Day Twelve (4/9/03)
Fruita rocks! We went to the local bike shop, bought a map and asked for a good "Intro to Fruita" ride, keeping Val's skills in mind. He suggested Rustler's Loop, simply stating if that was too hard, we were in the wrong place. Happily, it was not too hard, but seemed just right. It had a little bit of everything and a lot of singletrack. Easy enough for Val, pretty and interesting enough for me. Now that I've had the opportunity to do some recon, a real bike trip to Fruita is a must-do.
Not knowing how hard the rest of Fruita would be, we decided to move on to Moab, about an hour-and-a-half from Fruita. We threw up a tent at the Moab KOA, our first camping of the trip. Weather in Moab was beautiful: mid-70s during the day and blue skies. We got in mid-afternoon, and after lunch at the Moab Brewery, made the pilgrimage to Delicate Arch at Arches National Park.
The night was chilly, but liveable.
Day Thirteen (4/10/03)
After breakfast at a new place called Breakfast at Tiffany's (pretty good), I took Val out for the beginner's rite of Moab passage: Klondike Bluffs. As we prepared for the ride at the trailhead, Val pointed out a leggy blonde pedaling around the area. She was on this super expensive bike (a brand-new red Specialized S-Works Epic and decked out in the latest garb, but didn't seem too sure of herself. We started our way up the trail.
Val wasn't happy about this trail like she had been in Fruita, but wouldn't turn around when I suggested a retreat. Almost to the top, she decided to find shelter from the sun while I finished. I came back down after climbing the last bit of the trail, and met up with her and three other women who had just ridden to the point where Val had camped out. Turns out that the group of women had sent their "men-folk" on ahead unencumbered, and they were slowly catching up.
The women were interested in the details of the rest of the trail, so I told them about it. One of the women was the blonde with the expensive bike from the beginning. Her name was Marina. She had a thick accent and not-great English. Turns out that she's an MTB newbie (no shock there), and her fiancee had bought her the bike, and he had the same one. Ginger was the group's spiritual leader—younger and easily the strongest biker in the bunch. Caroline was the oldest (and apparently Ginger's mother).
Luckily Val decided that the girl power thing was just enough to get her to finish to the top of the ride, so I turned around and joined them on the way back up.
We caught up with the men in their group and hiked to the Klondike Bluffs (no bikes allowed) after reaching the top of the MTB trail. For those who know the ride, they've put a metal rack up there to lock your bike to, instead of just leaning it on the tree. The day was nice, and the views were great. We chit-chatted with a new couple who took our picture after Marina and co. decided to hike further out onto the Bluffs. The new couple were from Minnesota, and we spent a half-hour or so there before heading back. Val hadn't believed me that the way back down was much easier than the way up, but agreed later that it was.
We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant I had never eaten at before (La Hacienda, attached to the Inca Inn that I've stayed at in the past), which was OK, but not great. After dinner drinks at Eddie McStiff's, followed by pool and pseudo-gambling. McStiff's had this new thing upstairs where there was a craps table and a blackjack table, but it wasn't really gambling, since Utah law prohibits it. Basically, you pay $10 for $100 worth of chips and they teach you to play. I had been telling Val that I wanted to re-learn to play craps before we go to Vegas, so this was a fun way to do it. All-in-all, a good evening.
Day Fourteen (4/11/03)
We decided to head home, given that Moab was too intense a riding venue for Val, and we were both ready to get home anyway. Looking at a map, it always seemed to me that Highway 50 was a smaller road, but a more direct Reno-Moab route, so I decided that we should go home that way. Bottom line: more direct, but not really faster, and way more high-maintenance and fewer places to stop if needed. Its nickname is "The Lonliest Road in America," and it felt like it. Highway 80 will remain the route of choice for me in the future. We made it all the way home, leaving about 9:30 AM Mountain Time and arriving in Castro Valley at midnight Pacific Time.
Trip Summary
Total Mileage: 4750 Miles
States Visited: 8 (NV, UT, WY, SD, IA, NE, MO, CO)
National Parks and Monuments: 4 (Jewel Cave, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Arches)
MTB Rides: 3