On Wednesday we continued West from Montrose towards Moab. The guys were moving quicker than me, I had to stop for gas and coffee in Naturita to warm up. I've been kicking myself since the day before for not biting the bullet and getting myself some heated hand grips. They would make my ride much more pleasant. I arrived in Moab just before noon. I stopped T the visitors centre to wait for the guys. I found out that I'd passed them while they played Frisbee to pass the time while waiting for me. We checked out the centre for some info on canyoning and hiking then headed for our campsite at Slickrock campground just north of town. We set up camp, had lunch at a piled in the Van to head for Arches national park. We did a lovely long afternoon hike around the park then drove to another lookout on our way out. By this time we were all hankering for food, we bought sausages in town and made spaghetti again. It was dark by the time we sat down to eat, and we had some beers and headed straight to bed.
Thursday I did laundry in the morning (I'd bumped a beer into my lap the night before, and I only have a set of clothes) making us all a little late getting out to go rent mountain bikes. We headed to Chile Peppers for bike rentals. I had to put a 15000$ hold on my credit card for the bikes (joke is on them, my limit is lower!) and we bought Snacks there. Henrick and Yannik got into heir bikes and started the 8 mile ride to the Brands where we'd spend the day biking while Albraa Francisco and I hoped into the car with our bikes. We dripped them and Francisco off at the Brands and I rode back with Albraa to pick the guys up. They'd already made it as far as Arches! The 4 of us grabbed sandwiches at gas station and booked it to the trail head.
We did a couple green loops as warm up, then I followed the group into a "physically easy but technically challenging" loop. Oops. I took my time thought and the guys waited for me without complaint. We lunched under a giant bush, huddled in for shade (there wasn't much to be found). By the end of the day I was feeling more confident but the dehydration made the route seem that much harder. Going uphill was pretty OK, but downhill I would often stall and have to walk it. The bikes were sweet though as the seat is adjustable with the touch if a button so you can raise /lower it depending on if you're travelling up hill or need to move it out of the way to lean back as you go down hill.
We had originally planned on returning the bikes late, around 7pm; however, because of the heat and the difficulty of the trail, we were all exhausted and finished around 330. We returned the bikes to Chile's the same way we got them to Brands; Henrick and Yannick on their bikes and Albraa, Francisco and I in the car. Only this time, Henrick and Yannick beat Albraa back to the shop, so Albraa drove around looking for them for awhile. We had some much needed Macdonald's ice cream for a snack before returning to the campground and hopping into the pool. As the guys started to plan the next leg of their trip, down to the grand canyon, I slowly realized that I wouldn't be joining them. A saw the Grand Canyon as a kid (I think) and the roads that way looked long and not fun to ride. I opted for a more northern route...
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