Epic Mountain Bike Adventure

I guess since necessary evil of my life is working right now this Adventure is really just a vacation, but no matter, it's still going to be EPIC!

The start of the Adventure really started with the Barn Burner race,  already posted how that went, so it's obvious to say that the week has started out AMAZING!  The race itself was Epic and then I drawn in the Lottery!  After 106 miles on the bike, I was questioning if the adventure would end there, Saturday night after the race, I felt so bad I figured I would just drive straight home and be done with it.  I really didn't want to do that and Sunday morning I felt ok, a bit sore and few odd things going on, so I figured I would rest and see how it went, I was originally going to go to Sedona and ride on Sunday, but really I have no itinerary, so I just bummed around town, got a coffee at Late for the Train, then ate at Salsa Brava which was featured on The Food Channel.  After that I decided I should get to Moab and at least try riding.

 I was now listening to Book 4 of Master & Commander and was completely engulfed in the Adventures of Jack Aubray and Steven Machurin in the service of the British Royal Navy, when I realized I missed a turn and was an hour of my way!  Didn't get to Moab until 11pm due to that folly.   Oh well, no big deal, the scenery in AZ and UT is amazing, never been on these roads before!  Being cheap again, I parked in a Super 8 parking lot and slept in the car.  Waking up around 7am, I figured I probably better get out to the trail and test the legs out. 

I drove out to Slickrock Trail, this is the Mecca of all mountain biking trails and figured if I was only going to get one ride in it should be this one!  Getting ready was a big fiasco, I discovered a broken spoke on my rear wheel, it broke at the rim, so it had to be from a rock in the race.  Sort of fortunately, I had an extra spoke with me (this is rather amazing as its not something I normally have) I had the spoke because I had previously dropped the chain on the inside of the cassette and broke one from the hub end...

Gave the bike a quick clean and lube and after digging all my stuff out I was finally ready to ride.  I got my GoPro HeroHD mounted on my helmet, tested, and I was off!  The first 100 yards of the trails were incredible and since it was my first experience on "slick rock" I was amazed at how much traction the tires had and I instantly knew I was in for a great ride.  What happened next was incredible, I crested a climb and got a panoramic view of the landscape and I instantly broke out into a huge grin as I realized how amazing of morning this was going to be!  And it was!  The sandstone type lava rock or whatever it is, has so much traction, that you are only limited by your legs in how steep you can climb and your only limited by your courage in how much off camber you can deal with.  I climbed the steeped grades of my life today and rode on an offcamber steeper than I ever have before and experienced pure terror and delight as I did both!  And I know I didn't even push the bike to it's limits, only mine!

Next best thing of the day is that my legs felt great.  I road the whole main loop, also did the practice loop (I have no idea why its called that, maybe because it was only 2 miles?)  and ended up with a 2 and half hour ride, plenty for the day, no need to overdo and besides that I drank my whole camelback of 100ozs and it was getting really hot out, car temp said 100 degrees. 

Next I checked into the Lazy Lizard Hostel and took a shower and now I'm hanging out at the Moab coffee Roasters updating facebook and obviously this blog.  Still need to do laundry yet, there's a brewery in town and at some point I really need to start studying for the GRE which is supposed to be a priority on this trip...

I'll probably end up doing more blogging that studying, so stay tuned, the adventure is just beginning!