Kokopelli on the Mind

dirty winshield sunrise on i-70
"picture me rollin in a 500 benz". sorry 2pac, but i roll in a white vw eurovan (how did that happen?!). picture instead me driving west on i-70 peeling a hard boiled egg with a trash bag in my lap, watching the sunset in a dirty eurovan with the white stripes making my head bob out of control. that was me yesterday. i started in buena vista with the family price (pictured with a lego car in vail) and headed west. andrew and rachel - i simply can't thank you guys enough for helping a brotha out last week. you are great friends.

i was going to stop in leadville and enjoy a bit of oxygen deprivation, but the weather was supposed to be around freezing at night. i of course have a bad ass mountain hardwear phantom 0 degree bag, so i would have been fine. but honestly... i'm not ready for that yet. i need more summer, more hot. so i decided the fruita/moab area would be better with 87-90 degree weather.

i'm sitting in the aspen street coffee shop right now after sleeping by the boat ramp off exit 15, near the start of the kokopelli trail. for years i've been obsessed with riding and/or running the 142 miles of beautiful trail the fertility god has laid out. mtn biking it in under 24hrs is a solid effort. the record for running it was set in 2004 by peter bakwin and steph ehret at 32hrs 41min 41secs. even more impressive is the solo effort paul pomeroy threw down in 2002. he dropped 5 buckets with supplies along the route then ran it back in 37hrs 33mins. i'm intregued by this style, however i know how harsh the desert can be. a mistake or missing drop and you are in a world of hurt really fast.. more hot than you can swallow.


fruita to moab through desert = tasty. solo logistics and my overall energy level might stop me from getting it done, but at the very least i'll get some fertility trail time. my morton's nueroma also seems to be flaring up now that i've come to a stop.

The Whole Enchilada - Moab, Utah

today we rode the whole enchilada. we started at warner campground instead of burros because of the snow level. this amazing ride starts at 9,450 feet in the la sal mountains southeast of moab. it connects hazard country trail, kokopeli, porcupine rim and drops you at the colorado by negro bills canyon a few miles out of moab. most people pay for a shuttle service to get to the top so they can just enjoy the ride down.. i am averse to two things, shuttles and ski lifts.

my ride today: 59 miles: 5,800 feet of amazing descent, 5,800 feet of tough ascent back up into the la sals to get the car.

Bartlett Wash Slickrock - Moab, Utah

things in moab are good.

Sovereign Singletrack - Moab, UT

day 1 of our adventure started in moab at one of my favorites. sovereign singletrack: 20.7 miles, 2200 feet of gain, good times, good (enough) abs.

18 Hours Later...

steve and i drove the nuun van all the way from seattle to moab.. 18 hours of driving and one nap later we arrived. we're camping for the next couple of days right on the main drag in moab (rt 191)... i can't wait to ride!


honestly though i am a bit concerned with how my abs have been feeling. although the dr said "it's going to hurt for a while" i can't help but worry. i don't wanna "blow a mesh!". i've been riding and running super easy for 1 week now. yesterday was 3 weeks post-op. last weekend i did back to back easy 25 mile road rides and the abs hurt for two days after that. i have been to three yoga classes and just did the poses that felt ok. this past wed and thurs i put in my first hard efforts while teaching spin class. everything felt fine during class. but afterwards the right side was sore. then we started this long drive to moab and they never felt right the whole time.

i know i need to take it slow and i'm prepared to just doodle around town if things don't feel right. however we have some pretty awesome plans.. the biggest of which is the the whole enchilada, a 26 mile combination of trails that starts in the la sals and drops you 7,000 glorious vertical feet down into moab. but with steve just getting back on his bike and me on the mend we might leave that for last and start with a favorite of both of ours... the sovereign trail. oh boy...

Headed to Moab.. again!

i am frantically packing for an impromptu trip to moab! the weather looks perfect! stay tuned for mega-blogging of our adventures!