RR:Yesterday's Ride.

It was overcast and felt like it was in the mid 40's so I geared up
properly and headed to the trailhead. During cool weather rides I go for
maximum breathability since I tend to overheat easily and sweat alot at any
time of year. Wearing goretex or other similar stuff feels like riding in a
plastic bag. So you can imagine my joy at seeing raindrops hit the
windshield on the way (thought it wasn't going to rain until nightime). If I
turned around and went back for some rain gear too mush precious daylight
would be lost, so I decided to press on and hope for a break in the weather.

The plan was to ride on some moderatly rocky and hardpacked loops close
to the trail head in case I had to bail and so as not to do any damage. The
woods road that began the ride was damp but firm as I began a gradual climb.
I made a right onto a short somewhat steep trail and warmed up nicely,
pacing myself so as to keep sweating to a minimum. On the following downhill
I took it easy to make the icy cold rain in the face tolerable. At the
bottom of the hill the decision was made to bail as it was simply too cold
and my shell was soaked through completely. I finished the loop since it was
more moderate although somewhat longer in distance than backtracking. I
wanted to get out of there as fast as I could as the rain had picked up and
the temperature was dropping. Despite the conditions, the colors were
awesome, especially a ridge above a tree lined lake and was glad just to
have managed the half hour jaunt that it turned out to be.

On the way back I passed a clock temperature readout at a bank that said
it was 36 degrees out so the decision to bail was a good one.

Fredzep

Fredzep wrote:
On the way back I passed a clock temperature readout at a bank that said
it was 36 degrees out so the decision to bail was a good one.

Fredzep

I did Porcupine Rim yesterday. We had a cold front move through Friday
night, and the temps dropped about 15 degrees for a high around 60F.
The wind on the top edge of the mesa was fierce and cold, with the air
thin and dry. It was too sketchy to move to the edge to look straight
down, but I did hawk a loogie into the valley. I had to dodge it as the
wind caught it and blew it back.

There were easily 1000 riders on the trail yesterday. Some of them were
undeniably, impressively skilled, riding stuff that looked damned
impossible. Most were like me well in the middle of the pack in terms
of bike skill. I actually started feeling like a 20-year-old hucker on
some of the semi-technical downhills - until I got passed by a real
20-ish hucker. But few passed me on an uphill. I have the old skills,
just not the young guts.

I met people from Vermont, Crested Butte and the UK. Most were Ootahns.
I saw one lovely lass from BYU riding a very basic Gary Fisher with
toe clips/no straps. The only concession to modern tech her bike had
was a short-travel front shock. Riding in gym shoes, she did quite
well. Old Skool dood!

The technical single-track down to the Colorado River claimed its usual
casualties, including the aforementioned coed. She went straight down
two 2' stair-steps, bang, bang, thud! I dearly hope I didn't pressure
her into it merely by showing up on her tailwheel. She brushed off her
white blouse, and I helped fixed her front reflector. As I moved on, I
told her she should be proud, it was a good fall.

I took many pictures, still on the CF card.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

Raptor wrote:
I did Porcupine Rim yesterday. We had a cold front move through Friday
night, and the temps dropped about 15 degrees for a high around 60F....

Raptor:

Thanks for the response. That was my first attempt at a RR.

Your ride sounded way nicer than mine.

Fredzep

Raptor wrote in message ...
snip dorkupine rim
There were easily 1000 riders on the trail yesterday.

Imagine that... Moab is a joke this time of the year.

JD

JD wrote:
Raptor wrote in message ...
snip dorkupine rim

There were easily 1000 riders on the trail yesterday.


Imagine that... Moab is a joke this time of the year.

JD

We still found affordable camping close-in, and wait times at the few
choke points on the Porcupine trail were in the 1-minute range. I
didn't try Slickrock partly because of the rush hour syndrome it gets
this time of year. Too many riders, too many tight spots. I assume
Amasa Back gets similarly crowded.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

Raptor wrote in message ...
JD wrote:
Raptor wrote in message ...
snip dorkupine rim

There were easily 1000 riders on the trail yesterday.


Imagine that... Moab is a joke this time of the year.

JD

We still found affordable camping close-in, and wait times at the few
choke points on the Porcupine trail were in the 1-minute range. I
didn't try Slickrock partly because of the rush hour syndrome it gets
this time of year. Too many riders, too many tight spots. I assume
Amasa Back gets similarly crowded.

I wasn't referring to camping, I was referring to 1,000 insipid clones
on dorkupine rim. I think I'll go ride it reverse this weekend, just
to **** off the dew crew shuttle monkeys.

JD

JD wrote:
Raptor wrote in message ...

JD wrote:

Raptor wrote in message ...
snip dorkupine rim


There were easily 1000 riders on the trail yesterday.


Imagine that... Moab is a joke this time of the year.

JD

We still found affordable camping close-in, and wait times at the few
choke points on the Porcupine trail were in the 1-minute range. I
didn't try Slickrock partly because of the rush hour syndrome it gets
this time of year. Too many riders, too many tight spots. I assume
Amasa Back gets similarly crowded.


I wasn't referring to camping, I was referring to 1,000 insipid clones
on dorkupine rim. I think I'll go ride it reverse this weekend, just
to **** off the dew crew shuttle monkeys.

JD

I also was referring to crowded trails, if you re-read.

Clockwise looks perfectly do-able, for certain definitions of "do-able."
Actually *riding* all of it in that direction would be amazing to
watch. I did it in the regular direction as a loop in June, so the net
physical work is the same.

There were a couple people doing it backwards last Saturday. I just
thought it was a little weird, simply because I hadn't thought of it before.

Dare to be different.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.