Exploration delayed

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Sometimes, things work out just as planned, other times the universe decides that the best laid agenda needs some disrupting. Sometimes, that disruption actually proves to be a benefit though! After all, the trail situation in Moab at the end of February wasn't all that great and my legs were a little tireder then I wanted to admit from Stories. Still, we had plans to head to Moab and Fruita for a mini-vacation/training camp that last full week of February. And then Nick crashed and tore a hole in his elbow. Okay, maybe we can still go! Just need to dial it down a little. And then the wound got infected big time. Yeah, no - not going. Time to postpone the trip and let his arm heal up. Which also had the benefit of letting me recover a little and allowing all the snow to melt off the trails in Moab.

Exploring means following the cairns even if you don't know where they lead

Without a plan other then get out of COS, we headed west. Moab never disappoints for riding or running. There were a few trails Nick absolutely wanted to ride, some things I wanted to ride and a whole weekend without a plan in place. We found ourselves atop the Island in the Sky at the Horsethief Campground Friday night, just in time to get one of the last camp sites and to watch the sun setting while eating dinner. Ahh. Nothing like a quiet night sleeping in the van, with no city noise to disturb us. I woke up early and did an exploration run on the Chisholm trail from the campground - nothing fancy, just an out and back for a few miles. Then time to ride. We'd decided to skip Ahab Saturday due to the trail run going on. Not really polite to get in the way of people racing! That just meant we had miles of Horsethief trails to explore, including a loop I'd run part of the year before. No better way to jump start my cycling fitness then chasing Nick around, right? Ouch. I could tell I hadn't been riding much and was really happy we'd postponed the trip a little.

Sunset from the campsite. 

After Saturday's ride, we talked about the plans. With the Kane Creek crossing so high and having such a nice campsite, did we really want to pack up and leave Sunday after riding? We could stay one more night, take our time riding Sunday and then possibly ride Ahab Monday. Either way, we'd be best served by staying another night. The best part about not having a plan is the flexibility! So it was another quiet night under the stars, another chill run in the morning and then more exploring on the Horsethief Trails.  And time for my longest ride in months! Mustang, Getaway, Bull Run twice, all kinds of fun riding! Ouch. I was riding well until I wasn't and then I imploded. The legs threw in the towel and I opted to soft pedal the road back out. Moab isn't a place to try to ride when you are exhausted. The stupid-tireds really can cause havoc on those rocks! I was happy with how I was riding until I got tired though. Normally, I have a bit of an acclimatization period when we ride somewhere different, especially in the winter. Not this time. I was able to handle all the rocks really well. I might not have been fast, but I was smooth and that's half the battle.

Nick, adjusting my brakes on the trail. What can I say, I'm picky!

Monday morning - time to head out of Moab. Instead of riding Ahab as we'd talked about, we decided to beat rubber and head to the next destination. Despite being on vacation, there was a lot of stuff we wanted to do! Time was important and driving into Moab, around to Ahab and then heading out would have eaten into the available time we had to play. So next time. It's on the list since it's one of Nick's favorite trails!


Sunrise over the camp ground.




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