My Secret Getaways

Moab is known for its mountain biking. But there’s great road biking to be had too.

In early April, 2007, 60 some-odd members of our bicycle club from Tucson, Arizona loaded up and headed for Moab. We stayed in the Gazebo Inn, a comfortable bed and breakfast located conveniently in downtown Moab.

Day 1 was the easiest ride. We rode south along the Colorado River. Total trip length was about 50 miles.

I was expecting lots of good scenery, but I wasn’t really prepared for how beautiful it actually was.

Right along the side of the road up high on the wall are petroglyphs dating back to the time of the Hohokam around 700-1450 A.D. They were known to have ball courts. It looks like this might have been a depiction of a ball game.

What are these? Snakes, maybe? Click image for larger view…

The Hohokam peoples occupied a wide area of south-central Arizona from roughly Flagstaff south to the Mexican border. They are thought to have originally migrated north out of Mexico around 300 BC to become the most skillful irrigation farmers the Southwest ever knew.

At the turn-around point, we met up with our club support wagon … LUNCH!

On our return trip we were hit by what was to be the trademark of this entire trip … WIND! And of course, it was always a headwind.

A paceline helped us plow through the wind.

See Day 2 of our Trip: Road Biking in Arches National Park