Bikerpelli

A few years ago, Brad and his brother rode "Bikerpelli" together.   A few weeks ago, the brothers did the same trip again.  Last time, he wrote a little post about it but this time when I offered for him to relay his experiences, he told me I could write my thoughts about it.  Hmmm, guess Brad doesn't remember the last time I went mountain biking but here I go!  First off, Bikerpelli is a mountain bike ride that is about 142 miles on the Kokepelli trail from Fruita, Colorado to Moab, Utah which you ride over three days.  If you have never been mountain biking, riding 142 miles on a winding dirt trail through brush/trees/natural obstacles is something you have to be in decent physical shape to do so going on this ride meant Brad had to be training for several months before the ride.  We were really fortunate to have had a really mild winter because he was able to hit the trails instead of training on an inside bike the entire time.  An important part of training is of course to toughen up your hiney so sitting on a bike seat for that long doesn't cause too much uncomfortableness.  This can be done by riding your bike a lot.  Brad got quite a few long rides doing 20 miles at one time several times in the weeks previous to the big event.  So on the toughened up behind---Check.  Another important part of biking has to be able to have some sort of endurance. With a 1/2 marathon 6 months behind him and a steady stream of running and biking and skiing since then---check.  Now off for a little brotherly bonding.

Apparently the riding instructions for the day.

I am told there were about 90 other bikers who were also up for a little adventure.  Here they are getting some instructions in all their cute biking gear.   I am also told there is a guy who forewent all the modern wicking fabrics and wore jeans the entire ride. 

The crazies...I mean, bikers, getting ready to hit the trail.

Part of the deal with going on a trip like this is that they provide all the meals and the support which is pretty huge.  The riders camp along the trail for two nights and then stay the last night in an established campground with showers so they can freshen up.  Brad says they had pretty good food and that I would actually like it too because they serve the meat all seperate.  OMG---is he trying to convince me to do this?

Of course he is NOT walking his bike up the hill...he is just posing for  picture
with his bike on a steep incline.

No worries about me doing this because after I heard about the toliet situation, there is no way I could handle this trip.  Trust me when I say you don't want to know about the toliet but I will mention it involves a bucket, directional flags, and sawdust.

The terrain. 
Looks like snake territory to me.

The sad/bad thing about the ride is that Brad's bike has a freak cracked wheel hub so he had to sit out a little bit of riding due to the lack of a bike.  Fortunately for Brad, some guy hit the Powerbars a little too hard which caused him to need to stay close to the bucket and sawdust so Brad borrowed his bike and finished up the ride with his brother.  From the sounds of it, the brothers had a good time.  I think it is really great they are able to spend time together and have some similar interests so they can do these types of trips together.  I asked Brad if they would do this trip again....he said probably not soon but I am sure there will be another brother trip on the horizon.