Day Seven: Monday, September 12, 2016 - La Sal Hut to Moab

Total Mileage - 37.1 miles
Starting Elevation - 8055'
Ending Elevation - 4560'
Elevation Change - 2,659'

https://www.strava.com/activities/712076971

Once again, we got off on an early start with a start time at 7:50 AM. The first part of the ride consisted of a slight ascent on fire road, and then a steep descent on chip seal and asphalt. There's a long straight descent on Castle Valley Road which will probably give you the highest speed of the whole trip with a speeds of over 40 mph.

Mad Max, Fury Moab

After a lefthand turn, there was a 2000 foot winding ascent to the entrance to Kokopelli Trail FSR 4634. With the La Sal mountains behind me, I started the descent on singletrack. My Seven Sola hardtail had done a great job on all the previous days of  the trip, but with all the stutter bumps and drop offs on the Porcupine Rim Trail, today was the day I wished I had a full suspension bike. I don't think it would have been that bad if I was fresh, and I wasn't carrying the extra weight from my large seatbag and backpack, but the shock through the rear end of the bike was quite wearing. There was also so much bouncing on the trail, my seatpack straps loosened up enough so the bottom of the seatpack would hit my tire on big bumps. That was the first time I had to tighten my seatpack because of that reason.

Taking a Break

Despite the physical hardship of the Porcupine Rim Trail, I still appreciated the distinct feel and beauty of the Utah slickrock.

Blue Skies and Red Rocks

My major concern toward the end was that I was running out of water. Although I had two full water bottles and one liter of water in my hydration bladder, by the time I reached the tunnel at the end of the trail, I was out of water. The low humidity and heat of the Lower Porcupine Rim quickly draws the moisture out of your body. We were fortunate that the temperature only hit the mid 80s at the end of the ride. A camper was also nice enough to provide some cool water to us. It was disappointing not to see a potable water source at the end of the Porcupine Rim Trail at Granstaff Campground. If you are out of drinking water, the next place to get it on your way to Moab is Lions Park which is a little over three miles away. Sean gave me his bottle full of cool water, and I popped two Hammer Mango electrolyte tablets on our final 6 miles to Moab. The road ride was smooth, and it was pleasant to have a separate bike trail most of the way into town. We arrived at the Canyonlands Copy Center in Moab at 4PM and retrieved our bike shipping cases. With a closing time of 6PM, we had ample time to disassemble our bikes, pack them, and ship them back.

We greatly appreciated the convenience and savings of using Bikeflights.com. For all three of our bikes we did the following:

1. Shipped the bikes to Ship It Copy It in Telluride. They held the bike cases for $15 each until we arrived.
2. Assembled the bikes at Ship It Copy It and shipped the empty cases to Canyonlands Copy Center in Moab. They held the empty cases for $5 each until we arrived.
3. Rode the bikes from Telluride to Moab, disassembled the bikes at Canyonlands Copy Center Moab, and shipped the bikes back home.

We pre-printed the shipping labels for all three legs of shipping, and everything went smoothly.

Bike Trail separate from main road

Time to ship the bikes back home

Random notes:

Industrial strength sunblock in the huts was helpful for covering large areas of exposed skin like my legs. I used my own sunblock for my head region. For my arms, I used OR sunsleeves.

Gore-Tex Windstopper vest was great for keeping my core warm when it was a little bit cool, but it was also easy to unzip when things got warmer. The vest was invaluable on long fast descents where I get chilled by the wind. I bought an OR Helium II jacket for the trip in case it rained, but I only used it briefly the first two days when it was colder.

Lake MX175 Mountain Shoes held up well for both cycling and hiking. I appreciated the BOA closure system for its simplicity. In order to provide added support, I replaced the stock insoles with SOLE Thin Sport insoles.

I've had XTR V-brakes on my Seven Sola for almost twenty years, and they've worked well, but I wanted some more power and modulation for a long seven day trip. I installed Shimano Deore XT M8000 hydraulic disc brakes for my front wheel, and the upgrade was definitely worth it. I would have also installed them on my back wheel, but my frame doesn't have the rear disc brake mounts. A day after the last day of riding, I was wondering why my right hand was more swollen than my left hand, and I figured out it was because the front brake with its hydraulic disc technology was so much easier to actuate than the mechanical cable of the rear v-brake. According to mountain bike pioneer Charlie Kelly:

"But if I appreciate one thing more any other with modern mountain bikes, it’s the brakes. I could live without suspension, but man disc brakes … If nothing else got invented in the last 30 years, that would have made me very happy right there. The big thing, back in the day was, “Man these things are hard to stop,” and you almost have to have done it [back then] to appreciate how great these new brakes are. Because man, stopping was almost not an option."

Lone Peak Kick Back II top tube bag and Expedition Seat Bag did a great job storing gear. The Kick Back II was very convenient for gels and other food. It's also a convenient place to stow the Olympus TG-4 I used for most of my pictures. The Expedition Seat Bag was built well, but I had some issues with the seat rail straps slowly loosening over rough stuff.

Oakley Half Jacket 2.0 XL glasses with Transitions lenses did a great job in the full sun and under tree cover.

There was a wide variety of IPAs and lagers in the huts. Three of us could have really used a stout at the end of the day.

Sean had an iOS GPS/Topo app that imported the GPX file provided for the trip. It was great for referencing waypoints and to cross-check directions with the printed map and directions.

If there was Internet access in the composting toilets, I could have stayed in them a long time. As it was, they were a pleasant place to sit down after a long day of riding. The smell of wood chips were a refreshing contrast versus the typical outhouse.

My Sprint service was useless except at the very end and beginning of the trip. Sean's Verizon service was available at a few points of the trip.

We could not have asked for better weather. The roads and trails were dry but not too dusty. It wasn't too cold or hot. The only precipitation I felt was a few drops in the parking lot of the Moab Brewery.

The altitude was greatly affecting my resting heart rate. Usually, my resting heart rate is in the 30s or 40s bpm. It was about 30 bpm higher while I was at eight thousand feet. It was very nice to come back to sea level and feel truly rested after a night's sleep.

Photo Gallery for those who want to see more pictures.

Thanks to San Juan Huts for a great adventure!