Moab-Day 2

I woke up this morning at 6:30 after an amazing night of sleep in the hammock. I always said when I was a kid that I wanted a hammock in my room and now I want one in my room even more. I wonder how the new landlord will like hooks in his wall?
I got up so early, because Andy and I were going to do a huge ride this morning starting at 7. The only problem was that Andy didn't wake up until I walked into his room at 7:10. So off I went, all by my little lonesome. The trail is about 9 miles from town, and most people get a truck to shuttle them up, but I was feeling saucy so I rode the extra 9 miles which climbed 2,000 feet. The dirt road climb seemed like it took 20 years and I got passed by 2 groups of happy little bikers in their cars, but I finally made it to the trailhead. From the trail head, it was a brutal 4 mile climb going up to 6800 feet. A four mile climb isn't that bad, but in Moab it is not about the distance. The climbs are so technical, you are just worrying about getting over the next boulder. See if you can find the trail. I couldn't
There was a beautiful view of Castle Valley on the top. (1st picture) And then there was an awesome descent, with several big drops. The trail ended at the Colorado River which is flowing huge because of the snow melt. I was happy to be done with the trail only to remember that Moab was 6 miles away.
On the trail, I realized once again how small of a world it it. I ran two guys from NC. Crazy right? Well I got to talking with them and realized that they were camped next to me at the Burn 24 Hour race. I thought it was crazy, but they were awkward so I just blazed past them. Oh and by the way, they were the lazy bums that burned past me on the road earlier that morning. The covered me in dust, but needless to say, they were shocked when I caught them 4 miles into the trail and they had a 3 mile head starts. The other farts that pasted me in a car, got taken over about 2 miles before the NC boys, but at least they were on hard tails.
Note to self, leave earlier. I thought I had left in time to miss the worst sun of the day, but I ended up getting back into Moab at high noon. Thank god my I brought enough water and a banana or I would have been Buzzard Porridge. I am exhausted now, 60 miles in the desert in two days, so I am being a slug at the coffee shop. I want to ride again tonight, but walking hurts, so I am probably going to just relax, do some laundry, and go to bed early.