If you look at my FourSquare check ins or my Flickr photo feed it might look as if all the boyfriend and I did during our vacation was eat, drive and eat. Although that's mostly true, we did take the occasional break to stretch our legs and mountain bike in areas with terrain completely different from Ottawa. One of the more unique spots we biked was Slickrock Trail in Moab, Utah.
Slickrock Trail is a difficult 21 km loop that takes you through petrified sand dunes and remnants of sea beds. The sandpaper surface of the Navajo sandstone allows for the tires of a mountain bike to easily grip and help you navigate some of the steep angles of the trail. As grippy as it might be for tires, it has the opposite affect on metal and early travellers had problems with their horses not being able to gain traction hence the name. Unfortunately the sandpaper like surface also has another disadvantage - it leaves big scrapes on your body when you fall.
