HyMasa to Upper Capt. Ahab

Stream of Consciousness

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Maybe 10 years? Dunno. I had it all to myself that winter morning. Dusting of snow on the way back down made for a great memory.

Nice parking area.

Easy going trail to get started. Cool morning.

Sand. Sucks. Well, unless I’m riding fat.

Okay, there’s the HyMasa sign. Here we go.

I know Terry Tempest Williams has been here. She knows this place better than most people. You know, it would cool to fuse her writings into a mountain biking article about red rock country. Well, she might not like that. I wonder. Hmm?

So damn beautiful. Lucky me. Like last time, so far, I have the trail all to myself, thought last time it was the old Amasa Back. I like this HyMasa line. Thank you, trail builders.

Good thing I like to climb! Upper Capt. Ahab is up there somewhere. Nothing to do but ride. Lucky me. Thankful.

Gonna need a burrito after this one.

These trail builders have a sense of humor! See that over there, let’s go there and ride over that rock. Why not?! Bikes these days can do anything and everything. Would be kind of fun on a rigid 26er to feel the trail, though. At least for a little while.

Made it. Now I work my way around and go back down. Such vastness. A little green still hanging on, springtime not yet turned to summer.

I can’t believe I’ve not see anyone up here. Is this Moab, where throngs of humans ride bikes by the gazillions, overrunning town and clogging up the trails? It is. Off season. Earlier morning. Weekday.

Again, lucky me.

Shark fin! I bet it has a name.

Captain Ahab — kill that whale. Violence. Human nature. Destroy nature. Isn’t that what it was about?

All around me, we extract minerals and fossil fuels to feed our ways of life. Adverse environmental impact happens.

We ride on.

Oh boy, that was steep. Pucker up, Jim. I’m riding stuff I didn’t ride in the past. This bike is the difference.

Thank you bike engineers.

Lower Capt. Ahab. My goodness, this is fun. Edgy. Ledgey. Down in the canyon, that creek keeps it all so green. The contrast with the red is magnificent.

Ooo, looks like a bit of a drop.

Careful.

Got it.