who's done it - portal trail MOAB

[buddybikes]

Better than CNN tonight that's for sure

https://www.freeridetribe.com/mounta...QlX3oZQz-zBdaM

[ultraman6970]

I do not know MOAB but i do know muad'dib.

[nmrt]

i "did" it last year. 'twas my first time.
"did" it means walked so much of it. scared like a wet rat.
maybe next time, i might walk less of it.

[Matthew]

No f ing way I'd ride that. Or walk it for that matter. I was nervous watching it. How many people have died doing that trail?

[Rudy]

No doubt hospital air at points. That Sedona line on the cross-bedded sandstone is sicker still.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by steveandbarb1

Better than CNN tonight that's for sure

https://www.freeridetribe.com/mounta...QlX3oZQz-zBdaM

I rode Mag 7 and other connecting trails in that area on a long day there years ago with 4 friends. We got to Gold Bar and a few were uncomfortable so we took a jeep road instead. I've read Gold Bar is now a bit easier. I'm more risk averse now and LONG repeatedly jarring sections bother my neck, so probably wouldn't do it, but the only really bad part to me in that video was about 2:49. I'd be slower by far and there are some areas i'd likely not clear, but I'd not worry about truly going off the edge if I was actually riding that.

[Louis]

Gee, what's next, Angels Landing?

[pdonk]

Favourite sign of all time is on the trail to portal.

"If you don't have a plan, you should plan to turn back"

When I was in moab 10 years ago we rode poison spider mess and had intended to hike down portal, ended up doing the long route instead. Missed the cutoff to portal, plus on that trip I learned I'm scared of open heights. So it would have not been fun. That day of the trip was one of the hardest days I've ever had on a bike.

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by jimcav

I rode Mag 7 and other connecting trails in that area on a long day there years ago with 4 friends. We got to Gold Bar and a few were uncomfortable so we took a jeep road instead. I've read Gold Bar is now a bit easier. I'm more risk averse now and LONG repeatedly jarring sections bother my neck, so probably wouldn't do it, but the only really bad part to me in that video was about 2:49. I'd be slower by far and there are some areas i'd likely not clear, but I'd not worry about truly going off the edge if I was actually riding that.

Heh last year, i went to MOAB with 2 buddies and one of the days, we did Navajo Rocks(great trail if you like climbing and less techy stuff), they wanted to do Mag 7(or one of the other connecting trails there, i forget) later that afternoon but needed someone to drop them off at the start and then pick them up at the end. In the OP's video, immediately recognized it at the part when he looks down at the colorado river and can see the road going along it. I drove up and down that road probably 20 times that NIGHT.

Was supposed to meet them at a camper site off that road at X o'clock. I sat there for an hour past, no sign of them, so i started driving around looking for them. No cell service, already dark. eventually, like 3 hours after they were supposed to be done, they show up at the camp site saying that the trail was incredibly tough and downright impossible in the dark. They wound up walking most of it because they couldnt see anything. It mustve been pretty bad if they couldnt ride it. These guys love the techy stuff, and floated down the whole enchilada the day before like they were riding on clouds.

Pretty crazy stuff, they were scared that they were going to have to sleep out there in the middle of nowhere with nothing but their empty water bottles.

[crownjewelwl]

The exposure seems like the worst part...not overly technical

I would give it a shot for sure

I think the pov video makes it seem sketchier than it actually is?

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by crownjewelwl

The exposure seems like the worst part...not overly technical

I would give it a shot for sure

I think the pov video makes it seem sketchier than it actually is?

from my experience, the GoPro make it seem a lot less crazy than it actually is.

I first noticed this phenomenon after I went to highland bike park and did all this crazy stuff i never thought id do on a bike, then i went home and looked up videos of those trails on youtube and everything looked so puney compared to in person.

i havent done the Mag7 and im not sure if that was the exact trail my buddies were on where they said they just had to get off and walk for a long time. i know they did mag7, 7up, and another one that night. they definitely didnt do portal(the one in the OPs video).

[Waterlogged]

Road the Portal Trail years ago with my wife. Was very clearly informed that we will never ride/walk it again.

[nmrt]

hah!
It is actually the opposite. GoPro makes it LESS technical actually. Portal is waaaaay techinal than what you see in the video.

Originally Posted by crownjewelwl

The exposure seems like the worst part...not overly technical

I would give it a shot for sure

I think the pov video makes it seem sketchier than it actually is?

[fmradio516]

Originally Posted by nmrt

hah!
It is actually the opposite. GoPro makes it LESS technical actually.

+1 no question about this.

[d_douglas]

It looks ‘epic’. The views are amazing. I can ride a bike pretty well, but my fitness has tanked and my fear of making a mistake and catapulting down that cliff would keep me from riding that.

Living in a place with equally great, but completely different geography, the prospect of falling in Moab is really unappealing (jagged rocks vs mud and roots) I can’t shake that thought