Almost done, still have more sanding and have to finish the opening.  Working on a carbon rear rack system.

Yes, he did.  And only three of us had any.  Bonus.

We borrowed the trailers.  They served their purpose well.

Not sure what tire was on the trailer.  I'm about the worst guy to ask tech questions too.  If it rolls, that's all I care about.

Because the Maze is so isolated (46 miles from HWY 24 from one way, and 40 miles from Hite), you have to ride so far just to get in there to see the good stuff (Maze Overlook, Doll House, etc).  With that, you then need some time back there to enjoy the hiking, so then you need more water which makes it difficult logistically.  Perhaps the way to do it would be to start at Hans Flat, ride into the Maze Overlook for a night, then maybe another night at Teapot Rock, then out.  But there's zero water back there, unless you rode during a rain event and could siphon from puddles in the slick rock.

In my opinion, if you're bike packing, having water drops sort of defeats the aesthetic value of the pursuit. 

We thought it might be sandy due to the drought.  But since none of us had ridden it, we weren't really sure.  One guy had been through in a truck, but you don't really pay attention to riding conditions when you're driving.

We got up pre-dawn the next day and rode sans-trailers into the Maze on fun slickrock.  It felt good to not be riding with 50+ pounds of water and trailer.








Looking east into the Needles District.


Picked up the Pigs and headed out towards Hite.  The trailers were a little better today, with only one gallon in the trailer and a 100+ ounces on the back.


35 more miles to go.


Pretty "fast" riding today.


The riding was easy, and the scenery was good all day.






Ryan's trailer broke in half.  Turns out he just lost a bolt.  Luckily he found it in the sand in the road.  Had he not, Alex and I would have had the pleasure of packing it out on our trailers.




The finally few miles to the truck were all downhill.  So nice to just sit there, coasting and looking at Lake Powell.




The riding isn't as good as the White Rim because of the sand and somewhat boring views on the first half of day one, but overall it was a great, if not exhausting, experience.  We all had fun, but carrying that much water was a chore.  It was nice being free of the support vehicle type rides though.  It makes you more aware of risk and being in the middle of nowhere.

Off the switchbacks and more up/down riding on better surfaces.  Spirits were finally lifted.  Up to this point, it was pretty miserable.


Nice riding along a shelf for quite a ways.






The sun setting over an aptly names "Sunset Pass".






Five miles to camp, getting dark, more push-a-pig.




Finally made it to camp, and Stoy reveals he hauled in a six pack.  Bravo!

The Maze district of the Canyonlands is across the river and a little south from the White Rim.  It's rougher and more remote than the White Rim, and sees far less traffic, and very little bike traffic.  We were originally going to do it with car support, then opted to drag all our shit on BOB trailers and go for the sufferfest.  This ride isn't a loop, it's a point to point.

This would be the theme of the first day.  Fucking sand, sand, and more sand. 


Tom was the only one of five of us who went without a trailer.  He brought two gallons of water for two days in 80+ temps over 100 miles.  No way I could survive with that little water.  It worked though, because he was working far less to get through the sand.


By mile two we were already pushing our bikes through endless sand.  Me, Alex, and Ryan had four gallons total.  The BOB trailers literally felt like boat anchors in the sand.  Ryan actually asked if his BOB wheel had locked up, because that's how damn hard it was to ride or push them through the sand.


The first day was largely uphill, very gradually, from the start to the Flint Trail (30+ miles).  As a bonus, we had a nice headwind.


Hans Flat Ranger station.


Stoy, psyched to be off the sand for 10 feet.








Stoy overlooking the long descent into the Maze.



These switchbacks were similar to the Schafer on the White Rim, only much steeper and looser.  No big deal with an unloaded bike, but with heavy BOB trailers and sand, they were kinda interesting.