All in all this was a great weekend.  When everything was said and done we walked away with only minor injuries (mostly just my bad fall on Porcupine Rim), and lots and lots of great technical riding.  I am happy to report that my bike Clyde was able to handle the unforgiving terrain much better than Eric's bike "The Baron", which broke down twice on the Slick Rock Trail, and once on Porcupine Rim, but since we are mountain biking studs, we were able to fix the bike, and keep on rolling.

We started out Saturday morning doing Gemini Bridges, which is just over 13 miles long.  It is a nice trail, not too difficult, but with enough technical sections to make it very enjoyable, not to mention the amazing views.  The trail is named for the natural bridges that you encounter.  They are about 8 feet wide and a little over 300 feet off of the ground.  You would not want to fall off.  The trail was very enjoyable, it had some great downhill riding, which allowed for not only dangerous high speeds, but enough ledges and rocks to launch off of to really make it worthwhile.  

A Natural Bridge

After riding Gemini Bridges, we decided that we would go out and do the world famous Slick Rock Trail.  The Slickrock Bike Trail is almost a complete misnomer. For starters, the rock is not slick at all (unless wet, then watch out!) and a mountain bike tire grips like crazy. The trail was actually established by motorcycle riders, not bikers. And finally, it isn’t really a trail – just a white line painted on the endless mounds of sandstone.  Naturally none of this has anything to do with the fact that it is one of the most legendary rides in all of mountain biking. People from all over the world have come to ride here, and with good reason. The ride is highly technical, has incredible scenery, and due to the nature of the sandstone, allows you to ride in a way that practically defies gravity.  Of course by the time we finished this almost 13 mile trail we were exhausted, I for one could barely move.  As a matter of fact the last half mile or so my right leg had cramped up and I could only pedal with my left leg.  It was well worth it, and the trail definitely lived up to its legendary status

On Sunday we decided to ride the Porcupine Rim Trail, which is some of the toughest, most grueling 15 miles of trail I have ever ridden on.  It has an incredible variety of terrain – difficult climbs and drop-offs, blistering downhills, insanely technical single-track, and one of the most amazing views you will ever lay eyes on. It is not, however for the faint of heart.  There are many very difficult sections of this trail which hang a few inches off of what seems to be an endless drop.   At least that what it seems like after lodging your bike into a crevice at mach speeds, and being thrown head first toward the edge of a cliff.  Luckily I walked away with only minor damages to me (a skinned elbow, back, and minor bruising), and even less damage to my bike. This trail was the by far the most fun I had all weekend, I really enjoyed the endless rock ledges that you had to ride off of, as well as the amazing views of Castle Canyon and the Colorado River.