This is the graphic on the National Park Service Website for Canyonlands National Park.  I figure they post this in June and take it down in September.  Today’s forecast (August 8) is for high tempratures in the mid 90’s  The forecast for July 18 was for a high of 105.

One Hundred and five degrees Fahrenheit.

Tuesday morning we got up early.  One of the guys (Bip not Gary) had a reputation as an early riser and considering we were packed in the AirBnB like sardines once he was stirring we all got up.

This was all part of the plan.  The forecast was for a picture perfect day if riding in an oven is your idea of perfect.  We wanted to get an early start and we did.  We had a brief discussion of safety and what to bring and we decided that between the group we’d bring one tent and one sleeping bag “just in case.”  I also carry my bike cover at all times which can be used for emergency shelter and as a signal too as it’s red.  I had my 3 liter camelbak and my 10 liter MSR dromedary bag which I had filled and put in the freezer the night before.  My goal was to have more than enough water for me and plenty to share should anyone else run dry.  With almost 3.5 gallons of water on the bike I felt prepared.

Off we went into the great unknown.  110 or so miles with no shade, no services and a very expensive rescue should one be necessary.  Oh and don’t ride off a cliff please.

We ran the loop from the south meaning we went clockwise.  I was very excited.  I determined the day before that each rider was not only good on a bike but great to be around off the bike.  We were going to adventure together today, that was for sure and I was happy to be a part of it.  Very happy.

We stopped for a bunch of photo ops.  In the White Rim trail there’s a photo op every 500 yards but Jim, Chad and Stephen have a real eye for this sort of thing so the stops were all at spectacular vistas and most thankfully more than 500 yards apart.

Group selfie courtesy Chad Warner

The trail itself is a great ride.  Huge views, big drops and scenery out of the movies, because they make movies here.

With 9 riders there was a little bit of the herding cats element to the ride.  Those of us out front made a “wrong” turn to go up to the closed visitors center; then we came back down only to turn around to go back up for a photo. No worries and good fun!

The temperature broke 100 at about 11:00.  In endurance riding such as the Iron Butt Rally I’ve learned that once the temperature is over 98.6 there’s no point in having mesh or open vents.  As the air is hotter than our ideal body temp allowing air flow at a higher temperature is the same as standing in a convection oven unless you have plenty of water to get your shirt wet.  The challenge here is with the low humidity one dries off very fast.

That’s all good if you’re just sitting there and twisting that and in that application it is very effective.  Things are a bit different when you’re riding a GS off pavement.  Obviously the speeds are much lower but you’re not just “sitting there and twisting that”, there is a bit of work involved riding off pavement on a big bike.

A few hours later it was 103 and I started to think, F-Me it’s effing hot.  Still a ton of fun but it’s hot.  We’d stop every now and again for a rest and what shade we could find.

Cools as cucumbers we are.  Dust added for manly effect.
Chris Jones, Jim Bean and me taking a rest
Rick Giroux photo

As we motored along I had my first “this sucks” feeling coupled with “how much effing hotter is it going to get?”  I admit I had allowed myself to get soft over the years and it had been a very long time since I was outside in such heat let alone doing something physical.  But I was on the bike in an amazing place with amazing riders who were surely just as hot as I so I hitched up my big boy pants, took a swig of now hot water and motored on.  I reset my odo on the way in so I knew we were only half way or so.  It is what it is so suck it up and keep moving.  It was an easy choice as it was the only option.

Every now and again we’d come across a restroom in the middle of nowhere.  The entire park is a 100% no trace environment meaning you bag your poo and carry it out or you find one of these pit toilets.  As we came around a turn at a great vista point I saw two pickup trucks with trailers, a bunch of bicycles and a large EZ up providing shade to the group about 100 yards uphill from the restroom.  Was it a mirage?  What the hell are they doing?  Bicycles? Here?

It was no mirage.  It was a Boy Scout troupe out for a three day ride on their bicycles while the adults led and followed in the trucks.  They were just finishing their lunch and invited us to sit for a spell.  We had a fantastic time chatting with the boys and their scout masters.  I don’t think they fully appreciated the achievement ahead but when doing difficult things the feeling of accomplishment is distant indeed.  Right now none of this mattered.  We were enjoying a moment with some wonderful kids some of whom could be future leaders of America when one of the scoutmasters said:

“Would you like some ice cream?”

