TR: White Rim in a day

[XtrPickels]

My plan was to go Clockwise from Mineral Bottom, starting with the biggest climb as it most mimics the Kokopelli route. Some say this is the cheater way, and I believe them as the climb from Mineral Bottom to Canyonlands would be horrific in the heat.

I saw 2 other individuals doing the route in a day going the opposite direction and then a few groups on guided tours.

Apologies in advance as most of these were snaps as I was riding.

Rolling into Mineral Bottom from the top of the canyon descent.



Ample Space for everyone



Rolling out of the campsite and straight up the wall in front of me to start to the day.
I packed light, only taking one bottle for the initial climb as I had stashed the rest of my water at the turn onto the pavement ~15 miles later.



I was thoroughly "In the zone" on the climb, so I didn't snap any pictures, but here's a couple from when I drove out later in the day.



After ~2 miles up the wall, it's another ~14 of false-flat / rolling dirt roads until you hit pavement.
I tried to motor through these sections, balancing conserving energy with making sure I was moving at a good pace.
Unfortunately, because stuffing myself full of water that morning, I had to stop 3 times to pee and one last time when I realized that annoying rattling sound was a water bottle cage about to fall off.

I didn't take any pictures.



After a quick $15 entry fee at the gate and suddenly you're on top of the Shafer descent, looking at your future on the canyon floor.



Pretty classic desert riding once you're in the thick of it.








I like riding in the desert because the vast vista allows you to look back at where you were; it makes me feel like I've accomplished a lot. Here you can see the trail snaking over the hills.

Its a double edged sword though, because you can see how much further you need to go



From when I finished the Shafer descent at Mile 28, the Murphy's climb at mile ~65 was the next notable thing in my notes. That made for a long middle section that seemed to take a long time. Start of Murphy's is on the right in the pano.



After Murphy's, looking out at the Candlestick Tower.



At this point I was about 70 miles and 5:40 into the ride. This is typically where I enter the "This sucks and I'm ready to be done zone". Fortunately for me, this means I get real good at putting my head down and motoring along. It doesn't feel great, but it gets the job done. The only thing I could think of was my next objective: The Hardscrabble climb as it was the last hard climb before the finish.

Unfortunately this laser focus means that I went the next 19 miles without taking a picture.

Getting to mile 88 and the start of Hardscrabble was Celebratory. I bossed my way up the first bit and fooled myself into thinking I was going to man-handle this one.


A mile later I was slowly pushing my bike up the last pitch.


As far as I was concerned, after Hardscrabble I was done because there wasn't anything hard left between me and the finish. A nice descent back to the river then relatively flat road to the finish.

However, I realized a 7:45 moving time finish was within reach, so (entirely of my own doing) my easy 10 miles to the finish evaporated in another head-down time trial to the line. No pictures please.

With a big smile, I finished up with a moving time of 7:39, hitting my goal total time of 8:00 for the 100 mile loop.

Bike: 2021 Epic Evo
Tires: Nothing about this route place a demand on corning traction, so I went for rolling speed.
Front: Schwalbe 2.35 Racing Ralph Super Race
Rear: Schwalbe 2.35 Thunder Burt Super Race

Liquid Hydration + Calories (208oz / ~1900kcals)
This was ~26oz / hr, which is what I planned. I'm typically about 1.5L / hour (40oz) of sweat rate at these intensities.
This drinking rate puts me at about 8% body weight loss at 8 hours, which was my goal time and when things start to go south for me.

First Climb: 24 oz Skratch
Refill at Road:
Pound 20 oz of Skratch Hyper Hydration
Bottle 1: Down Tube: Soma Further (38oz) 2 servings of Maurten 320
Bottle 2: Seat Tube: (24 oz) Skratch Hydration
Bottle 3: SKS Bottle holder on Top Tube: Soma Further (38oz) 2 servings of Skratch SuperFuel
Hip-pack: Dakine 2L hydration pack with Skratch Hydration.

If you have the space, the SOMA Further bottles are a game-changer as it's an extra half-bottle worth of liquid.
This SKS top tube cage mount is great too. It's more secure and doesn't affect handling like a behind the saddle mount does.
SKS Link

Gels / bars: (~500 kcals)
These were in a Revelate Mag-Tank that I run backward behind the stem. This is because turning the bag around negates the sloping toptube and keeps the opening level, which helps for stuffing things.
Mag Tank Link

Total calories with the liquid hydration was ~2400kcals, / ~300 kcal/ hr. I typically try to eat more than this, but for this ride I was so focused on keeping fluids going in that I was down on Calories. Looking back, I wish I had taken in at least 400 more Kcals.

