some night photography at Balanced Rock.

Then it was back to the hotel and a quick walk to Zax for dinner… but it was closed! Luckily, Pasta Jay’s is open later and we were able to replace some of the calories used, as we were both getting an energy slump by this point.

Then the usual, back to the hotel, beer and blog, before sleep.

(Editor’s note: struggling with uploads tonight. Please check back again for photos.)