Roel and I continue our association with Rim Tours.  The Maze Tour is a guided mountain bike tour in the back country of Canyonlands National Park and the immediate surrounding area.

Although a May trip, the heat was great.  Over 100 degrees daily, so our riding was mostly before and slightly after noon.  Nonetheless, the trip was great, but not as tough as the Kokopelli.  I was in better shape, but that didn't help me much when I fell coming off some ledges, dislocating my left shoulder and tearing my rotator cuff.  I've been there before and was able to step on my hand and pull on the arm, relocating the shoulder.  The cuff tear is still bothering me as I write this about 9 months later, so surgery is in my future.

Well, enough of that.  The trip is a great one.  Not too tough, but remote and scenic.  We camped on the lip of the canyons of the Maze.  You can't drive stakes in the rock, and wouldn't you know, a great wind came up, and about blew me and my tent into the canyon.  The wind collapsed the poles, and the other riders had a good laugh at my expense.  After that I used Rim Tours spare tent one day, and then just lay out under the stars.  Looking at the sky at night, I did see some strange things.  Area 51 isn't too far away.  At night I saw fast moving low lights flying across the sky...and not making any sound!  The guides said they have seen similar stuff, too.  Anyway, it was fascinating and I hope whatever it was is on our side.

Besides the riding, there are a couple of hikes down into the canyons to see the ancient wall paintings.  These are neat, remote, and entail some serious climbing.  Not that you can't do it, but if you fall, that would be it for you.  Roel and some of the others didn't want to risk it.  I, of course, did the whole thing.  Then Jerry tried to find his way back with his GPS, got lost, and we had to spread out and find him.  Fortunately, all turned out well, but for awhile there was real concern for him being lost in the outback with no water.  Water is something that you are always very careful to have out there.  On an extended trip out, a water cache was left for the returning riders, as we knew they would be out of water on the return trip.

Here are some pictures of the tour.  We camped out, but the guides fed us and pampered us.  Rim Tours is a good outfit, and you will be happy with them.  Chili Pepper Bike Shop in Moab is top drawer, and can do anything you need to prepare your mountain bicycle.

A taste of the trip or you can see all the pictures at the virtual directory.  I cut them down to 500K or less.