Day 2: Airport Tower Camp to Candlestick Camp
In the morning, we rode together for 16 miles and had lunch in the shade of one of our support vehicles while most of the group went even farther on a side trip to a site called White Crack. After lunch, Leslie hopped into one of the support 4-wheel drive vehicles and gave Beth a driving break. Val rode on with our youngest biker, Karen, a retired US Women’s Bicycle Pro Team rider. Karen was relentless in her desire to ride this entire jeep road and did so with an ever-present smile and encouraging words.
Halfway through the afternoon, the agonizing Murphy Hogback showed its challenging steep sections and sharp switchbacks. At the top, the trail dives down in a 30 degree rocky descent with a cliff on one side that is hundreds of feet high. Val walked the first part. Karen followed her own instructions: “Look carefully and choose your line. Then commit to your line and don’t change your mind.”
The riding ended when we had circumnavigated a butte called Candlestick. One first sees the butte and thinks “we will stop soon”. But no, the track goes on and on and up and down until we see the other side of Candlestick and now we can get off the bikes and out of the bouncing vehicles after some 36 miles on the White Rim.
