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Pre-race Stories

Riding The 24 Hours of Moab Race Course

I've never been to Behind the Rocks, where the 24 Hours of Moab is held. I've heard good things about the race but no one has ever said, "You have to ride Behind The Rocks!" A buddy who pre-rode it told me it was really technical and I got curious. I wanted to get some photos of racers on the trail anyway. So I geared up, loaded the Olympus E-520 in my hydration pack, and poached the course. I planned to just ride out a bit for some photos, but I had so much fun and the scenery was so great that I ended up riding a full lap. Fast laps for racers are in the neighborhood of 1:05 to 1:30. My photo lap took four hours.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the 24 Hours of Moab. It's a 15 mile race course with 1100 feet of climbing and a good sampling of Moab terrain - and all of it set against a wonderful La Salle Mountains backdrop. The first thing I noticed when I started my ride was there is no shortage of sand at Behind The Rocks. It wasn't long before I encountered some slickrock, though. And the farther I rode, the more rocky, technical sections I encountered. Evidently, Granny Gear doesn't build their race courses for roadies, cause this course has some teeth. There are actually a couple of freeride-worthy sections for riders who have some sack. I walked the burliest stuff, as did 95% of the racers, but there are quite a few fun, technical rock lines that are rideable on an XC bike. There are three or four rock sections I'd like to come back and session when there's no race going on. Most of the fun stuff is in the first half of the course. The last two-thirds are pedally sand troughs. But it's still a fun ride, and it's one of the most beautiful 24 hour race settings I can imagine.

Photo-John is a photographer and writer for Mtbr.com and Managing Editor of PhotographyREVIEW.com.

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