The White Rim 2008 - Sharing the Experience

Since the riding the White Rim trail for the first time in 2005, I've gone back every year. Last year I broke off from Doug and Ramin to do the 103 mile, self supported ride through Canyon Lands National Park alone (here). Being alone in the winter desert, especially when an injury or mechanical failure could turn into a survival situation, is an intense experience, but the ride has always been more than just a test of self reliance, it is a spiritual experience. It's about being humbled as I descend from the high desert into an endless sea of rock that literally reads like a history book millions of years into the past. The time portrayed on the great canyon walls reminds me that my meager existence is nothing more than a tiny blip in space and time. With no cell phones, internet, traffic, shopping malls, HOA's, or other evils and distractions I'm am left only with my thoughts to contemplate how well I am fulfilling my obligation to be a good, decent, and responsible human being. It's also a time that I am able use the silence, broken only by the rhythmic sounds of crushed dirt, squeaky pedals, bike chain, and gears to clear my mind enough to hear the voice of my creator, if only for a few short, fleeting moments. Here's a shot from 2007 descending down to the White Rim. You can see where the white band of rock starts at the end of the straight section.



At peace with the world, more than at any other time in my year perhaps, I've always finished the trip with a "no stepper" cliff launch off Horse Thief Canyon. It is a leap (or step) of faith that is a test of my skill as a pilot and daringness as a person. It is exercising a dream that I've had as long as can remember - To Fly! To fly in the most raw and natural way, to accept my fear and humanity and step off a 1000 foot tall cliff into the deep red abyss below. Then after briefly soaring against carmel textured cliff walls, to land filled with a hyper dose of gratitude that I am able to live my dreams and experience something that only of sliver of human beings on this earth have.



This year I thought I'd put that gratitude to work and share my experiences above with others, or more accurately provide them the opportunity to have their own. After racing for and becoming friends with the people of Phoenix Multisport, I knew Phoenix would be the perfect way to share the trip. I met with Jacki and Scott back in the summer to propose the idea. They were onboard from the start and we were able to secure permits for 30 people on the second weekend of November. Mike started a training program for people who needed it to get in shape, while I put together a slide show of past trips to garner interest. I used the word "work" in the first sentence of this paragraph deliberately because the planning and execution of the trip was just that. Jacki, Scott, the Ben's, Cristi, Mike, Jo, Dawn, Jon, Nick, Josh, Chris, and I all invested time and energy into making it happen, but it was well worth it and we were rewarded with an amazing trip!

The plan was to break the ride up over four days. After meeting Friday morning we would descend down the South Fork of Shafer Canyon to the White Rim and ride 15 miles to Airport Campground. The second day would be the longest, covering about 28 miles, finishing the with the steep climb up Murphy's Hogback to camp on top. This campground was the most scenic, sitting on a 600 foot tall mesa. Day three would be about 25 miles with a net descent down to the Green River, followed by another steep climb up Hardscrabble Hill and then down to the Hardscrabble Campground on the Green River. The last day would be another short 15 miler, along the Green River to finish the ride with the climb out of Mineral Bottom on Mineral Bottom Road. I planned to cliff launch my glider off the top of Mineral Bottom as the group approached. At the top people would have the option to ride or shuttle back to their cars parked at the end of Mineral Bottom Road. This is a poor map for blog standards, but I couldn't scan a clean Topo image. Click on it for a larger image.

I'll break up the posts to follow by days of the trip, plus a few photograph specific posts...

The White Rim 2008 - A few Teasers

I'm about half way through editing pictures from the White Rim trip. In the meantime here are a few artistic teasers until I'm finished...

The Superfly Takes Flight

I just finished editing pics from the first day of the White Rim trip, I'll have a post up soon. Until then I could not resist the temptation to put up a few self glorifying jump shots Jo took of me hucking the Superfly off a ledge on the last descent of the ride. As the sun set I raced ahead to be the first rider down the descent so I could take pics of everyone else. Afterwards Jo offered to take a few of me, here's what she got. Wait, is it bad to jump a carbon hardtail race bike?

Back from the White Rim, Sugar the Hunter

Jo and I arrived back from the White Rim late Monday night. The trip was a success, everyone had a great time and nobody got hurt. I'll start posting about it as soon as I make some headway on picture editing. Until then, here's something odd that happened today.

This afternoon I was unloading the truck in my driveway. It looked like a tornado had blown through, gear was spread out everywhere. I was working methodically to the lazy amusement of Sugar and Molly when my neighbor walked over from across the street with a concerned look on his face. He said there was a rabbit in his basement and he didn't want to touch it. Instead, he asked if he could borrow a dog to hunt it down.

Sugar was the best choice, her prey drive is strong and finely tuned while Molly is clumsy and apathetic when it comes to chasing animals. I called Sugar and we headed over. Rather than let Sugar kill the rabbit I suggested she just find where it was hiding and I'd catch it with my bare hands. Reconsidering that I grabbed some work gloves just in case the bunny was a biter. He laughed and said he doubted that I would be able to catch it, but we could try.

