Here's the short story:

White Rim: Done! Best mountain bike ride of my life.

Primrose on Moses: Done! Greatest desert route I've done.

Friday we drove out in three separate groups at varying times to the intersection of Highway 313 and the Mineral Bottom Road. Trashy and I were the last to arrive at 11:30 p.m. We threw down the bags and went to sleep. John and Mark were already in their bags. Mark was fast asleep, but John was still awake. He'd later say that Trashy and I were asleep before him. The next morning, Trashy and I are talking with John a little after 5 a.m. Mark's talking to John and he says, "John, I think I just heard a Saab go by? Do you think that was Bill?" I started laughing. I couldn't believe he didn't know that we were sleeping right next to him and talking with John.

We rode the entire White Rim Trail on Saturday. I rode on my new bike and it was great! That is by far the best mt. bike ride I've ever done. I just love the scenery and the environment and the company. We rode across Mussleman Arch - This Arch is 3 feet thick, 6 feet wide and 100 feet long. It was exciting! I'd love to do this again as a supported ride and take the whole family. Utah was deserted! We hardly saw anyone on the White Rim Trail and has then entire Taylor Canyon to ourselves as we made back to back ascents (Trashy, Tom, and Judy climbed the Dunn route while John, Mark, and I rode the White Rim) of Moses (one of the most sought after towers in the desert) and didn't see a sole! Perfect weather all three days: shorts and T-shirts, but not too hot.

We camped at Hard Scrabble (a White Rim campground that we got a permit for that very mornning) after getting booted out of the Taylor Canyon site by a late-arriving biking group on Saturday night. This was our only rough night as it was quite windy and we got sandblasted. We awoke with a layer of dust all over us and a mouthful of sand. Trashy, Hardly, Judy, and I all get up, brush our teeth, pack our sleeping bags up, start the stove, get breakfast going, etc. John is not moving at all. I assume that he is rebelling about getting up at 6 a.m. because of his hard bike ride the day before. I figure he's thinking, "I'm not letting these guys pressure me into getting up early. I don't have any big climb to do today. I just need to be back at the rim by 9 a.m. I'll just lie here for awhile." Later four wild horses march into our camp like begging racoons. We scatter them away, but pretty soon one is leaning over Trashy's shoulder trying to get his breakfast. We scatter them again. Finally John wakes up. He has been asleep while all this was going on! That Homie sleeps DEEP! The horses are back. Finally, Tom Quxiote (sp?) grabs two pillows and takes off after the horses. He's running down the road wildly waving his pillows and chasing after windmills, I mean horses. This apparently worked as we didn't see those horses again until late afternoon when we were leaving Taylor Canyon.

The Trashman leading pitch three on Primrose Dihedrals.

Sunday Tom, Trashy, and I climbed the Primrose Dihedrals route on Moses. This is the best desert route I've ever done. Hardly and Trashy did great, only aiding the Ear section. In fact, Hardly freed a good portion of this pitch also. I didn't do as well as these hardmen. I fell/hung on the second pitch and on the fourth pitch. I completely aided the Ear. After the climb, I finished riding the White Rim Trail to the rim. While we were doing this, John and Judy were climbing heinous towers in Arches National Park. We met at Eddie McStiff's for a great dinner before camping at a site along highway 313.

This is me starting the second pitch of Primrose Dihedrals.

On Monday we climbed in Arches National Park. We did three one-pitch routes rated 5.9 - all of which I thought were harder. :-) We then had a relaxing lunch and headed home, arriving around 9 p.m.

Here are some thoughts remembered by Mark on the White Rim Ride:

- Mark & Bill riding the first couple of miles of the trail and finding themselves 5 minutes (?) behind Johnny "Downhill King" Prater.

- Riding across Musselman Arch, then seeing how thin the thing was and feeling mildly ill at the thought.

- Long downhill sections of sandy trail during which we never knew if we'd stay up or go down.

- Countless fantastic rimside breaks viewing towers, arches, and "gremlins," and plotting how to summit them.

- Keeping track of the ride by the "day"--first day by 9:00 or so, second day by 11:00, etc.

- Duker spotting.

- Gatorade-colored pee.

- Tough bikers going the other way, few with anything to say to us.

- Bathing in the spotlight among the car-supported group ("I've heard about you people, but never actually met any.")

- Fast downhill riding in tight side-by-side formation.

- Bill's admonition to Mark not to come into his track on the steep hill they were starting, given just before Bill wandered into Mark's track.

- The "coast point" and "immaculate hills."

- Bill's and Mark's prompt dismount upon hearing John say, "I'm not sure I want to ride this."

- Hot, hellish Hardscrabble Hill.

- Never-ending Murphy's Hogback.

- Fantastic Vertigo Void (whichever one it was).

- Spectacular Washer Woman Arch and Monster Tower.

- Spotting the Maze District's Standing Rock and Chimney Rock.

- Mark's uncontrollable urge to say, "There's the river."

- The perfect weather.

- The inexplicable lack of flat tires and other bike problems.

- The great company.

I'd add:

- Bill incessantly saying, "This is so great! This is so fun!"

- Mark's jubliant yell, "There's my car!" upon rounding a bend and spotting his Land Cruiser at the mouth of Taylor Canyon. He sprinted off to reach it, immediately dismounted and hugged it.

- Mark's inspiring climb up Murphy's Hogback while I pushed my bike up after him.

- John's kamikaze downhill runs.

- My sore hands

• Cold root beers at the end of the ride.