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Last week, N8 called to invite me on a little ride. I've been so buried with trying to figure out how to run a business that I didn't know how to lift my head from the work pile to say yes, no, or even maybe. Fortunately for me, he wasn't taking no for an answer.
The idea behind the ride was simple: take a tour of the White Rim in Canyonlands, on the shortest day of the year. Since neither of us are at our fittest, we knew that the amount of daylight we had to work with wasn't enough to complete the circuit in daylight hours. And since I'd prefer to start in the dark than finish in it, N8 picked me up at 3:30 am and off we went.
A few hours of good conversation later, we parked atop the Mineral Bottom switchbacks, dropped trow in the chilly air to don chamois and jerseys, then clipped in and off we went at 6am sharp.
N8's a fast starter and I am emphatically not. After just a few minutes he was completely out of sight. Or at least I think he was--neither of us used our headlamps due to the adequate illumination of the waning quarter moon. So he coulda been 'right there' and I never woulda known. Knowing how differently we pace ourselves, we agreed to meet at Murphy's Hogback, ~65 miles into the ride, to check in on each other before continuing.
Zipping along in the dark on the hardpacked dirt road was energizing, mostly because of the 20 degree temps. But as light came into the sky and silhouetted the desert landscape there were lots of interesting shapes for your creative subconscious to latch on to.
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After a little over an hour I hit the paved park road, and was greeted by a handful of mule deer and a stunning view of the Sierra La Sal.
![]()
Gradually descending the paved park road I lost all feeling in my feet. I'd opted for my spring/fall shoes, as I knew today's temp would climb to over 50 degrees. Knowing that I had a huge descent down Shafer Trail just a few minutes away, I did what any toe-loving human would do: got off and walked. Less than a quarter mile later my tootsies were toasty and I hopped on and dropped in.
![]()
This is where the ride really started to change. The scenery just keeps improving, while (less than 2 hours into a long day) I knew that I was already gearing down into survival mode. Sept/Oct/Nov are my off-season, and it was obvious immediately that I've lost my base fitness and have a long way to go to get it back. Rather than dwelling on that sobering fact, I simply enjoyed the views as they unfolded, knowing that this qualified as Training Day number 1 for the '06 season. Here I'm looking east over the canyon of the Colorado River.
![]()
The next few hours were rhythmic and silent. I've previously ridden the White Rim about a dozen times, and there are always crowds of people riding, hiking, jeeping, and camping. That's what the route is here for. But today there wasn't another soul around. Excepting N8 somewhere out ahead, I had my own private trail, and my contemplative mood suited the melancholy silence I found out there. I cruised along and took a few photos when I could be bothered to stop and extract the camera.
Along about mid-morning, I started feeling like I was gonna have to, well, you know... I'm no stranger to squatting in the sage, but I was happy to sit and enjoy the scenery framed by the door. I've definitely 'gone' in less scenic spots...
![]()
On single-day excursions of this route I've never felt much like killing myself to 'clean' some of the tougher climbs. Today was no different. I walked a few short pitches of Murphy's Hogback to find N8 sleeping, like a lizard on a sunny rock, up top. He'd been there an hour already. I snarfed a Clif Bar and some wasabi peanuts while N8 repacked his gear, then we were off.
Murphy's is the high point of this section of trail, and the descent away from it flows sweetly. Punctuated by short, steep climbs every few minutes, it's difficult to do anything but grin as you grind because you know just seconds away is another swoopy fast down. Here's N8 on a short stinger, the last time I'd see him til the finish.
![]()
Fairly singing along on this gradual descent, before long you bottom out while paralleling the Green River. No surprise to see small flotillas of ice working their way towards the sea.
![]()
This is the last bit of the climb known as Hardscrabble Hill:
![]()
Again I was walking, but severely enjoying the scenery as I did so.
Roller-coastering along the top of Hardscrabble I came around a corner and saw what, to me, was a very surprising sight. Rivers freeze all over the world, but for some reason I never expected it to happen here among the warm red rocks. Obviously a shady spot at a meandering oxbow on the river had allowed the ice to collect from upstream. It'll take a good swell or a few months til the earth rotates around enough to allow the sun to get at it.
![]()
Once I dropped off of Hardscrabble and back to the river bottom I was out of the sun for good. The GPS told me I had almost 20 miles left to go and a prudent person, wet from sweat, out of food, and tired from over 9 hours in the saddle already, would have just put his head down and beat feet for home. But the light was far too good for that. Knowing that N8 had already climbed to the van and was napping in the sun waiting for me, I tried (really N8, I did!) to just pedal and enjoy the light. But I couldn't do it. Ultimately I shot ~30 photos as I made my way along the sandy river bottom trail.
![]()
![]()
My legs cooked, my back tight, my butt a little more sore than I'd like to admit, I came around one last corner to see this ampitheatre engulfed by the last rays of the sun on the shortest day of the year.
![]()
I ground and slaved my way up the Mineral Bottom switchbacks in the post-alpenglow dusk, topping out to see a smiling, wasted N8 leaning against his van. Tired, sore, stinky, gassy, and above all buzzing from the sweetiousness of the day, we loaded up the bikes and headed for home.
