October 2001 Issue 10/10/01 12:18 PM Page 1 VOLUME 9 NUMBER 8 FREE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 cycling utah •Rider of the Year •It’s Cyclocross Season! •LoToJa •Utah and Idaho Events Calendar •Results •San Rafael Swell •A Trip to China MOUNTAIN WEST CYCLING JOURNAL October 2001 Issue 10/10/01 12:19 PM Page 2 2 cycling utah.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 SPEAKING OF SPOKES China and the Way of the Bike By Dave Ward Publisher Like most of you, for years I have heard advocates hold up as an example the many millions of people in China who use bicycles for transportation, and have seen the pictures of masses of people pushing and riding their bikes in the streets. So, when we decided transportation choice, only a nec- to take a trip to China this past essary transportation mode. summer, I looked forward with So in reality, advocates need to interest to observing this first look elsewhere for examples of hand. bicycling as an alternative choice My observations and percep- for transportation. We need pat- tions from that trip were not quite terns from places where motorized what I expected. I never saw the transportation is available, but hordes of bicyclists that I had seen bicycling has become a serious in pictures or had envisioned in alternative choice because of mod- my mind. The fact is, as China ern considerations such as auto progresses, its people turn more emissions, use of resources, and and more to motorized modes of health concerns arising from transportation. sedentary lifestyles. This of course should not be That being said, China still surprising. It is still a fact that exemplifies the multiple ways in most people, given a choice, will which a bicycle can be used. We choose motorized transportation. observed single riders, three riders Taiwan is a perfect example of on a single bike, the tricycle as a that. Indeed, it was in Taiwan, not taxi service and bicycles and tricy- China, that I observed the masses cles as utility vehicles. Indeed, of people crowding the streets on one of the most unusual sites we two-wheeled transportation. saw were two extremely well- However, it is was not bicycles dressed ladies on a bicycle appar- they were riding, but rather the ently off to some formal occasion. ubiquitous scooter. So while China cannot be Therein lies the inconsistency pointed to as an example where of holding out a country such as bicycling is consciously encour- China as an example of the bicy- aged and chosen as an alternative cle as a mode of transportation. It transportation mode, it does show- is not by choice that the Chinese case, while it lasts, some of the utilize bicycles, but rather because different roles the bicycle can ful- of existing circumstances. Bicy- fill. cling has not been an alternative © 2001 cycling utah cycling utah P.O. Box 57980 Murray, UT 84157-0980 www.cyclingutah.com You can reach us by phone: (801) 268-2652 Our Fax number: (801) 263-1010 David R. Ward, Publisher Robert L. Truelsen, Executive Editor Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Dave Iltis, Editor & Advertising (801) 268-2652 Email: [email protected] Contributors: Greg Overton, Charles Pekow, Neal Skorpen, Gregg Bromka, Ben Simonson, Justin Brunjes, Darrell Davis, David Bern, Justin Machus, Bruce Ewert cycling utah is published eight times a year beginning in March and continuing monthly through October. Annual Subscription rate: $6 Postage paid in Murray, UT Editorial contributions are welcome. Please included a stamped, self- addressed envelope to return unused material. Submission of articles and accompanying artwork to cycling utah is the author’s warranty that the material is in no way an infringement upon the rights of others and that the material may be published without additional approval. Permission is required to reprint any of the contents of this publication. October 2001 Issue 10/10/01 12:19 PM Page 3 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2001 cycling utah.com 3 TRAIL OF THE MONTH Iron Divide - Five Miles of Hell - or Not By Gregg Bromka chilly. Divide Trail" via the Orange Trail. If you chum around in the Precautions: Cactus don't need Take the ATV trail southeast right circles, you'll hear secretive much water to survive. You are and gear down for "the Wall." talk about the Iron Divide Trail not a cactus! (Don't bother; even the Hall of System in the southern San Famers can't top it.) Cross a Rafael Swell. Some disguise it Finding the trail: broad elevated ledge of purple, as the cutesy "Rainbow Trails," Temple Mountain trailhead: ripple-marked Moenkopi sand- others water it down