Aviation and Mountain Biking

[MRC01]

Yesterday I returned from this trip. My friend drove down from Boulder and I flew in from the Seattle area. Summary:

• After a delay waiting for morning overcast to lift, the route was mostly clear with fewer forest fires and less smoke than I've seen in the past 10 years.
• Two areas had TStorms I had to give a wide berth & navigate around - south-east of BYI VOR, and between KPUC and Moab. This added another hour to my trip.
• The bicycling was epic. I've done some of the toughest rides in the world, like La Ruta and OTGG. This one was even harder, one of the most beautiful yet physically challenging rides any serious cyclist can do. The challenge of 100 miles and 8000' of climb across rugged desert terrain on a fat tire mountain bike carrying the food and water you need all day because there is no support, is impossible to describe. This was a bucket-list ride that I'll never do again.
• The day after the ride, we took a scenic flight around the White Rim Trail we rode, about 2000' AGL. Absolutely stunning.
• On the flight back home, more diverting around TStoms around KPUC. Otherwise nearly CAVU the whole way, and no headwinds so I made it back with just a single fuel stop again at KGNG.
• My AI gyro died along the flight back. Vacuum pump & DG gyro are fine. I just had this AI gyro rebuilt about 500 hours ago. Not required for day VFR, so I've got it placarded inop and no more night flight until I get this fixed. The gyro dying was the excuse I was waiting for to go all-electronic AI & DG and eliminate the vac system. Either uAvionix or Garmin.

 

[Doodski]

The gyro dying was the excuse I was waiting for to go all-electronic AI & DG and eliminate the vac system. Either uAvionix or Garmin.

Nice. I know little about gyros but a modern upgrade has to be good.

 

[MRC01]

Here's a trip report with more details and photos.

 

[HarmonicTHD]

It's not just the bagel, but what's on the bagel: butter, cream cheese, hummus, whatever. On a century ride or longer, I'll eat a hummus sandwich on whole wheat bread at the halfway point, in addition to the Kind bars while riding. When it comes to sports nutrition, there are different approaches that work for different people. I've seen people who concentrate on sugar, or on protein, or complex carbs. Some even use ketones. Whatever approach you look at, you can find studies that support it, and others that dispute it. I think each person has to try different things and discover what works for them. That might take a year of trying different approaches on different long rides. Over the years I've learned what works for me, everyone's different so YMMV.

I recently got one of those Supersapiens continues glucose sensors. Was very insightful in terms how much, what to eat and when during endurance activities (in my case road, MTB and running). It is very individual. For me those Marten drinks work nicely as they don’t spike my glucose levels and avoid insulin release.

 

[Doodski]

Here's a trip report with more details and photos.

Wowowzer. That looks rad! Those Google Earth pics don't fully do it justice but they sure give a sense of how rugged and big that area is. Now I'm into the actual pics. Stunning... I've seen pics of canyons and stuff like that but this is a entire region in pics. On topic but off topic what are these square black things for? I see one on each wing support. How much water/liquid did you require for the trip?

 

[MRC01]

Wowowzer. That looks rad! Those Google Earth pics don't fully do it justice but they sure give a sense of how rugged and big that area is. Now I'm into the actual pics. Stunning... I've seen pics of canyons and stuff like that but this is a entire region in pics. On topic but off topic what are these square black things for? ...

With some of those pics, if someone told you it was Mars you might believe him.
The black patch is a traction pad for your foot. The airplane has steps & handles to step up in front of the wing and access the fuel. Without those, you need a step ladder.
I brought 224 oz of water -- 2 100 oz. Camelbak bags and 1 24 oz. bottle. I ended the ride with 12 oz. remaining.

 

[Doodski]

With some of those pics, if someone told you it was Mars you might believe him.

The thought crossed my mind.

The black patch is a traction pad for your foot. The airplane has steps & handles to step up in front of the wing and access the fuel. Without those, you need a step ladder.

I imagined it more fragile than that. Never been around a small aircraft.

I brought 224 oz of water -- 2 100 oz. Camelbak bags and 1 24 oz. bottle. I ended the ride with 12 oz. remaining.

That's a dense heavy load to the tune of 1.75 US gallons and equal to ~28 coffee cups of liquid. That's some serious hydration abilities. I would require far more hydration than that. Congrats you made it! Both to the end of the ride and to the level of fitness you are at.

 

[MRC01]

I imagined it more fragile than that. Never been around a small aircraft.

Most small airplanes are quite strong. The normal category service G loads that apply to all small airplanes are +3.8 / -1.5 G. My C-172 max weight is 2550#, which means the wing can withstand 3.8 * 2550 = 9,690 lbs. of force in flight. That's a service rating max, the wing is actually stronger than that but you don't want to try to find out how much . At lighter weights it's rated for utility category which is a service load of +4.4 / -1.8 G. Aerobatic airplanes (not mine) are even stronger and certified to higher G limits. Most small airplanes are inspected every year or 100 hours to ensure there is no corrosion or other problems that would compromise it.