|
|
White Rim Ride |
|
|
Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
|
|
Written by Dave Leikam
|
|
Wednesday, 09 May 2007 |
Bikeman UC ride the White Rim
Moab, Utah
April 21, 2007
 | | The participants |
We patterned our ride after the one done by The Fat Cyclist each spring. That ride is known as the RAWROD and usually attracts upwards of 40 people. Our group was much smaller and we didn’t come up with a clever name, but it was a lot of fun anyway. Troy Nye, Vince Jones and I were the entire group and although we invited a bunch of other people we were the only ones who made it. Originally, we had set out to ride with the local Cutthroat Racing team but we couldn’t make schedules align although we did see them out on the trail.
 | | Looking back down to Mineral Bottom |
We started out just before 7am near Mineral Bottom which is a boat launch area on the Green River. Our strategy was to go clockwise so as to get the monster climb out of the way first thing and then the not-so-scenic part after that. The first few miles are a collection of switchbacks called Horsethief that takes you from the river level up about 700 feet to the top of the mesa.  | | The switchbacks we just climbed |
The next section was about 18 miles of good dirt roads that continues to climb up towards the paved highway. Seven more miles on the pavement and the real fun begins. At Shafer Trail the road dives down to the White Rim in a few short miles, giving back all of the elevation that we had gained. Once at the Rim level, the jeep road rolls along the edge of the mesa in wide arcs around the abyss below.
 | | Another look at the Horsethief switchbacks |
The scenery in this area always amazes me with the deep canyons below and the towering spires of stone above. The White Rim is aptly named as the sandstone is bleached white and there seemed to be a lot of salt deposited in the dry creek beds that left them a stark white against the surrounding red sandstone.  | | Musselman Arch |
In several places the edge of the Rim overhangs the supporting stone below so you can lay on your belly and look down at the one thousand foot drop. It’s a little bit freaky, especially if you are prone to vertigo or are afraid of heights. Like little kids, we began spitting off the edge to watch as the gobs dropped to the rock below. Vince inadvertently spit just as a bird came by causing it to make some drastic maneuvers to avoid the goober. It was really funny and no harm came to any animals during our ride.
 | | Arch/spires |
At about 45 miles we stopped to for a break and to wait for the support vehicle to catch up. Our calculations were off a little bit on how long it would take the girls to get around and we asked them to wait 30 minutes before coming down off Shafer. They only waited ten and were still about an hour behind us at Airport Tower.
 | | Troy calls for the support vehicle |
After lunch we got moving again and soon the vehicle was out of sight behind us. It’s amazing how much faster a bike is than a 4WD in this terrain. I hung back in a few places to make sure Mrs. Dave was able to maneuver the 4Runner up and over. She drove like a champ, though she did swear at me a few times. Mrs. Troy mostly hung on for dear life and cried, but she was fearless by the end.
 | | On the trail |
Vinnie got his big diesel engine going at about mile 75 and started to pull away on his Dos Niner. Troy was a little cooked riding single speed and I was just holding on thanks to the trusty Caballero. We began the descent toward the river at about mile 80 and it seemed like we were home free but there was one more climb ahead.  | | Hardscrabble climb |
What a dirty bugger it was too as it came at about mile 93. It was all ridable on fresh legs, but we were definitely not fresh. After struggling over the top we began the long descent back toward the river where we hit a few sections of deep sand.  | | The Big Diesel |
Within 5 miles of the finish point I began to hallucinate a little bit and saw people standing on the side of the road and some of the rocks painted in neon colors. I’m fairly sure those things weren’t real, but you never know. We ended up riding the 104 miles in just over 9 hours. Thanks to the girls for being our support crew through a very long day. Good times.
 | | Support crew |
Go to the Fat Cyclist web page and check out the RAWROD videos. You get a good feel for the ride even though they went in the opposite direction from our route. The RAWROD group, which included Aaron Smith of Bikeman, went the week after we did and you can see him in the video a few times.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
Photos by: Tracee Leikam and Cindy Nye
 |
|
|
|
; "The participants")
; "Looking back down to Mineral Bottom")
; "The switchbacks we just climbed")
; "Another look at the Horsethief switchbacks")
; "Musselman Arch")
; "Arch/spires")
; "Troy calls for the support vehicle")
; "On the trail")
; "Hardscrabble climb")
; "The Big Diesel")
; "Support crew")
Show/Hide comment form
