Winter training in Pittsburgh is a problem. For most of January and February it has been impossible to ride outside. My training has been limited to putting my bike on a trainer and riding in my basement. The normal routine is to start riding at the beginning of a college basketball game, ride for the first half, spinning extra hard during commercials and timeouts. It actually works out to be a very good 45 minute workout. Plus, I will have the added benefit of having scouted lots of college teams for our annual firm March Madness Pool.
Family circumstances made it impossible for me to attend the IADC Meeting at Pebble Beach, but those same circumstances allowed me to ride outdoors in the one of the most amazing mountain biking venues in the world. The weekend of the meeting, my son's school scheduled their Parent's Weekend at the school in northern Utah. So we had to go to Utah. Two days before we left we got the tragic news that my father-in-law was hospitalized in Denver with a terminal condition. We immediately changed our plans and flew to Denver. We were able to have quality visits with him for three days before heading to Utah. Since we flew into Denver instead of Salt Lake City, we decided to rent a car and drive. This took us through Moab, where we stayed to break up our trip. The winding drive through the red rock canyon along the Colorado River is breathtaking. We were fortunate to stay at a ranch right on the river about 20 miles south of Moab. This allowed me to fulfill one of those dreams of tackling mountain biking on slick rock in Moab.
At a younger age, I might have just rented a bike and headed out on my own. Age and fear encouraged me to hire a guide. I'm glad this time I listened to my instincts. I hired Fred of Rim Tours, who is an expert mountain bike racer. Not only did he leaded me on the amazing Klondike Bluffs Trail, he pointed out sites that I would otherwise have missed. Above is a picture of a dinosaur footprint that we rode by. Fred also saved me from a possible disaster. As we were climbing the slick rock my bike flipped throwing me off, but virtually uninjured. The same could not be said for the bike. The brake lever was sheered off, meaning I did not have a rear brake. We were miles from the trail head, and probably 30 miles from the bike shop. Fred took a brake lever off of his bike and put it on mine. He made the repairs on the slick rock using just the tools in his pack. He did it in about 5 minutes. Now, this left Fred with only a front brake and the prospect of coming down a mountain on rock with no rear brake. We continued to climb. At the end of the trail we were at the border of Arches National Park. We dismounted and hiked into the park for an awe inspiring view of one of our country's most amazing natural wonders. Although mountain biking is very different than the type of trip I have planned this summer, it did prove to be an inspiration for tackling biking adventures. It also provided me with enough of a treat to be satisfied with spinning to hoops in my basement until the weather breaks.
