Amasa Back Trail
I didn't have any idea how the trails would be in Moab when I started packing for my trip to Utah. It has been a particularly snowy winter on the Front Range so I had prepared for the worst.
The bicycle of choice was a Surly 1x1. I chose this bike because I could ride it in any weather condition.There was one risk, however. It was too early in the season for me to be hammering some of the more difficult trails on the 1x1, which meant I wouldn't be able to choose any trail I wanted to ride. Instead, I had to limit my riding to those trails I could comfortably ride on my 1x1.
In all honestly, that didn't limit me much. I only had 5 days of riding in Moab and there is plenty of good dirt that can be ridden with a single speed. The first trail I opted to ride was Amasa Back.
Amasa Back is a short distance from main street in Moab. I stayed at the Holiday Inn just north of town and rode my bike to the trail. This gave me a nice warm-up as I rode the paved streets outside of Moab and along side the Colorado River.
I knew I was getting close when the paved street ended and dirt road began. The dirt road hugged the north side of a canyon wall and it was slick! And I don't mean slick in terms of "Slick Rock." I mean hard packed snow that had an icy sheen. This was a little unnerving.
Although a lot of Amasa Back is well exposed, there is a short canyon dip where there could have been similar conditions. I split away from the icy road and as I rode down to the canyon valley I was pleasantly surprised that there was no snow or ice on the trail. In fact, the trail was in great condition!
From the valley bottom I continued to hammer my way up the trail with my single gear. Amasa Back has a perfect combination of dirt and slickrock and is quite possibly my favorite trail to ride in Moab.
My early season form didn't slow me down at all as I churned the single speed up the hills towards the end point of the trail. Once at the end I forced myself to look over the edge of the cliff. I'm a big chicken when it comes to heights and this little challenge was a way for me to fight back a bit. I may have been nervous, but like hell I was going to let it get the best of me!
When I've ridden Amasa Back in the past I've absolutely loved the descent. However, on my rigid single speed it wasn't as enjoyable. At this point I was wishing my upper body had a couple more months of training. Single speeding on a rigid frame requires a lot of strength in the upper body. The constant jarring on my early season form made for a much slower descent than usual.
The slow descent didn't really didn't bother me. I used it as an excuse to really enjoy the perfect weather (mid 60s), the scenery, and the fact that I wasn't on the snowy Front Range!
Enjoy!
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