What a beautiful, glorious day in Moab. We left town and rode up Sand Flats road to Porcupine Rim from the lower entrance. On the way, Larry Tucker said hi--he was shuttling. Chris told him real mountain bikers ride up and said shuttlers are pansies. Larry is not a pansy though, he just had his knee replaced. That is hard core.

Ready? Let's hit the trail

The parking lot to Porcupine had 43 cars in it. More than we have ever seen.

Porcupine Rim was so much fun. It was in great condition. We tried to limit stops and just see how long it would take. We made it back in under 3 hours of ride time. We had two stops--one bathroom break for me and a quick bite. I remembered to stop my timer for lunch. While we stopped to eat, a guy from Quebec caught up to us. He said we were riding like "hell". I think that means good in Canadian. I felt I was riding smooth. Chris always looks fluid on his bike. He then followed us from the narrowing to single track to the bottom. We lost him someplace on the road back. Speaking of which there is a nice new bike path for a big chunk of the ride back to the highway. It was great to be away from traffic.
There must have been some unicycle festival or something. There were more unicyclist than mountain bikers on Porcupine. They were everywhere with there little wheels. That would be so hard. It was crazy to see them try to ride. I did feel guilty riding my bike though. I felt I was having lots more fun than they were simply because the trail was ridable on two wheels.

We got a bite to eat from the city market and then headed to Amasa Back. This is when the sun really warmed up. It was so warm, but not hot. I was able to ride a couple spots for the first time today. I had some great flow after Porcupine. It was a great day all around.

Chris happy to be at the top of Amasa Back

I still remember and feel the impact.

Did you notice the bike we have for sale? Check out the side bar.--->
The last couple of week were spectacular for riding and trails are drying out. For the last two weekends we have been able to put in long rides locally--six and five hours respectively. Here are some photos taken about two weeks ago. Most of the snow was gone, but we are getting hit with some spring storms.

KC above Frank's and Betty's

Still lovin' my Superfly

The "alter" beneath a gorgeous blue sky

Not quite ridable then--we came up Frank's not this.

Chris happily posing by the alter on his SS

Saturday was the Red Rock Rampage in St. George. I always love this race. Maybe it is simply because of what it represents--the start of a new season, reuniting with friends, or just really pushing on the bike again. The course is one of my favorites. I love climbing the washes and and final descent is so much fun. And Saturday's race did not disappoint.
I felt good on the bike. I some slight cramping or pre-cramping issues on my last lap. This always makes me nervous because nothing outside of crashing is worse than cramping. The course had a couple of changes that appeared to be mandatory. I did not really take any time to understand it but there appears to be new fencing or something where the old route was. I was not opposed to the changes though. I also rode with a new saddle. I think it will work for me. Not as comfortable, but lighter than some other options.
During the race I would catch some of the expert guys on the climbs and then they would pass me at the descents. It made for a fun race. I felt good. I ended up getting caught and bumped down a place just before the finish line by Erika Powers. This same thing happened in a cyclo-cross race this winter.
Here are some photos-

So I am taking away a few things from this race:
1. I think I need to lose some weight.
2. I need to be more aware of my surroundings--look over my shoulder.
3. Consume electrolytes before the race.
4. Finish strong.

Just like old times, Chris and I met up after work, headed to Timp Park and hit the trails. It really was better than expected. I did not feel so good riding wise. I really need to take a recovery day or something. It would be a shame to rest on these unseasonable beautiful days though.
So we climbed the old race course. There were a couple of snow, wet, and/or mud sections, but not bad. I thought the descent would be pretty muddy, so we decided to head up to the upper road. I had it on good authority from a runner in the parking lot that it was in good condition. He was right.
We headed towards the shooting range to jump on Bonneville Shoreline. As we approached I could not help but smile, we were going to ride the log. My balance, speed, or chi was not right and I never got very far but I still had fun playing on it. Chris was centered though and went four for four.
On Bonneville we ran into the Moffits and Company. After exchanging some pleasantries we were off again. Just a few muddy patches on the way to Dry Canyon. Again, I could feel a smile and excitement creeping up. I was going to ride the stairs.
Chris went up and did the Pipe and then came down the stairs. I just did the stairs and waited for him. While waiting, Kenny, Aaron, and Larry showed up. It was like old times meeting up with everyone on the trail. The Moffits came by again. I went to do the stairs again because Chris was not back yet. Everyone dispersed, Chris and I regrouped and we headed back on Bonneville to the road. We came down Dragon's Back. It started off pretty wet, but the descent was perfect.
Ahh...a great third of March on the bike.

Here are some pictures from this weekend. Chris is making an effort to show his true emotions in these pictures.

Chris is happy to be riding by Arches National Park

Amasa Back...an all time fave

Chris and Brad are happy after riding Bar B

Happy Chris on Amasa Back--before his flat tire

Went to Moab with Brad Mullen this past weekend. It was good--I got sunburned kinda good. Brad had his knee cleaned (scoped) in November and is still getting back into riding form. I think he is being smart by being cautious as he again has Leadville in his sights. Because the plan was to go down with Brad, I assumed we would be taking it easy and decided to make it a single speed (rigid) weekend. Chris apparently agreed and followed suit.
This trip ended a up a bit different than most. Brad was kind enough to chuaffeur us to the start of our ride. We would ride it and then meet him as he was finishing up on his ride. Not having Brad there to pace us as I had previoulsy presumed made single speeding brutal. The fault is my own because I have no discipline on a bike, I really struggle with keeping my effort in control. If Chris is in front of me, I push to try and keep up. If he is behind me, I push to keep from slowing him down. I suppose I could not ride with Chris, but it is my favorite thing to do.
None the less after riding from town to Sovereign trail and then Amasa Back to Gemini Bridges Road, I was spent. Not so much my legs, but my arms again. Then we did go out and hit Bar B which is tons better than Circle O or Rockin' A. It has a much more natural flow to it.
Anyway, getting back on my SuperFly felt so good yesterday. It was soft and smooth. Granted the Bonneville Shoreline is much smoother than most of Moab. I also rode it solo (no Chris) so I could go slow spending the majority of time in my small chain ring.