BC Bike Race Blogspot: Day 5 – Moab

The group slept in a little later this morning; in fact we were all preparing breakfast when Jeepus woke.

The ride, started with a shuttle up the road.

The van was an old modified VW . It had a stick shift and the bikes were mounted on the roof. The driver chatted and told us all about the trails as we zig zagged up the dirt road that hugged the edge of the mountain. On our right were jagged cliffs. I thought I was the only nervous one but the others confirmed that we had no confidence in the transmission nor the brakes of this old jalopy. It was like we were in a third world country and I half expected to meet a truck with 25 workers and a dozen goats coming toward us as we rounded the corner. The driver was in complete control and talked in an animated fashion as we continued up to the trailhead.

So we arrive and apparently the 40 minute discussion of the trails during the ride wasn't enough. We got out and froze in the wind as she re-iterated was trails (legal and otherwise) we should ride. Finally we headed out. Jeepus and I chatted slightly ahead while the others we talking behind. We arrived at a parking lot were people were doing trail maintenance to make the trails legal. After a few minutes, no sign of the other guys. How'd we get split up 5 minutes in ??? Anyway, after backtracking, we began the trail and quickly meet up with the others. At this point in our vacation, my aforementioned situation of personalities and quirks, was reaching a head. Tensions of perceived inconsiderations were reaching a boiling point. While I believe that we all wanted to be adults about it, comments were made and frustrations were building. I suggested we focus on doing what we were there for and enjoy the ride. The ride was good!! First; swooping singletrack where you could just roll the bike back and forth. I exercised a little caution as it repeatedly came close to the cliffs before jotting back in. Not sure if I've mentioned this, but the views were amazing. After the singletrack were gravel trail with long sections of scattered rocks ranging from softball to earth ball (that giant ball you probably played with in gym class as a kid) size. The Intense was feeling sweet!!! I finally took the opportunity to let 'er loose and danced my 5.5 over the rocks and drops and big ring hammered every chance I got. Jeepus was feeling the downside of running an XC rig and the rocks were very jolting and relentless. Later when we re-grouped Sly and I rode together; hopping and dropping. Following his line got real sketchy as I found myself dealing with launches that were too close to do anything with, so off them I flew. While I like to run free on these sections, my preference is always to have another rider close by. It was cool to see Sly jumping and taking some impressive lines as we hammer through the rock garden. Soon we stopped and got some great footage. Today Jeepus had a helmet cam and Eric had a bar mounted video cam. Sly had his camera and I was without.

Last night the guys were telling me about the near death experience of riding the ridge with a few hundred foot drop just to the right. I'll admit it, I was nervous. But when we got to it, it really wasn't back. Snaking singletrack lined the ridge but in most cases a freak accident would still allow you time to roll and grab onto something before falling to your death.

I slammed into some rock at one point but no big deal or injuries. We did the final road section to the car and past animosities seemed to have dissolved in our great day of riding. So now we're back at the condo, showered and flowered and planning dinner and tomorrow's ride.

I hadn't really intended on blogging this trip, but it's a good way to remember it, so hope you're enjoying the read and let me know if there are elements that you would like to hear about.

Up yours!

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