100 Miles, Or Not...

Wednesday morning I was out the door at 4 a.m. to head to Canyonlands National Park, outside of Moab, UT, to ride the White Rim Trail.  White Rim is a 100 mile, mostly hardpacked dirt road trail that circles much of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands.

 I was riding by about 7a.m. and it took just a few miles to see it wasn't going to be a good day.  As soon as I sat on the saddle, my butt hurt.  As sad as it sounds, I have had the same saddle for 2 years and never liked it.  Usually this isn't a huge deal since when I mountain bike I am out of the saddle alot, seriously, most of the time it could be a 2x4 and I wouldn't care.  However, I quickly realized that this wasn't 'mountain biking' it was 'riding a mountain bike', no technical stuff, just grinding out miles.  About 7 miles in it became decision time, I wasn't far from the paved road that led through the entrance gate and then to the drop down to the actual White Rim, once all that happened, I was committed, no matter what.  I reeaaallllly don't like this saddle by the way.  After a stop, think about quitting, nah ill keep going, then another stop, I decided to head back.  I figure going into a long day without my head on straight was a pretty bad idea.

Where I would have finished at the Horsetheif Switchbacks

My shame and dishonor at turning I was pretty stoked with my decision once I got back to the car because, well, I was in Moab.  So instead of doing a glorified road ride all day I drove to the Bar M trails, conveniently located between Canyonlands and Grand Junction, and rode some singletrack.  The trails conditions were excellent, the singletrack was flowy, and no, my but didn't hurt that bad.  But seriously, I'm swapping saddles today.

Outerbike w/ Work Folks

Deer Creek Trail

Tuesday I took advantage of my day off and headed down to Crested Butte to ride the Deer Creek Trail and play with some new GoPro goodies.

Blue Mesa Reservoir on the way to CB

Using some REI gift cards I bought the WiFi remote and chest strap for the GoPro.  Unfortunately, the camera was adjusted so that all you see is the top tube of my Superfly rollin' through some buff alpine singletrack.  Oh well.. 

 I rolled out of CB and climbed and climbed and climbed a dirt road.  Altitude? Who notices that stuff? Im rolling along and... holy crap Im gassed.  Gotta love that.

 Looking down on the valley from whence I came.

Eventually after a couple thousand feet of climbing I made it to the beautiful alpine singletrack that the ride is famous for. 

The singletrack flows through Aspen and Fir forests and just goes and goes and goes.   And, I was only mildly concerned about being eaten by a bear.  After having my fill I headed back down and home.  23 miles and alot of climbing, not too bad.

Olympus Tough 8010 14MP Digital Camera - Silver - Cameras & (Google Affiliate Ad)

Western Rim on a Superfly

I took the shop 2011 Superfly out yesterday for a spin out in Rabbit Valley on the Western Rim Trail.

 Standing next to this thing the saddle was almost up to my kidney.

Thats the La Sal mountains off in the distance.  The ride went pretty well, a carbon, full suspension 29er is a little different than the steel, hardtail Voodoo 26er.  The wheels felt like they weighed 20 pounds and the bike is way longer than 'normal'.  That being said,  I did this ride last year in May and this time I was 1 mph faster for the ride. hmmmm...  perhaps I shall try the Trek Rumblefish Friday.

Back on the Mountain Bike, Kinda...

A .35 mile ride.  Oh yeah!!  After having to stop 10 feet in because I forgot to tighten the bolts on my sliders I was back on my way.  Until my whole bottom bracket siezed and I could only coast.  And thats how you do a .35 mile ride.

Camping Highline Lake State Park

Kelly and I did this in January, then we camped with some friends Friday night (same campsite!) lets compare...

January...

 8 inches of snow on the groung (and the lake)

 Walking on the lake

 It was about 18 degrees or so...

Last weekend...

 Just a little more food

 We rode the 18 hours of Fruita course Friday night and Saturday morning.

Extreme Kitty

Its almost dry...

Sunday we went out for a ride in Rabbit Valley, since it was the only place semi-dry in the area.

