Comfortable sleep night last night. Didn’t hear from Coyote Shuttle so i assumed the mag 5 shuttle for today was off. Discovered that i was out of cell range but did receive a text saying the 9:00 shuttle was on. Hustled to make Chile pepper @ 9:00. There was Kent and the woman from yesterday, Ester(?), and another guy. Christine is co-owner of Coyote who drove today in a regular size Vanagon. Again the thing gets up the highway. She knows TrailDoc & Jan.
Magnificent 7 is the new trail system that starts way up high where Gemini Bridges road leaves highway. Trail kind of parallels the road down keeping us in the fun slick rock. We dropped our bikes @ Gemini and walked out to view. Back in ’92, my first visit I could ride out to bridges.
Back on the bikes we continued to drop until the trail spit us out on the road which was mostly loose sand. What a struggle to pedal forward and remain upright. Then the road climbed out over a ridge. I dropped into baby chain ring & 3 largest cluster gears and just spun up. Quite a feat. I needed to learn about my breathing. Success because it was a beat up road climb and consistent.
There is a paved bike path from above Gemini all the way to town. Across the highway is a new trail system collectively called Moab Brand trails. I heard several good comments about the trails. We plotted a ride strategy that would reconnect us to the bike path. Rode deadman’s ridge. Two thumbs up for the new trail: made by bikers for bikers.
Finished up on paved bike trail letting gravity pull us down to the Colorado river swollen from snow melt and populated by rafts & a few kayaks. We crossed the river on a bike bridge then stopped @ the spring for refill h2o.
Kent invited me to his campground site for a beer before finishing my ride into town. He has a Westy. He bought a window air conditioner on his way out of Tuscon. At the camp ground he had electric and wedged the air conditioner into the passenger window. Pretty cool.
Finished a Guinness and kept upright on my bike back to my van. Rinsed myself off then walked the street to a recommended Mexican restaurant that served good mole. I enjoyed it for dinner.
I am hunkered down in the shade @ a small park w/ internet access.
Tomorrow I will ride Pipedream, another new bike trail right out of town. Then Monday i will leave for Fruita.
Lots of tourists in town. Getting too hot.