July 14

July 14

Today was our last day on the bikes. It was a shorter day but really tough because it was crazy technical! The trail, Thunder Mountain, rode over the spine of the mountain. That means we rode along the top peak of the mountain. The views were amazing and the landscape was very different. Really orange, dry rocks. Hoodoos were all over the place and it was like a different planet.

I was a little disappointed with myself today because I wiped out on a killer switchback about 4 miles in, didn't really hurt myself but my face was inches away from smashing into a large rock. It pretty much scared the shit out of me and the rest of the switchbacks I only rode maybe 10% of. I was just really freaked out and didn't want to hurt myself on the last day. Plus my arms are so worn out I think my form was slacking a little because my arms kept shaking and I couldn't keep them locked straight on the descents. Oh well, Donna says you should ride to ride another day, meaning don't kill yourself!

The last mile of the ride was smooth, downhill single track that gently wound down the mountain into our lunch spot. After lunch we packed up and jumped in the van. We are now headed back to St. George where I am dropping Ben off at the airport and then heading south to Vegas. I can't wait for a shower, bed, and to see Nick!

Looking back at the trip it was the most physically challenging 4 days of my life. I pushed myself cardio wise harder than ever. I used my muscles more than I have in any weight lifting class. Mostly I had to push down my fear more than I ever have in my life. Day one I was hurling myself down the mountain knowing nothing about sitting behind my seat and keeping my elbows locked on descents. On day 2 I climbed over 2000 feet starting at an elevation of 9000 feet. I was so tired at the end of the ride that the last hour I was riding down a killer steep mountain while hallucinating from exhaustion. Day 3, the easy day, sent me face first into a mud puddle and smashed my leg between a rock and my bike. Day 4 I was riding along a trail on the rim of a mountain peak, about as wide as two bike tires, with zero room for error or you fall down the rock face. Now none of these things would have killed me, probably, but I could have been seriously injured. While this sounds like I didn't like it, I totally did! I had the most amazing experience ever and I would do it again in a second. I made some great friends and learned so much about myself and pushing the limits of the human body.  I think that on a slightly less challenging course a bunch of my friends and family would enjoy it too. 

July 13

July 13

Today was so fun! We decided to do an easier route today than the main part of the group. Greg, Tess Ben and I stayed on a double track part of the trail and it was a lot easier technical wise. It was still a tough cardio and strength challenge. We did 16 miles and the first 8 were pretty much steady uphill climbs. We ate lunch half way through but instead of eating I cleaned all the caked on mud off myself...

It started raining right when we got to the trail head and we stayed under the overhang till it slowed down. That made the trail pretty wet and there were lots of small dips that filled with water. About 2 miles onto the trail we hit a dip and my front tire hit a rock that stopped my bike and sent me over the handlebars head first into the ankle deep puddle of mud. It was everywhere! Face, body, helmet-- all got it. I wasn't hurt though so I was happy. Back on the bike. Less than a mile after, I hit another dip and my back tire slipped out and I rammed into the ground on my left side. Still nothing major, but I got a few pretty bad bruises on my legs. The rest of the trip was ok as far as falling goes.

We actually had a blast today. We all joked and laughed a lot. Took tons of pictures and took our time on the ride enjoying the views and the company. The last mile or so Tess and Greg pulled ahead of Ben and I. We were talking and laughing and goofing around, and totally misses the van which was parked right off the road. I don't know how we missed it, but we ended up doing an extra 2 miles or so. We didn't even realize we were on the wrong trail until we went down this giant hill and saw the highway and were like oh shit! The funny thing is we even passed a horse ranch and were like, oh horses:) so we started trekking it up the hill we just coasted down, pretty discouraged but laughing our asses off.

We were hoping Tess would come looking for us, which she did, but she brought the van, trailer and the rest of the group with her. All the bikes were loaded on top of the van and the whole crew was worried that something happened to us. I only felt bad for Tess because we really scarred her. And for Ben and I because we were a bit embarrassed!

We got into the van and made it to camp where we set up and then got to take showers! It was a bag shower but it was fresh and warm. I was the first to go, and as per the trend of the trip, I got lost finding the shower! I felt pretty retarded, but the shower was amazing. I can now add taking a naked shower in the woods to my list of cleaning habits.

Sitting here by the fire for our last night I am a little sad that I will be leaving my new friends. Dona and Greg and I were talking about doing the white rim tour at the end of May next year. It is a lot easier and goes through Canyon Lands. Maybe I can get someone else to do it too??  That would be fun!!  Any takers?

July 12

July 12

I slept well last night with the exception of being petty cold and having to go to the bathroom at 1:30 am. The only good thing about having to pee was that I saw the stars which were again incredible. I was the last one awake, which surprised me. I missed the coffee call but there was still enough there when I got out to the kitchen. For breakfast we had fruit yogurt cereal and French toast. Delicious!

We headed out of camp on our bikes around 9 am and immediately started climbing. Holy hell, there was a ton of climbing! Just this morning we climbed 1000 feet. The views were spectacular and it was shocking to see how high we climbed. Ben and I did awesome on the climbs and were really proud of ourselves. There was one section where we had to get off the bikes and maneuver our bikes under a fallen tree and then duck under ourselves. I was thinking "this is some crazy shit! I can't believe I am doing this!

 

After a shit load of climbing we had a good break of easy flats and then went into at least a 1/2 mile of rock field. My ass was really hurting but Tess gave me a good riding tip to stand up and hold the seat between you thighs. That felt a lot better.

We started back after lunch and Rob gave Ben and I the option of taking the road back instead of the way we came. We decided to go back the way we came because we wanted to ride the down part that we climbed. We were like, "We can do it. Well just take it slow and walk of we need to." Well, that was freaking crazy! I can't even describe how insane the ride was. It was crazy long, crazy steep up and ridiculous downs. When we were almost back and going down the part we climbed in the morning I couldn't BELIEVE I made it up before. This is not a beginner’s trip. Seriously this is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is also the most insane thing, even on my terms. I mean I do some stuff that i probably shouldn't do. I know I push the limits sometimes with safety and pushing me body.  But let me tell you, this is beyond anything I have ever even thought of doing. Ok, enough complaining and scaring mom:0)  It wasn’t so bad;)

A great part of the trip has been the weather. It has been really cool and shady. The first ride we had some sprinkling but it felt good and refreshing. It cools off at nighttime. This afternoon it got a little warm and we were sweating, especially during the insanely long part of the trail when we walked up the ridiculous steep slopes!

I have stayed very hydrated on he trip, with the help of my very cool hydration pack. So I have not gotten light headed or anything, but I was hallucinating during the very end of the ride. The shadows and logs were tricking me and I kept thinking they were people. I can't describe the exhaustion. Ben and I agreed today was harder than running a marathon. I mean, we were riding for 8 hours at 9-10 thousand feet, on steep and rocky terrain, with a huge 29 pound bike! As Mer would say, "OMG WTF was I thinking? I think I'm dieing. Might actually BE dieing!"

Finally, we made it back to camp after 8 hours of riding! We rode about 16 miles and climbed over 2000 vertical feet. We all went down to the lake to clean up and I was so delirious and exhausted that I wasn't really thinking, or standing for that matter, and grabbed my towel and soap but didn't change into my swim suit. Dummy? You bet! After the long ride to the lake I was not about to turn around so I went in my underwear, almost a swim suit. The water helped wake me up and turned my stumbling exhaustion into that amazing accomplished exhaustion where you are content just sitting and staring into space, or in my case writing all this down in a delirious stupor.

Stats:

17.56 miles

2000 feet vertical