In early Oct 2022, Mike flew to Moab to meet Stefan and ride WRIAD together. 100 miles and about 8000' of climbing across rugged desert in a single day, on wide tire mountain bikes. It was a super physically challenging ride. It was Stefan's 2nd time and Mike's 1st.
1 After departing Seattle MVFR conditions, Mt. Rainier is CAVU.
2 VFR over the top, Lycoming don't fail me now!
3 If this guy knew what riding WRIAD was like, he might not be smiling so big. But the epic cross-country flight in a little airplane is awesome.
4 Cruising @ 11500', TAS 125 kts, burning 7.8 gph. Not bad for a Cessna 172. Note monitoring 121.5 on the second radio.
5 The solid cloud layer becomes scattered.
6 This flying reminds me of Alaska.
7 Staying at least 20 miles away from those big TStorms, looking for a way around.
8 Now under the layer; we're in the mountains and the tops are well over 13000'.
9 That's Great Salt Lake in the distance, clear skies await!
10 This and the next few pics are flying south over the west side of Great Salt Lake.
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16 Stansbury island up ahead.
17 We're past Great Salt Lake, now heading SE into the mountains toward Moab.
18 This and the next few pics are gorgeous mountains between Salt Lake and Moab.
19 Utah Lake coming up...
20 Utah Lake - looks like a nice place to visit.
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22 Amazing mountain cliffs round the north side of the valley as we leave the mountains and head into the valley toward Carbonville.
23 That is one nasty looking TStorm too close for comfort - I'm heading to the clearer skies to the right to give it a wide berth.
24 In the big valley between Carbondale and Moab, more TStorms in the distance.
25 Moab airport near sunset with isolated TStorms in the distance.
26 More of Moab airport.
27 TStorms developing and getting closer - I beat them in by about an hour.
28 The Apache Motel - not fancy but a great place with good service.
29 Stefan at the lunch stop.
30 Another lunch stop photo. Incredible vistas. We're half-way mileage wise, but much less so effort-wise. The second half is harder!
31 Nothing like leftover pizza in the middle of a big ride!
32 Mike at the end of the ride, having just finished the MIneral Bottom climb. Yes, he does look tired.
33 Tired Mike is glad to have completed this big ride.
34 The next several pictures were taken from my plane on a tour of the White Rim trail we rode the prior day.
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63 The final section up Mineral Bottom.
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67 The bike route - condensed because Google Earth had to squash and simplify/smooth the track. The red marker shows our start/end point. The big speed jumps around mile 75 are just GPS glitches.
68 Flying home, cruising at 10500' at 125 kTAS, pretty good for a 1980 Cessna 172. Note again, monitoring 121.5 on the second radio.
69 First sighting of Mt. Rainier - a welcome sign of home after a long day.