As Sugar and I cautiously crept down the stairs I couldn't help being reminded of the library scene in the movie Ghostbusters. The door slammed shut behind us, we were sealed in! Sugar immediately picked up the sent and tracked it to pile laundry. I could tell by her intent sniffing it must be near. I moved the pile and she went straight to a corner in the wall. There was a shelf in the way, but I could see signs of torn insulation. Bingo! I held Sugar back and moved the shelf. Behind it, wedged vertically in the corner, was the bunny. Crouching to block his exit, I slowly closed in on him with my hands to make the snatch. He stayed perfectly still until I got about 6 inches away. Realizing his cover was blown he decided to make a move. With no where else to go he jumped out of the corner, landed on my shoulder, and ran down my back. I dove after him, but he was to quick. As I fell face first on the floor Sugar picked up the chase.

I can only imagine what Sugar and I sounded like upstairs as we crashed into boxes, washers, dryers and basement clutter chasing him. The rabbit expertly eluded us with a series of fakeouts and course reversals. It was obviously not the first time he had been chased. He dodged, hucked, and jived with the skill of an NFL running back. That was until he tried to jump on top of the washer. Sugar was closing in, so he decided to go high. He leaped vertically, soaring up to eye level directly in front of me. When he landed on the metal washer he slipped into the pile of clutter next to it. I closed in and pinned him down with 2 hands. The chase was over and the bunny was safe.

I could feel the adrenaline in his body, but he soon surrendered and went limp. It was a good chase. I complimented him with a "Well done sir." and we headed upstairs. My neighbor was in shock that I caught him and curiously scared too. He didn't even want to take a picture of it at first. I changed his mind with a manhood threatening "Dude it's just a bunny rabbit!" After the victory shot I found a nice bush at the end of the road and set him free. Sugar got a bully stick for her hard work.

White Rim 2008 Preparations - Truck Racks and Toilets

The White Rim Trail has become a late fall tradition in my cycling seasons over the past few years. I've always done the 103 mile loop as a self-supported, one day push either with friends or alone. This year I thought instead of riding myself, I thought I'd share the experience with others by putting together a supported trip over 4 days through Phoenix Mulitsport. My truck will be one of 3 support vehicles for about 20 people. The custom rack I built when I bought the Tacoma has been in need of love for some time - the time has come.

My truck will be required to carry up to 9 bikes, 1 hang glider, 2 big tubs of gear, 2 water containers, 3 propane containers, 1 propane burner, 1 portable toilet, 1 wheel chair, 1 five gallon gas canister, plus Jo's and my riding gear. If you know where to look, Boulder is plentiful with cheap used outdoor gear. I see no reason to pay retail for rack parts, especially if they are going on a 200,000 mile truck. After a few weeks of collecting this is what I came up with.

The first order of business was to remove the detachable bike / kayak rack I had mounted to the hang glider rack and take it apart. Then I had to strip the 2" thick PVC tape wrapped padding off the stock Can Back bars which made up the rear hang glider rack. I mounted my long bars permanently below the silver Can Back Bars. This would be a platform to mount different bike and kayak configurations on in the future. I mounted the long bars below with U bolts so I'd have the full length of the Can Back bars to stack hang gliders on. I used stainless steel hardware with caps to prevent the bolt ends from the canvas.

Next I re-padded and taped the Can Back bars with 2" of foam. PVC pipe wrap tape is expensive, but it's the best material to cover foam padding with. It forms a monocoque structure that is compressible, but has enough memory to return to it's original form. Taping hang glider racks is an art form that is meticulous and time consuming, but I'm happy with the result.

Next I mounted the bike trays. I have enough room for 5 trays if I stagger them in opposite directions, Tour De France style. The problem with this is that there is no room for my hang glider. Since this is most likely a one time configuration the best solution I could think of was to extend the hang gliding rack from the end of the bars. It will hang out over the road, clear of the bikes and truck below. I had 3 extra bars to do this, but need to find a way to connect them to the existing rack. More U bolts seemed like the obvious solution. The front bar, which isn't padded, was easy, but the padded rear bars were more difficult. I couldn't compress the padding enough to get the extensions snug. After scratching my head for quite a while, I decided to get "mid-evil" on the problem. That is using a mid-evil technique. I used one U bolt as a fulcrum and lashed the end of the extension to the padded bar with rope. I tested it by hanging from each bar. The extensions didn't budge, but I did wake Sugar up who was sleeping in the truck bed.

In my search for parts I scored a rare find for $16. It's bike stand head that inserts into any circular bar. It has an expansion lock that once it's in it's solid with the bar. The head is fully adjustable for finding the a good work angle on the bike. When I taped the rear bar, I left room so I could insert the bike stand.

Once I the back half of the truck was in order I moved to the front. I scored a nice pair of used PIAA off road driving lights from Craig's list for $100. The Hella's I had mounted originally fell victim to rocks and broken glass years ago. The PIAA's have a metal guard that should prevent this, but their light output isn't as bright as the Hella's were.