as the dull- From Green River drive 11 miles stone and let gravity pull you sounding "Twin Knolls," but west on I-70 to Exit 147 and down the luge-style singletrack most call it, with warped affec- take UT 24 toward Hanksville. toward the ever-growing San tion, "Five Miles of Hell." After 25 miles turn right at mile- Rafael Reef. Drop into the dry Whatever the title, Iron Divide post 137 for Goblin Valley and wash like a semi plowing down beckons mountain bikes to its Temple Mountain. Continue a runaway truck ramp and surf network of doubletracks, ATV straight/west on the South down the sandy gully for 2 miles trails, and desert singletrack. Temple Wash road at the Goblin to a registration box at the junc- Valley turnoff and go through tion signed for Temple The color-on-rock Iron the San Rafael Reef. Park in the Mountain. Fuel up because now Divide Trail System caters to all clearing on the right after pass- you climb. ability levels. The "Blue" Trail is ing through the Reef. Green The road turns upward quick- a good choice if you are a desert Trail trailhead: In the shuttle, ly, and you'll gear down even neophyte and are tentative about drive west then north on the faster. A mile of steady climbing the creepy-crawlies that make a South Temple Wash road for 9 takes you to a ridge top where living in the sand. "Green" miles to a Y junction for Reds you can scoop up the circumam- means go, and don't look back. Canyon (left), but fork right for bient view of this beautifully Set your gears to cruise mode I-70. Pass a corral on the left 1.8 deserted desert, all crowned by and wander the desert floor like miles farther. About .2 miles Temple Mountain. Drop to a nomad--but with a mission. more, turn right on a doubletrack another dry wash and pedal "Orange" is for the flood of signed "motorcycle trailhead" down it idly for .5 mile to a T color radiating from the distant and park at your discretion. junction with North Temple San Rafael Reef, which grows to Wash. Fork right on a wide pur- colossal proportions. Orange is a Notes on the trail: ple-sand road to round the back- warm color, and you'll sweat Pedal down the doubletrack for side of Temple, passing satellite buckets up the two required 3.2 miles to a trail registration doubletracks, an abandoned hills."Red" means blood, and the box at the Blue-Green junction. mine camp, and relic cars circa buzzards will feast on the flesh The rusty tops of Twin Knolls 1940. you leave behind if you let can be seen off to the northeast, The road forks one-half mile testosterone pollute your brain or periodically. Sign in and take the past the mine camp. Stay left, as get lost. Red is for hell--Five little-used Green Trail (double- Robert Frost would, on the track) to the right. (The route steeper, rougher, seemingly less- Miles of Hell! The San Rafael Swell dwarfs a trio of desert bikers Although Green-Orange may may not be signed, so look for traveled road and climb for a Photo by Gregg Bromka not be in a 64-pack of Crayola spots of lichen-green paint on half mile. It hurts! When you are Crayons, it's the right color com- rocks in and alongside the track.) beneath a "thumb" of rock on bination if you want to experi- Mountain. Total gain is about Roll across the bleak and forsak- the northwest corner Temple ence a good chunk of the Iron Aerobic difficulty: Moderate. 1,500 feet. en terrain for 4.3 miles to a Mountain, fork right and drop Divide Trail System without get- The first half is mostly downhill, signed junction, spying Temple off a 20-foot ramp. Fork ting all bloody. It follows mostly then you hit two significant Season: April-June and Mountain between gaps in the left/south immediately to charge tame doubletracks with a touch climbs before coasting to the September-November. Days can low mesas along the way, and down the giant-slalom double- of ATV/singletrack for which the end. be hot whereas nights can be fork right for "BLM--Iron track to your car and the cold system has become renown. bubbly that awaits in your cool- Technical difficulty: Moderate. er. You did stock the cooler, did- Location: Southern San Rafael Sand, loose rocks, and a touch of n't you? Swell behind Temple Mountain, bedrock require mastery of basic about 45 miles southeast of bike handling skills. Excerpted from the Mountain Green River. Biking Utah, by Gregg Bromka. Elevation change: The ride Distance: 16.5 miles, point-to- starts at about 6,700 feet and point (shuttle required). drops to 5,400 feet. You hit two 500- foot climbs near the end: a Law Firm of 1.5-mile grind after exiting the Tread: Sand and rock double- Ward & King tracks and singletracks.