RAWROD 2010

4-23-2010: Getting There

I first had to get to the campsite the night before.

It took me all night to get to the Horse Thief camp, but I made-it.. I left work at 3:15, then I stopped at home to get my shoes which I had stupidly forgotten. Then I stopped to get compressed natural gas for the truck in Orem just north of 800 N & West of the freeway. Finally at 4 pm I was southbound towards Canyonlands National Park.

I made pretty good time for the 84 miles to Price, although the weather was cold and rain and sleet were falling on the road. In Price I topped off the CNG, 5 gallons worth. I love my CNG truck. I buy CNG for 93 cents a gallon and that makes my truck cheaper to drive than my civic.

Driving south from Price I realized that I generally knew the way to Canyonlands, but to specifically get to the horse thief trail head, I didn't know the way. True to form I didn't bring the maps. So I did what I normally do under similar circumstances. I panicked and then I called Erin.

Erin told me to take the second road and that It forks left So I did as she said, but that led to the Horse Thief Campground. That is not the same as the Horse Thief Trailhead or the road into Horse Thief Canyon. I asked the Campground Host, he sent me back down the road and said: "It's the next road south with a big parking area."

So I went south about a quarter mile and took that road. I headed West to Horse Thief trail head.
I almost got to the end of the road & I remembered that Erin said it forked left and I needed to take the left fork.

Well I had seen some left forks. "oh no," I thought so I turned around and headed back. This was in the dark now so I couldn't see very well. I explored all the left forks, but they all dead-ended or went into ravines. I guess that's about as dead as an end can get. So I got back on the road and headed west again, I stopped an oncoming car. It turned out to be Eldon, the Fat Cyclist blog author.

He said, keep going west. The road is 13 miles long." So I did. I found everyone camped at the end of the road. Had I only kept on my original course, I would have been there an hour or so earlier.

I barely made it in time to see Kenny (the ride organizer) and all the guys around the campfire. Kenny was glad to see me (probably because I had brought 20 gallons of water to supply the riders for the next days ride).
He cooked me up a braut (German hotdog) and I threw a load of mustard on it and ate it.

It just goes to show you that it's better to know exactly where you are going before you leave. I could have easily mapped the exact location on my GPS and then I would have shortened my trip time by about an hour.


4-24 2010 The Ride
I started out sleeping in the bed of the truck I had a thick pad and a warm bag. There were storm clouds off in the distance, but they didn't look too threatening so I decided to risk sleeping in the open in the bed of the truck. J

The Wind was gusting and I thought the tent would be noisy and flap about.
At about lPM, snug in my bag, it started raining. So being lazy I jumped in the cab and shoved all my stuff -camelback, clothes, backpack, hat, and miscellaneous stuff onto the floor & laid my bed roll on the seat.

I am 5 '10 and the width of the cab is 5.0" so I had to scrunch myself, but I was dry and warm.

I woke up at 530 and started getting ready. I ate my can of peaches for breakfast. I had a hard time getting it down because the peaches were cold. I should think of a better breakfast for these events.

It was about 45 degrees so I started my ride with a jersey (of course!), pearl izvmi arm warmers, my black Pearl Izumi Shell, my brown mtn biking pants, mad dog cycling socks, thin ski socks, fingerless gloves, helmet, olive-green head sweat, performance sun glasses.

At Musselman Arch I took off my ski socks & stuffed them in the jersey pockets. It was getting warmer and the biking had warmed me up as well. I had taken my shell off earlier than that.

We rode the 13 miles of dirt road from the top of Horse Thief trail to the pavement of highway 313 and then south to the entrance of Canyonlands and the White Rim Trail. It was free! normally It costs 5.00 for the bicycle entrance.

I soon went down the left turn to the dirt road leading to the Shafer trail. The trail soon skirts Some awesome views, Including a view of the Shafer trail below. I felt pretty good. I was riding with Kenny. Well I really wasn't riding "with" him, I was really behind him trying to stay with him. I don't know how I caught up with Kenny but he must have stopped at the entrance because I was the last to start and I caught up with some people on the dirt road from camp.
By the time I arrived at the pavement of highway 313 no riders were in sight.I was too slow!

I wanted to not burn out too fast, so like Darren had told me when we rode the Traverse, I need to ride within myself. I rode all the pavement by myself because I was slow and didn't want to burn myself out. I later found that some 17 year-old did just that. Burned himself out trying to set to fast of a pace during the early part of the ride.

At least this year the wind was negligible. Last year there was a tough head wind on the pavement section. I remember drafting as much as I could.

So I Kept up with Kenny, down the Shafer trail for a while. But Kenny, riding easy and having ridden the same ride from the day before, riding in Levi cut-offs, sets such a pace that I could in no way keep up.

