So.......my 32nd trip to the desert is in the books. I had every intention of posting from out there, just like any 12 year old could easily manage...even took that damn laptop...but as you may have noticed - it didn't happen.
Technology.......................Bah Humbug!
(Fear not...the irony of bitchin' about technology on my BLOG hasn't escaped me!)
Anyway...it's good to be back, but not as good as it was to be gone! Pal Dennis and I had a good time. We didn't ride enough, true, but I NEVER get to ride enough so what's new 'bout that? We hit the road on Sunday night, after I did the JDRF ride and he did his Sunday School thing and 23 hours later................there we were in the Promised Land. Moab was busy and our little cabin @ the Slickrock Campground was kind of a pit and we were surrounded by Jeepers (It's a Jeep thing and I REALLY don't understand!) but still...........there we were and in the imortal words of Senor Marley - "every little thing was gonna be alright". To shake the highway outta our legs we did one of my favorite short hikes out to Corona Arch and then it was time to call Monday a day.
Tuesday am we saddled up and rode out to my fav Moab trail. I knew that Amasa Back was kind of a serious way to introduce Dennis to the area but I was confident that he could handle it and I was (mostly) correct. We had a great ride, interupted briefly by my best'worst crash of the whole week while showin' off what I Moab-Monster I consider myself. As I sit here 6 days later the scars are just startin' to fade! After the ride we went up into Arches Nat'l Park for a hike out to Delicat Arch so DP could get his "serious" camera gear out.....all 40 pounds of it.
Wednesday was tough - Slick Trail time! We rode up from camp like the hard men do......it's 5 miles, 3 of which are SERIOUSLY uphill. (I'm talkin' "you need your granny gear on pavement kinda steep" here!) We did the Practice Loop to give DP a chance to see what we were gettin' into and he handled that okay so off we went to the Main Loop. Slickrock vets will recall that some of the toughest sections are pretty early in the spur out to the Main Trail (Fried Eggs/Legs! Testostorone Poisoning! Wooly Gully! Thrust or Bust!) and we didn't make it far. He crashed HARD on the tight off-camber switchback on the Fried Egss descent and that was it for the day. I mean he hit HARD! I thought for a bit that the week was over. He ended up w/ a nice abrasion all along the underside of his forearm but the big deal was the (no exaggeration!) football-sized bruise on his hip. Very impressive and before you ask...........yes, pix will be forth-coming as soon as I have them and can get TB to show me how to post 'em. Tell you what though...you won't wanna see the one of his hip @ the breakfast table! I rode a bit farther down the trail but @ that point the day was over, riding-wise. We killed the afternoon in town between applications of ice and "Vitamin I" (Ibuprophen - don't leave home w/out it!) Kind of a low point.
Thursday am he was feelin' okay so we hit the road for the impossible-to-describe sweetness of the Bookcliff singletrack in Fruita. We had a blast, rode pretty much all day after sittin' out a rainstorm in the van and then hit my fav ribs joint before high-tailing it back home to Moab.
("Back home to Moab"........damn that sounds nice!)
Friday we rode up to The Gemini Bridges and back down, then wasted 3 hours tryin' to get his rear brake bled and then went out to the Sovereign Singletrack to finish of the day (and our legs!) Nice ride but not a favorite of mine. Still........'twas a fitting way to finish of the Moab portion of our program 'cuz that was our last day.
Saturday we got up early, hit the road for Fruita and were chamoised up and ridin' up the Kokopelli TRail by 8:30am. My fav memory of that day was when I was high above the Colorade River..........waitin' for Dennis and all alone. There was a Bald Eagle somewhere below me, above the river but far below the Trail and he was screechin' and yellin' about something. Bee-yoo-ti-ful. We rode out a ways, then hit the Rustler's Loop for dessert. Climbed off the bike* for the last time /w that typical bittersweet feeling. I was ready to come home and ready to stay forever. Lunch @ the Hot Tomatoe Cafe and then the road. The drive home was a bitch - lotsa snow over the Rockies and horrible wind and rain from Nebraska all the way home.
Another trip in the books. More scars, more suntan lines. More red dust on the bike and my sandals.
More later.................especially pictures.
*Oh yeah.....the bike. My Main Man Jason-from-Cannondale hooked me up w/ a prototype of the brand-spankin'-new Rize. 'Twas way-light for a 5.5" full-susser and it was great. No mechanicals at all, it climbed like a bitch and descended as good as a bike can w/ me on it. More later. ( I got a whole 'nother post brewin' on the topic!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment