Moab Rim Ride 2009 Race

Went over to Moab for Fred's Moab Rim Ride. This was an all out ass kicker. This was a self supported, carry all you need including water. I had 160 ounces of water and a bottle of coke. That was just enough to get me through the day. I rationed it well. If it was any warmer I may have ran out of fluid. The high temps were around 65. Pretty nice. I woke up at 3.30 am on Saturday morning to get ready for the 5am meeting at the Moab town park. It was well below 30 degrees. Not sure how many started or exactly finished the whole route. Maybe 20 or so started. I rode with Andrew Carney (from Ft. Collins as well as a fellow BWR teamie) and his coach Jason (Boulder). Two awesome people to ride with. Both super strong riders. The official start time was 5.45am and five of us finished together at 8pm. So about 14 or so hours to negotiate the route. I logged 97 miles and 9400 feet of climbing. It was definitely one of the harder hundys I have ridden. Very rocky and technical at times. Lots of up and down on rock. Some long sections of sand. Posion Spider route at the end was the worst. Thanks to Andrew for having the GPS unit which made it easier to follow. Otherwise I would have been one lost puppy out there. Looking forward to the next outing. I think the WRIAD is on tap for this weekend. Back to Moab!!!





Pretty sweet campground by the river.

Friday night and me and the bike are hitting the sack. It was cold. Had my tent heater going all night. 3.30 am came quick.

Jason and Andrew on a food break.

The La Sal's in the background.

The Ergon pack was great.

Me eating a powerbar.

The Airborne Ti 29er single speed machine. It rode flawless.

Andrew on the climb up gold bar, I think. It was a blur.

Casey from Colorado was with us for a bit. He had a mechanical and I was able to figure it out. He was about to walk it out.

Jason getting after it.

Andrew having fun.

Climbing that never stopped.

Lots of slick rock around here.

The view from atop Blue Dot trail. Moab is still a few hours away.

Andrew negotiating the cliff drop. I would be on the other side of the bike myself. Whatever.

The sun is starting to set. It was a long day for sure.

Finally what I was waiting for: the pavement.

Matt cruising on the pavement.

Cat smiling after hitting the pavement at the end of Poison Spider. A few more miles and we are done.