We met up at Musselman Arch for refueling and a group photo.

I filled up my bottle with carborocket and left before many of the other riders. That was my Strategy for keeping up with the group -leave early and take shorter breaks.

Most of the riders pass me when I leave early, which is good. By going ahead I can talk with them a while and then the ride seems more of a group ride. If I go last, I don't see anyone until the next stopping point.

Riding the rim was beautiful. I feel a little short-changed because I would
rather soak up more of the scenery. However, when you are doing the White Rim in one day, you have to keep moving. My legs were still good after Musselman Arch, which was not the case last year. I was pretty fatigued after Musselman Arch last year.

After Musselman the next stop was Vertigo Void, at about mile 60 and five miles past White Crack. I met up with another young old guy, Rick, aged 44. He was carrying the "Flower" which was a fake flower that goes on the handle bar of the last rider. So We can keep track of all the riders & know they are all in after the ride.

Home made cookies on the Rim?
Alright, I've got to say that I've never eaten home made chocolate chip cookies on the Rim, but as I was cruising past one of the many overlooks a guy shouts out: "Hey want a cookie?"
Oh my. Muscle memory took over and I slammed on the brakes.
"Uh, yeah."
A proper response.
Yeah so this guy was out doing the white rim in 4 days with a whole support crew. I must say that is stylin': hanging out on the rim and giving out chocolate chip cookies. Bless you with all the cooking skills you desire my new cookie doling friend!
My legs were cramping boy about mile 50. Any climb that I attempted would cause my calf, hamstring and quadriceps to cramp. Especially my right leg, which is my stronger leg. I don't understand cramping too much, but I was hydrated and loaded with electrolytes. I think the issue is training. Really I did 100 miles the week before and several 60 mile days (30 miles to work and 30 back), and while those were good workouts, how can you compare that with a solid 10-12 hour ride. Those other rides are about 1/2 the workout so I'm not sure that I was properly trained.

A Word About Cramping.
Well, maybe a few words.
There are very few scientific studies about this and many theories. dehydration, deficiencies such as: Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Salts. Not enough training, genetics, etc.

I cramped again this year. Dang!

My folkloric theory this year, not hydrated enough. I should have hydrated about a liter before I started riding. I think I wasn't hydrated enough before I left. So I started with a deficit and I never caught up. That was probably 30% of my problem. The other 70%? A combination of being old, fat and undertrained. I can work on the last two items and the hydration. Who knows maybe I'll figure this thing out and actually be able to make a dabless climb up Murphy's, Hardscrabble or Horse Thief. I'll take one out of three.


Climbing Murphy's Hogsback I watched Eldon climb it on his single speed. I was amazed. Riding the hogsback looks so much faster and smoother, all I could do was watch him glide by whilst I slogged up the same tread.

Chain Bustin'
I broke my chain while I was climbing Hardscrabble. It was because I had a new derailleur and the max adjustment for the largest sprocket was too tight.
This causes chain-drop where the chain barely makes it on the big granny sprocket and then drops off. This causes great strain to the chain, especially when climbing because you are putting all your strength into the pedal and when that chain slips off of the sprocket the chain gets a lot of energy, then it stops abruptly as it locks onto the next gear down. sometimes, like in this case, the chain breaks. While I was fixing my chain, John & Jilene showed up with someone else who was sporting the flower. They checked on me and Jilene dumped the flower on me and left. I pushed my bike to the top.

After I got there Kenny told me that I would be on my own. I think he thought I was the last guy for a long time. I would not have been last had my chain not broken. So I left the Flower on another bike and took off. Soon Kenny passed me.
Kenny rode so awesome, cranking & gliding on his Single speed. I was just trying not to cramp. At the 'bottom, by the river he lost me, but I caught up with Eldon and the lady he was riding with. He apparently was in one of those cool 8 square foot fancy bathrooms. I think the bathroom was calling to him.

I rode through all the sandy washes and finally later Jilene & John caught up with me. We made it to the bottom of Horse Thief and I adjusted my derailleur so I could Use granny sprocket. I was able to climb slowly at 3 mph. on the third to the last Switchback I walked. Then I rode the last two switchbacks. No one noticed that I arrived. I did yell to Kenny that I had made it, just so someone could notice. I think he said, "Good Job!"

Probably he was thinking "It's about time!"

I still don't know why I do it. the ride is so painful. The riders are so good I feel like such a pokey rider. "Why have you given me the desire to bike when I am such a stinky warrior?"

It is fantastic scenery and it really is amazing to watch and meet all the riders and how good they ride and to experience the mutual suffering. Like they say, "Misery loves company".

Hats off to Kenny for starting a truely memorable tradition.

For the record. The GPS coordinate for the top of horse thief:
38°30'31.53"N 109°59'40.02"W
Link to location on google maps


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