The desert environment is a fragile one, where all life ages at very slow metabolic rates. In the interest of leaving no trace I thought I would make a portable toilet just in case anyone needs to "evacuate" between the park service outhouses. I scored a wooden toilet seat at Resource 2000, a building materials recycler, for $3. A sealable 5 gallon bucket will make up the rest. I liquid nailed (as opposed to nails or screws which would increase the possibility of splinters - Ouch!) a bracket to the bottom of the seat so it will fit securely on the bucket. Then I painted it with Kills to seal any "funk" that might have been living on the seat.

Jo gets back from her Wilderness EMT course and I finish my trip tomorrow night. After catching up, last minute packing, food shopping, dog walking, picking up bikes, more equipment, mounting the gas can, and picking up Jon and David we leave at 4:00am Friday morning.

Wind and Leaves on High Rock

I was archiving old photos from my laptop to my hard drive the other day and stumbled on more photos that I have been meaning to post on the Lee-Side. These were taken at High Rock, MD last fall with my little brother John.

High Rock was where I was first exposed to hang gliding. My dad used to take me up there when I was a kid. We knew people hang glided there, but never managed to see any. Then when I was 19 I saw my first hang glider in person at High Rock while hiking the Appalachian Trail with Nischom and Hadar. I unstrapped my pack and walked right up to the glider to check it out. The pilot asked if I would wire crew for him while he launched. I happily obliged. I can still remember being nervous for the pilot and concentrating intently on his instructions. I was surprised by the feeling of the glider's sidewire pushing against my hand and how strong it the lift it was generating was. The pilot launched without incident and we watched for a bit until he disappeared into the trees. The hang gliding seed was planted, but it wouldn't sprout for 7 more years.

Last year John and I repeated the tradition and ventured up to High Rock to check it out. There were no hang gliders, but that might have been due to the raging 30mph + winds whipping through launch. High Rock is a cliff launch that was arguably dangerous to stand on in such strong winds. We explored the cliff and took some pics while I explained how ridge lift works to John.

High Rock Launch

John

How Vain! Here I am taking pictures of myself...

...while John is hanging on for dear life.

John shot a 22 shot sequence of me releasing leaves into the slipstream over launch. The lift band was easily defined by the leaves. We watched them soar skyward like water from a hose, clearing the treeline behind the cliff by at least 20 feet. It was science in action! You can clearly see the lift band below.

A Tool of Science



The Lift Band







The Entire Sequence

The Wave has Arrived

As I was driving home from work the other day I was thinking how winter is steadily taking over Colorado. As I crested the hill leading down to Boulder my thoughts were confirmed by a huge lenticular cloud hovering overhead. It was perched just above my house and extended from Boulder as far south as I could see. It was a text book example of an altocumulus standing lenticular cloud. During the winter the jet stream moves south bringing with it increased wind speeds in the upper atmosphere. When these high winds hit the Rocky Mountains mountain waves form, along with associated lenticular and rotor clouds.

Excited, as I sometimes am by clouds, I rushed home to get my camera. The sun was fading as I loaded up the dogs and headed to the ditch trail for a few shots. The cloud had retreated upwind significantly since I first spotted it, indicating that the crest of the wave was moving west. The sun had almost set by the time I was able to fire off a few shots. High cirrus clouds had formed overhead distorting the lenticular clouds outline, but the reflecting sun highlighted it with deep oranges and provided a nice contrast to the silhoutted Flatirons.

First Tracks at Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Doug, John, and I went for a ride at Golden Gate Canyon State Park a couple weeks ago. The park rests at about 9000' above sea level and we made our "first tracks" of the winter through a healthy dusting of snow on the trails from a storm the week before.

First Tracks

Having never ridden Golden Gate Canyon before Doug and I followed John who knew the ride well. It started out with a 1000' technical switchback climb to Promontory Ridge. After that the trail skirted the backside of the ridge line treating us to views of the peaks of the Front Range and Continental Divide. It was cold and there was lots of snow in the shade.

Cold

Alex and John



The difference between the aspens on top of the ridge and in the valley below was stark. Up top they had completely shed their leaves while down below they were just beginning to turn from green to yellow.

Skeletons on Top

Green Leaves Below

The trail continued toward Tremont Mountain. After climbing it's shoulder and breaking 10,000', the trail dropped down onto Gap Road. We descended to road to the Elk Trail trailhead, which was a sick piece of singletrack that carved through more aspen groves.

Descending Gap Road

Unfortunately, the trail was closed half way down so we had to climb back up to the road again. We finished the loop by descending Mountain Base Road back to the car. The views never let up and riding down the road you could see almost 100 miles worth of the Continental Divide.

Descending the Elk Trail

Climbing Back Up

The Views from Mountain Base Road

I was amazed that I've lived in Colorado for over 4 years now and have never ridden Golden Gate Canyon. You have to pay, but I'm happy to support a local state park and have another place to add to the short list of Front Range riding. That fact that it's singletrack, semi-technical, and has some altitude only makes it more of a treat.