Familiar Places

Tomorrow night at midnight I embark on one of my favorite journeys of the year. I'll be riding the Kokopelli Trail from Moab to Loma. It is roughly 145 miles of a combination of paved road, dirt road, single track and double track. I am joining some other folks for this event without any outside support. The idea is to complete this quest without help along the way, to push yourself beyond your limits and come out on top. It will be fun and there will be moments that probably won't be so fun. Needless to say I can't wait. I love this ride and I love how it makes me feel. More than anything I love the sections on Fisher Mesa, Onion Creek, Hideout, Cottonwood Canyon.....the views are amazing and you feel like you are the only one on the planet until you stumble across some other suffering soul in the middle of nowhere.

I'll filter water probably from Hideout Canyon and then again at the Westwater Ranger Station (no filtering necessary here) which is game. The station is only 20 minutes round-trip off course including time it takes to get water. It is well worth it as riding through Rabbit Valley in the middle of a hot summer day without water is not my idea of a good time. The first year I did this it took me 20.5 hours from Moab to Loma. The second year from Loma to Moab (considered harder, as you climb the mother from Dewey to the La Sals) it took me 18.5 hours. My number one goal is of course to finish and number two is to do it a little faster than 18 hours. I don't know that I can since I haven't been able to train as much being in school and working a lot. I don't feel in the greatest shape so we'll just have to see what happens. I'll finish, it just may hurt a whole heck of a lot.

I'm bringing an assortment of items with me. I'll have the usual perpetuem, cytomax and water. I'm receiving my new Ergon backpack tomorrow which I can't wait to try out! Thank you Jeff! For food here is what I'll be munching on: fritos, pringles, fig newtons, chips ahoy, apples, pb&j, one chocolate ensure, an orange, a lemon lara bar or two, snickers marathon bars or something along those lines, oh I almost forgot I'm freezing a ginger ale, putting it in a coozy (sp?) and drinking that treasure in some hot place (I'm sure I won't have trouble finding one) when I'm about to puke.

The cool thing is that Matt is attempting this for his first time. I've warned him that if he's curled up under some bush somewhere in the middle of the desert in fetal position, I won't be able to stop and help him, we're on our own for this one. He doesn't know what he's in for but it will be a blast to see him finish or him see me finish.

Continued after the weekend.........