 Weee.  There were still some puddles but it wasnt too bad.  We didnt get any rain in GJ but Fruita, 10 miles away, and west of there got a couple inches.

 Kelly rockin' the new duds.  Jett shorts the Euro look with a neck gaiter and Uvex helmet.

Today I went out to McInnis Canyon (aka Kokopelli) and got a lap + in on Marys Loop.  It was dry in some places and nasty in others so I was only out for an hour and a half.  I talked with the only other guy out there who was from Steamboat and rocking an Ellsworth with full XX (with a 140mm rear rotor on a 5 inch bike??) and we complimented each other on our bikes.  Its only a little conceited, right?

Is it Spring yet?

Friday I decided to take advantage of the (relatively) warm weather (28 degrees) and went out and did a few laps at the Lunch Loops.  My back was still sore from my skiing incident but a combination of IcyHot and an inability to be inside all day helped quite a bit.

 I rode a nice little combo of trails that didnt involve too much climbing for a couple hours.  The best thing about these trails are that they are a 10 minute ride out of the door, and they are the only trails that are dry right meow (one of the few redeeming features of trails becoming popular with the running crown).

Well mostly dry.  A few spots on the north facing ledges still had snow/ice but it was packed in and rideable, and nothing spices up a bike ride like ice under the tires.

Monday after class I decided to head out to the desert on the north side of town and try and ride out to the 18 road trails.  It should only be about 9 miles, i think...  But I wasnt too worried about it because it was my first ride in short sleeves this year!  I think it was somewhere between 40-45 degrees and sunny.  Yay!

 After avoiding dirt bikes and people shooting guns I could see the small pass that The Edge trail goes in but I had to turn back because the combination of more shade and runoff as you get closer to the bookcliffs also means more mud.

The best way to get around and not get lost out here it just to follow the powerlines and the road that goes beneath them,  I rode this one for half an hour.  Its easy on a mountain bike and awesome on a 'cross bike.

Now look at the picture above, that was 4 pm yesterday...

This is 15 hours later

6 inches of snow this morning.  AHHHHHH  it was almost all gone.  WHY?????



The Edge - The loop, not the guitarist

This morning I decided to ride the Edge Loop, a 30-35 mile loop around the boockcliffs with 3800 feet of climbing (according to IMBA). Like all good decisions it was made on the spur of the moment after drinking a little too much coffee before class. I packed a full pack with food and water and semi-tolerable energy goo and was off.

Excuse #1 My legs were really tired. I made the mistake of going to the gym yesterday, always dumb, and Time says it makes you fat too, and my legs were a bit tired. No Problem! Ill just spin it out and be fine.

Excuse #2 I looked at my trail map after I was about 30 minutes into the ride and saw the little note that says "2100 feet of climbing or descending from here". I was climbing that way.

So Im going the wrong way, as usual, but no worries. I was slightly prepared and had read up on the trail and knew there was a dried up 30 foot waterfall you had to portage. No problem though, there are ropes and its probably pretty easy anyway.

Excuse #3 The waterfall is, in fact, steep and its really hard to get a foothold on slickrock in mountain bike shoes. And if you didnt read before, I was going the wrong way so I was going up the waterfall and not down. Gravity you are a cruel mistress!!!!!!!

Check out that sweet rope, safety first......sometimes.

After lugging myself up the first little pitch, and then dragging the Spooky up with a rope with one hand while holding on for dear life with the other, I was almost there. JK! I left my alpine climbing skillz at home today and after finally making it to the top, I realized there was no way the bike was going to make it up with me. Since walking the next 25 miles didnt seem to appealing, I decided to head back from whence I came and skidded and flopped my way back down to the bike. Then I repeated the process of getting the bike up, just in reverse. Turns out this is harder than it should be.

Hearing the sound of your bike smacking into rocks is rather unpleasant it turns out. it was even worse for my Singletrack Solution bar-end, may it rest in peace (probably not good for the carbon handlebar the bar end was on either...). At least the ride back home was mostly downhill, and even more importantly, no one saw my 15 minutes of shame and ineptitude. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you a 30 foot vertical portage of rock in bike shoes, make for the car. Life lesson right there.