1x Maurten
1x Maurten Caffeine
1x SIS
1x Skratch Bar

[smmokan]

Damn, nice writeup and breakdown of the ride.... and some pretty solid pictures in there too!

[grskier]

Very, very solid effort.
ditto the solid write up comment.

[climberevan]

Excellent, approved.

[mntlion]

well played sir.

[mntlion]

as its mostly rolling, not tech, how do you think a lighter hardtail would do?

[NuMexJoe]

Same itinerary I used several years back, starting with the Mineral Bottom Climb and caching water on the drive in. Only I took a more, umm, leisurely pace. Nice work, and nice pics!
@mtnlion, I did it on a Retrotec HT (IIRC, with a Thudbuster slapped on for the day), and didn't feel beat up at all.

[climberevan]

There are a few chunky steep climbs but it's mostly a good quality road. If it weren't sandy I bet the FKT guys would use gravel bikes.

[Benneke10]

There are a few chunky steep climbs but it's mostly a good quality road. If it weren't sandy I bet the FKT guys would use gravel bikes.

completely disagree. while its not technical, the rocky sections wear on you over the many miles and a full sus is definitely more efficient, as evidenced that most FKTs are set on them.

[ticketchecker]

FKNA, that’s the post


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[MakersTeleMark]

Have I done the WRT in a day, yes. Would I pedal it, no.

[Danno]

Nice. Love the White Rim. Except I do it in 4 days. With some driving mixed with the biking.

[bennymac]

Not to discount any mortals experience but Geoff Kabush rode a gravel bike on it the other day




Today he did the Kokopelli on the same bike in 10:27. First time he’s ridden it. Beast mode.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Bravo, Pickles! That’s a massive effort and really cool of you to post your report + all the details on fueling strategies. Thanks!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Not to discount any mortals experience but Geoff Kabush rode a gravel bike on it the other day




Today he did the Kokopelli on the same bike in 10:27. First time he’s ridden it. Beast mode.

Looks like he also just snagged the Koko FKT according to his instagram.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Looks like he also just snagged the Koko FKT according to his instagram.

Not possible on a “gravel” bike


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[donutlynx]

Awesome effort - way to get in there under your time goal!

Never done White Rim - is it mostly an old road? Seems like the perfect territory for a late model "garvel bike". Could be something to try out in the Fall...

[Danno]

Awesome effort - way to get in there under your time goal!

Never done White Rim - is it mostly an old road? Seems like the perfect territory for a late model "garvel bike". Could be something to try out in the Fall...

It is mostly a dirt road, a gravel bike is possible, but there are definitely some sections that are 4 wheeling in a car, and mountain biking is much betterer.

[XtrPickels]

Re. Bike choice on White Rim:

Hardtail: Totally fine if that's your style. Likely faster on many sections due to the weight and stiffness advantage. Some of the rock sections, which ride "chattery" and slow won't be fun, but so it goes.

Traditional gravel bike:
Sure, you can ride it with the gravel bike, assuming you have gearing to get up climbs without crushing yourself. Much like the Simpsons, "Rodeo's done it": https://www.rodeo-labs.com/whiterim/.
High volume 650b's would be nice, 700x40 is doable, but it'll work you.

Kokopelli:
Kokopelli is a different beast. It's mostly singletrack and I think a full-suspension XC bike is helpful. There's slabby climbing and descending and the square edges and drop offs are much nicer on the full suspension.

However, Koko can definitely be done on a hardtail or gravel bike (The Rodeo Labs guys have done that too). I'm not going to claim those are the fastest though.

[XtrPickels]

Nice. Love the White Rim. Except I do it in 4 days. With some driving mixed with the biking.

Thanks,
There were a good number of groups out. Because of this, it didn't feel as remote as Kokopelli, which was nice considering I was doing it solo.

[tgapp]

Dude, pickles!! Killer fucking work man. I'm super impressed, thanks for the awesome writeup and the great pictures.

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[muted reborn]

I saw 2 other individuals doing the route in a day going the opposite direction

Two dudes together NOT in spandex and on 'regular' (not XC) mountain bikes?

[huckbucket]

Legit! Nice work Pickels.

[springsproject]

Damn, very impressive! You were cruising out there. Nice writeup

[chaka]

nicely done XtraPickels! congrats and thanks for sharing. How steep are the climbs?