Wednesday, March 21, 2007

80 Degrees Fahrenheit sure does feel hot this time of year


6 Hours West of Boulder on I-70 is the high desert of Utah. Specifically Moab, Utah. Home to two National Parks, a bike shop for every 1,000 year round residents and not a single chain store, Moab some how maintains the luxury of remaining a real town, despite it's obvious status as a tourist destination.

Natalie and I went out last weekend with some friends, did a little camping, stayed in town one night, sampled the local coffee, scones, beer and burgers and when I say local, I mean the local businesses are all local. Natalie was running the Canyonlands Half Marathon and I did a little riding with Bryan.

Despite her longest run being only 5 miles, Nat finished without walking a bit.

On Saturday, Bryan and I rode Slickrock and then rode through town to replenish water and food and went out to do another loop of trail. Below is the top of a the craziest hike a bike I ever want to do. 700 feet of 100% bike carrying. I really tried to wheel the bike next to me several times but it was so rocky, those rocks politely reminded me every time that I needed to carry the damn bike.


View from the top
And the ribbon like reward we were treated to after a rest. Too bad there was a headwind, otherwise it would have been the stuff of dreams.

There is no place like Moab. Despite the cliche, Slickrock is really fun, you can ride your bike or hike for hours on end and always have a good time. I don't think I'll ever get bored hanging out there a couple times/year.
Nat looking cute on Main Street. I feel like we could add a Saturday Night Live logo and her name in the upper left hand corner of the photo and I'd think she were a comedian, it was the opening credits, and a monologue would soon follow. Natalie was smiling because the gelato we just had was damn good.

You didn't think I'd update this again, did you people!!??!?