Monday, May 11, 2015

The White Rim Trail

Last Saturday, Jason, Tom Goth, Jason Prigge, and I rode the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park.  I was expecting dusty and boring but got mind blowing scenery and cool perfect weather.  

Jason and Tom skipped town Friday evening and stayed in Moab while Prigge and I opted for the early alarm and left my house at 5 AM.  By 9:15, we hopped on our bikes and rode down the Mineral Bottom road, heading in a clockwise direction.  

Every few minutes we kept screaming about how beautiful and wild the landscape was and I think this fueled our early hot pace.  We stopped a few times to hike over and look down from the rim and a few other times to scrap myself off the slick rock or to fix a flat (just one on the day).  Otherwise, the day went off without a hitch and we returned to the car about 8 1/2 hours after starting.  We even made it back to SLC that evening so as to not miss out on the mother's day celebrations the next morning. 

Regarding my crash, I was so stunned by the scenery that I kept trying to take photos while riding and eventually it caught up with me.  I'm lacking in bike handling skills and on a flat section of trail, somehow managed to end up slamming my shoulder and head into the slick rock.  My head being hard and covered by a helmet was fine but my shoulder felt destroyed.  I lay in a heap while Jason and Tom actually expressed concern instead of the typical laughter.  Eventually, I wiped away waves of nausea, got back on the bike, and was happy to find that I could ride without trouble.  I just couldn't lift my arm up.  

Not even my stupidity could ruin the day.  

My interest is now piqued to return and ride it as a TT or to take the bikes elsewhere and explore other corners of the desert.  I've always thought of adventures in terms of how far I could run in a day.  Now that we are on bikes, I have to readjust my scale of what is possible. 

Suggestions for adventure rides are more than welcome. 



Early in the ride near to top of the Hardscrabble climb

The guys and the Green River

Investigating big holes



Look closely, Jason and Tom should be visible at the edge of the sage. 

 




2 comments:

  1. good outing. check out lockhart basin road (across the CO from the WR) as a good conduit. also the bullfrog ferry for a connection to make some big road loops. another big day on a cross bike would be hanksville/bull creek pass (6k climb) notom road back to 24. or notom road/burr trail/boulder mt. (basically a capitol reef circumnav).

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  2. kokopelli trail. 140 miles. I think the FKT is 12 hours.

    I think you mean you road counterclockwise based on your strava. semantics.

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