More Moab

We tried to squeeze in the big Moab ride this weekend. We set out with two goals. 1. Not to end up like Chad and end up sleeping on the trail; and 2. Not get lost. It is easy to see how the two are somewhat dependent on the other.
Because we were staying in town, but still needed a food drop we decided to drive to the Bar M trail head and leave a car there. Chris enjoys listening to the radio while getting his stuff together. We did this for maybe ten minutes and then the car died or the battery did. So we tried pop starting it. No dice. So we got it jumped and then we were off. We went directly to Sovereign out and back. We got a bite at the car and then took off up Gemini Bridges Road, Gold Bar, and Golden Spike. In an effort to meet our second objective, Chris suggested we follow the blue dot trail as it was much better (more recently marked) than Golden Spike. Golden Spike was really faded. We seemed to be able to follow blue dot on and off and it seemed to save us some time.

On part of Golden Spike we saw this spectacle. The picture is not really clear but there was a jeep with about four kids standing on the bumper. Granted they were giggling and having a good time. But as Chris stated he seemed to roll his Bronco when he was least expecting it. I don't have kids so I guess I cannot comment on the parenting, but I can voice my opinion on this being not safe.

Potential negligent homicide

Towards the end of Golden Spike, something strange was going on with my cranks. They felt like they were slipping or something. And every once in a while, my pedal stroke felt weird. We stopped and looked at it. It looked fine. We stared going again but I could still feel as though something was off. That is when I noticed it. My crank arms were not aligned. It would move between two different positions depending on whether I was pedaling or standing on my pedals.

Is this normal?

So I limped through Poison Spider, Potash Road, and the old highway back to the car--which did not start at first. We had to push start it. We spent the evening getting the battery checked and a potential fix.

The aluminum insert spun in the carbon

The morning was spent looking for a cheap replacement crank arm. We checked Moab Cyclery, Poison Spider, Rim Cyclery, and Chile Pepper who finally had something we could use. Chris was getting frustrated; he thought it was going to be easy to find something. Thankfully, we were able to throw something on so we could ride today.

A heavy non-drive side temporary crank arm

So we were able to ride Amasa Back and Pot Hole Arch. It was pretty busy with both mountain bikers and jeeps. I got my trashed kicked on the trail. More on that later; maybe the crank arm incident was a sign.

Atop Amasa Back

My favorite view in Moab