The necessities

The organization of this trip has been haphazard to say the least. Many more people were supposed to come down but in the end I just met Ian and Allison down there. Johnny C just happened to also show up in Moab at the same time. What else can you expect from the real live saint? Anyways a picture speaks a thousand words so lets skip the hub bub and jump right into the good stuff:

Photo Album

The rest is a summary of events that stuck out in my mind.

The Saint strikes again:

Ian basically found out a week before he left that Johnny C was also going to be in Moab to ride at the same time. Good thing too because everyone needs a saint some days. After one of our earlier rides Alison became quite dehydrated. While me and Ian road back to the Porcupine rim trailhead to get the car, Alison waited in town and otherwise started to feel worse for wear. And who should show up out of the blue at the right time, John the Saint. As always he came to the rescue, supplying a sleeping bag and special hydration drinks to Ali when she needed it the most. Then later on when we all went to dinner, while everyone was enjoying the show, Johnny C foots to bill for everything (food and beers). We had our defenses down and that is when he struck. Damn John, if you reading this mark my words I will get you back :-)

Test of metal:

Me and Ian decided to punish ourselves on every climb the whole vacation, testing each other for weakness. After a full week of riding we conceded that we couldn't find that weakness. In fact we realized we would probably have kill ourselves in order to discover it. As a result our much anticipated race up the Moab rim trail (900ft in a mile) at the end of the trip turned into a good old lung buster cruise. We of course rode it in one go, but we skipped out on any semblance of a race as we realized the amount of pain required to destroy the other did not justify the prize. Its always nice to ride with people in the same mind set.

Or is it all about the decent:

I don't know how many times we rode Porcupine rim but I have to say I never get tired of it. It is an effortless flow of speed and vibration. I loved it. Ride the La Sal mountains first and then drop into it? Even better.

Bike Sluts

When not riding we spent our days being bike shop whores, visiting each bike shop for what they have to offer, buying little in return. We went to the chili pepper for coffee and spider cycles for the $1.50 showers. If I had more money I would definitely buy more, but what can you say other than "sorry guys." Next year when I find that sugar momma, I will definitely spring more cash in your directions.

We were invincible?

By night we would finish off a couple packs of beer (me and Ian) each night, pretending we were all that since we weren't the least bit drunk. Of course this may have had something to do with the fact the beer is only 3.2%, but hey if you concentrate hard enough you can almost convince yourself otherwise. Anyways we basically hydrated off in the evenings off the stuff. We only had dedicated drinks of water when we were actually riding. Of all the Utah beer, my favourite had to be Polygamy Porter, not because of its taste but because of its box and logo. "Why have just one?" I ask myself that question everyday. Look for a review in the near future.

Towers of Power

By the end of the our stay we knew we needed to leave a lasting impression so we learned how to build balancing rocks and tried to make the most rude, obnoxious and other wise insulting display to gravity we could. These were some of the more interesting results: one, two.

Then as quickly as this whole vacation began it ended.