Besides visiting Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, Dan and I had one other goal for our Utah workcation: get the bikes dirty.

Of course, that means something different for me than for him. Dan found a rental house parked right on a paved bike trail, so I had two different options for quick 7-mile spins before work each morning. (He joined me twice, as seen above.) My trail wound along the Colorado River, which I was thrilled to visit every day.

Dan had his heart set on a different kind of riding altogether: slickrock. Apparently parks of Moab are covered in smooth, grippy rocks that you can ride over, as seen in this shot of Dan’s below.

Despite the fact that our trip was cut a bit short due to a winter storm, Dan still managed two classic Moab slickrock rides.

(Does it terrify me when he’s out there riding this kind of thing on his own? Yup. Thank god for the spot tracker.)

Alright, Moab — we see why everyone loves you, and we’ll be back.

P.S. This final shot is from one of the morning bike rides we took together. The Arches NP sign was about 3 miles from our rental house, so Dan joined me for an out-and-back before work one morning.