 

 

I scream, you scream we all scream for ice cream!
L-R  Bip not Gary, Chad, me and Chris
Rick Giroux photo

 

Amazing things, dry ice and a Yeti cooler.  105 degrees and we’re having ice cream at least 50 miles from the closest freezer.  We finished up, thanked the scouts and then dealt with the fact that we still had at least two to three hours of riding left.

There’s not too much to say about the backside of this ride.  My highlight was a good hard drop on a hill.  I came around a tight turn, went to go up and over there to the left is Chad with a Giant Camera!  Did you know that half the time a photographer gets a great photo of a biff it’s because the mere presence of the photographer causes the biff?  He may as well have been pointing a surface to air missile at me.  I look up through the turn, see the rocky hill, see the camera and next thing I know I’m on my ass.  No pain, a busted piece of plastic that’s supposed to break to save a more expensive part and a bit of wounded pride but I came up laughing.  Damn you big cameras!  Considering we had some seriously good photographers with us I better get used to it.  I laugh thinking about it; the last time this happened was at the Pine Barrens 500. Same deal except at speed.  See the obstacle, see the camera and wham!  On my ass.  As they say on Social Media. LOL. Before I could figure out what happened I was joined by a few guys who were more than ready to check me over and make sure everything was good but it wasn’t that kind of crash.  I accepted some help righting the bike and carried on.

At one point we saw a rider coming the other way, also on a GS Adventure.  He had removed his jacket and strapped it to the back and his helmet was strapped to a holder on the right side.  I was impressed with his level of confidence, if I was sans jacket on my “photo shoot” I would be sporting a major bruise if not worse.  If my lid had been strapped to the side of the bike it would have been damaged.  I also thought it was a bit late in the day to see him where he was but for all I knew they were planning on camping in the park.

As we rode on I watched the temp bounce between 104 and 107.  That’s hot and I was starting to struggle a bit telling myself that if I started to puke we were in trouble; then we found the sand. Deep sand.  We don’t have deep sand in New England except at the beach and if you ever want to find out what real trouble is try taking a motorized anything on a beach in Connecticut.  Gravel, rocks, snow, tar snakes, choppy pavement, steep loose hills; none of these things give me pause like deep sand.  I can ride it but it takes a few minutes to remember how and I didn’t have a few minutes.  In this heat I didn’t have the energy for a drop or two.  I gladly accepted help from Larry which at the time was a real good thing.

This would prove to be my last stop.  As we got going again I felt I was heading toward real problems.  I still had plenty of water but by now it was hot water.  It took care of dry mouth but did nothing for cooling.  I felt at this point the best course of action was no more stops, just keep a steady pace for the last 30 miles of trail and the transit back to town.  I think this was understood by the group because at one point Rick the navigator held up at a turn and when I arrived he just pointed and said go.  Bip not Gary was in the same boat and we both made good pace to pavement, then to a gas station where we walked in without a word and went straight to the ice and water.  The man in charge knew what he was looking at, took mercy upon us and didn’t charge us an arm and leg for abusing his ice maker.

When Bip not Gary and I felt ready we got on our bikes to head into town and the AirBnB.  We returned just as the rest of the guys were locking up and leaving to go the the bar which was the last place I wanted to be.  Thankfully we didn’t get locked out.  I got off the bike, enjoyed a few dry heaves from the heat and went inside for a cold shower and colder beverage.  I felt like hammered shit but I was happy. Bip not Gary’s bike was hammered; as we returned to the house he complained of a big pull to one side when braking.  It was determined that his fork tube was separating which is a known issue.  Known to the point of a recent service bulletin from BMW which was so recent that Bip not Gary’s bike had yet to be updated.   We decided we’d figure out what to do about it tomorrow and went inside.

It’s been said that the strongest bonds are formed under duress and I believe this to be true.  I was so impressed with this group of men and so happy to be a part of it.  Is the White Rim Trail easy?  Is it Big Bike friendly?  That’s a hard question to answer because so much of this is subjective but I can say for certain that if you want to dramatically ramp up the challenge of any dual sport ride do it when it’s over 100 degrees with no relief available for 100 miles.  That’s the White Rim Trail in mid July.

NEXT: #Billysride, pie and Colorado wine