MOAB spring 09

I know this one is way overdue since our Moab trip was all the way back in late March but I told several people I would post some pictures of the trip, so I better follow through on my word. You know many people say, “You are only as good as your word” so I better not blow that. As always Moab was great, one of my favorite places! We ran the Moab (or Canyonlands) Half Marathon, Tara’s 4th and my 3rd there, it has become an annul tradition. We go because of the half but what really gets us down there is the incredible mountain biking, and we just love the atmosphere. Several of our family members and neighbors have also made this trip an annual tradition. We had Dustin, Jaylynn, Grandpa and Grandma Jensen, Bret & Jen, Orr’s, Melancon’s, Hawke’s & Workman’s to hang with. It is always an adventure! While driving out to Bartlett’s wash for a ride a guy stopped us and let us know that we were dragging a bike behind the truck. Opps it was Makenna’s (Sorry Mak) so while the rest of our crew went for a ride Mak and I stayed at the truck and tried to repair the damage (bent brake levers, broken spokes, flat tire, torn off cable etc.). We were able to get it together enough to get out for part of the ride. It’s one of those life lessons - you can never have to many tools and knowing how to use them is equally important as having them. Even though Mak was a bit upset at first it was really fun or us to get some one on one time out there, and she forgave me for damaging her bike. The next day while we were running the half Lannie Workman took it to the bike shop and got it fixed up for Mak (THANKS Lannie). The run was fun, Tara and I stayed together and we bumped into an old friend - Nylyn, who we ran the half with last year and Tara had run with during the Ogden Marathon 3 years ago. You know Tara; she makes friends everywhere she goes. You can never have too many friends. After the half Tara, and the girls took the kids out on Slickrock, and sand dunes, while the guys and myself went on a more difficult ride. We rode most of the Whole Enchilada; we could not ride the Hazard County section since it was covered with snow. It is a downhill epic starting high and coming down, Kokopelli, the upper and lower Porcupine Single-track, and Porcupine Rim. They are all pretty good rides by themselves. I believe it was around 25 miles. It was quite the adventure especially since most of us had just run 13 miles. We started in the mud and snow and missed our first cut off so we had to do some extra climbing, but eventually got on dry single-track and of course some slickrock. It took us a bit longer than we had expected and we ended up coming out in the pitch black darkness, only a few of us were smart enough to have headlamps with us. I have to mention that poor TJ did the whole trip with a bent disc brake. TJ you are one tough 60 something dude! We went to Arches National Park on the way home and saw some beautiful scenery; it always amazes me how diverse the world is, and I always feel fortunate to be able to witness some of its grandeur! Until next year our good old friend - Moab.