Moab's Pipe Dream

A No Dab Challenge

Using online resources, I looked for a Moab ride to complete in the early morning before the heat set in and with plans to go up into the La Sals by mid-day. I decided on Pipe Dream, following some interwebs comments/guidance by parking on the north end and using the road as a warm up to get to the south end. Slightly under five miles, what I read was that it was pretty much classic, technical, cross-country riding at the base of Moab Rim.

When I got to the trailhead and saw the No Dab Challenge sign, I smiled ear-to-ear. That “old-school” kind of approach to riding trails was what got me hooked on mountain biking nearly 30 years. The physical challenge of not putting a foot down was what (and still does) motivated me to ride rocky trails.

The sign:

Ten minutes into it, I did not dab. Then I got to a tight right hand turn and that was it. I lost the challenge! (I am terrible at right hand turns. Can go left all day long, though!) Then not long after that, another right hand turn came up and I goofed that one too. Oh well. After that, I dabbed some 6-7 more times along the way.

I took a few photos on the flat sections (they’d be dabs too, eh?!). When I did dab, I took other photos.

Less than an hour later I was at the other end, but along the way there were very narrow/edgy slices of trail, quite precipitous in some spots. The rocks and a few drops, along with more rocks and techy heres-and-theres were an absolute blast. Pipe Dream was pretty much perfect as a quick morning outing.

That same late afternoon I stopped at one of the longer-running and very well-known shops in town to check the clearance pile. Talking with a couple of staff members, I commented about Pipe Dream and that I loved it. Their responses to me can be summarized like this:

We don’t really send people there. They’d not be happy if we did. Too technical. Not what most people come to Moab to ride. We like it as a pre/post/lunch break/work day ride.

Hmm? Maybe what they were saying is that Pipe Dream was built by locals for locals(?). I dunno. If you’re in town, check out the No Dab Challenge and see how you do!