MC
The idea behind the ride was simple: take a tour of the White Rim in Canyonlands, on the shortest day of the year. Since neither of us are at our fittest, we knew that the amount of daylight we had to work with wasn't enough to complete the circuit in daylight hours. And since I'd prefer to start in the dark than finish in it, N8 picked me up at 3:30 am and off we went.
A few hours of good conversation later, we parked atop the Mineral Bottom switchbacks, dropped trow in the chilly air to don chamois and jerseys, then clipped in and off we went at 6am sharp.
N8's a fast starter and I am emphatically not. After just a few minutes he was completely out of sight. Or at least I think he was--neither of us used our headlamps due to the adequate illumination of the waning quarter moon. So he coulda been 'right there' and I never woulda known. Knowing how differently we pace ourselves, we agreed to meet at Murphy's Hogback, ~65 miles into the ride, to check in on each other before continuing.
Zipping along in the dark on the hardpacked dirt road was energizing, mostly because of the 20 degree temps. But as light came into the sky and silhouetted the desert landscape there were lots of interesting shapes for your creative subconscious to latch on to.
After a little over an hour I hit the paved park road, and was greeted by a handful of mule deer and a stunning view of the Sierra La Sal.
Gradually descending the paved park road I lost all feeling in my feet. I'd opted for my spring/fall shoes, as I knew today's temp would climb to over 50 degrees. Knowing that I had a huge descent down Shafer Trail just a few minutes away, I did what any toe-loving human would do: got off and walked. Less than a quarter mile later my tootsies were toasty and I hopped on and dropped in.
This is where the ride really started to change. The scenery just keeps improving, while (less than 2 hours into a long day) I knew that I was already gearing down into survival mode. Sept/Oct/Nov are my off-season, and it was obvious immediately that I've lost my base fitness and have a long way to go to get it back. Rather than dwelling on that sobering fact, I simply enjoyed the views as they unfolded, knowing that this qualified as Training Day number 1 for the '06 season. Here I'm looking east over the canyon of the Colorado River.
The next few hours were rhythmic and silent. I've previously ridden the White Rim about a dozen times, and there are always crowds of people riding, hiking, jeeping, and camping. That's what the route is here for. But today there wasn't another soul around. Excepting N8 somewhere out ahead, I had my own private trail, and my contemplative mood suited the melancholy silence I found out there. I cruised along and took a few photos when I could be bothered to stop and extract the camera.
Along about mid-morning, I started feeling like I was gonna have to, well, you know... I'm no stranger to squatting in the sage, but I was happy to sit and enjoy the scenery framed by the door. I've definitely 'gone' in less scenic spots...
On single-day excursions of this route I've never felt much like killing myself to 'clean' some of the tougher climbs. Today was no different. I walked a few short pitches of Murphy's Hogback to find N8 sleeping, like a lizard on a sunny rock, up top. He'd been there an hour already. I snarfed a Clif Bar and some wasabi peanuts while N8 repacked his gear, then we were off.
Murphy's is the high point of this section of trail, and the descent away from it flows sweetly. Punctuated by short, steep climbs every few minutes, it's difficult to do anything but grin as you grind because you know just seconds away is another swoopy fast down. Here's N8 on a short stinger, the last time I'd see him til the finish.
Fairly singing along on this gradual descent, before long you bottom out while paralleling the Green River. No surprise to see small flotillas of ice working their way towards the sea.
This is the last bit of the climb known as Hardscrabble Hill:
Again I was walking, but severely enjoying the scenery as I did so.
Roller-coastering along the top of Hardscrabble I came around a corner and saw what, to me, was a very surprising sight. Rivers freeze all over the world, but for some reason I never expected it to happen here among the warm red rocks. Obviously a shady spot at a meandering oxbow on the river had allowed the ice to collect from upstream. It'll take a good swell or a few months til the earth rotates around enough to allow the sun to get at it.
Once I dropped off of Hardscrabble and back to the river bottom I was out of the sun for good. The GPS told me I had almost 20 miles left to go and a prudent person, wet from sweat, out of food, and tired from over 9 hours in the saddle already, would have just put his head down and beat feet for home. But the light was far too good for that. Knowing that N8 had already climbed to the van and was napping in the sun waiting for me, I tried (really N8, I did!) to just pedal and enjoy the light. But I couldn't do it. Ultimately I shot ~30 photos as I made my way along the sandy river bottom trail.
My legs cooked, my back tight, my butt a little more sore than I'd like to admit, I came around one last corner to see this ampitheatre engulfed by the last rays of the sun on the shortest day of the year.
I ground and slaved my way up the Mineral Bottom switchbacks in the post-alpenglow dusk, topping out to see a smiling, wasted N8 leaning against his van. Tired, sore, stinky, gassy, and above all buzzing from the sweetiousness of the day, we loaded up the bikes and headed for home.
MC
BTW, most people plan on doing that ride on the summer solstice, the er, longest day of the year.
