What Brothers Are For

This weekend I had the opportunity to head south to moab for a weekend with all but one of my brothers plus one sister. It has been a while since we’ve all been together and I’m left wondering why, because I haven’t laughed this much in a long time. From mid thirties to late teens we were the prime age for epics, statically that is, but this weekend didn’t break my new promise for no more epics. In between the hours of laughter we managed to ride a few trails and hit the local swimming hole. When we left moab with just a broken derailer, two broken chains, one case of “swellbow” and sun damaged skin we felt lucky.

The highlight from trip comes from our evening ride on the slickrock trail. and one location in particular. we pulled up to this ledge with in which the trails drops straight off into a very large sand box (possibly quicksand). My brief knowledge of physics and a few years of experience riding a bike lead me to verbalize my concern and wonder, “How can anyone possibly ride this and not “endo”. Not giving me time to work out the possibilities my little bro, wanting to prove his new bike calls out “Like This” and rides over the edge. For a moment I was impressed He makes the four foot drop effortlessly, but what he underestimated was the holding power of the quicksand that at this point had risen well over his axles. With all the forward momentum he continued even though his bike remained stationary. I’m laughing at this point. Once he buries himself we jump down sans bikes to get a closer look at the swirling sand and help him out. Once he’s up and smiling the laughter continues and becomes compounded when we notice that his teeth in addition to every thing else are covered with sand. Thanks EQ that could have been the best thing I’ve witnessed on a bike.