The Hangover

When it comes to the last day of an epic adventure like this one there is only one thing to do – go on the most epic of rides. For some an epic ride is defined by the time in the saddle and the distance covered, for others it is the amount of vertical gained over the course of the day. Well loyal fans this one was epic based solely on the ability to make your taint pucker and in this Hangover achieved it’s success.
Arriving at the Mund’s Wagon trail head our worn bodies slowly unfolded out of the car and set about getting the adventure underway. No sooner had we started up the first section of trail with Griff tight on Paul’s wheel then suddenly Braveheart was down, but not just down, he was buried deep a bed of cacti and not liking life at that moment. Holding back the laughter (after all it was a classic) we all started picking the thorns out and within minutes were back on the trail slowly grinding through the technical riding, making our way to the first section of slick rock – the Cowpies. At one point we had once again lost our way until we came upon a pack of Arizona cougars that put us back on course. Progress was a bit slow and this was not the last time we would run across the pack.
Once on the slick rock it was time for a bit of play before setting out on the first of the exposed sections, the ledges.Continuing up the trail Top Chef continued his mastery of technical riding, putting on a clinic on how to ride exposed ledges and drops. Meanwhile taking up the rear was your author whose primary interest was surviving to meet up with the Doctor later that night. At one point attempts were made to ride up some of the steeper sections of slick rock and the price was paid.Finally, with bloody legs, and I once again having bent the derailleur, we managed to make the saddle and who was there but our pack of cougars. Pretty embarrassing when 3 older women hiking manage to beat you to the top when you are on a bike. Well it was our lucky day as they offered to snap some choice pictures before we plunged into the heart of darkness.
The next step was to make the drop right behind us and cross the angled slick rock before dropping into the trail. Trust me the exposure on this shot is much greater then it looks with more then 600’ of rock slab at a 45 degree angle to slide down if you got it wrong.Once in the trail, Paul was gone and for a few moments I was able to catch a glimpse of Griff doing his thing before he too rode off leaving me to ride some but mainly hike-a-bike the rest. Here Griff makes it around a rock outcropping that has a choice 100’ sheer drop on the right.The trail went on like this for what seemed like an eternity with countless sections of exposed drops on one side and vertical walls on the other and trust us it was singletrack wide and nothing more. Finally we came out to an open space where we could settle down for a fantastic view and gather up the courage for the next section.After riding and hiking down the slick rock we were on the backside of the butte and making our way across some more, slightly less exposed single track. The reward at the end of this was sections of super fast downhill through the high desert forest.Back on the Mund’s Wagon trail it was the last of the singletrack before getting back to the trail head. Immediately we grabbed our towels and the festivities began. Next stop was the pulled pork feast before finally hitting the IGA for numerous IPAs to finish off the night. Back at the hacienda Paul and Griff saddled up to go out for one final ride, I on the other hand started pouring cold beer down my throat , celebrating being alive.