The Ultraknuckle 2023

It’s the gloaming.

And as such, the sun is low in the sky casting the brilliant evening glow across the mesa. The grass is shimmering green as it borders the glowing singletrack dropping from the mountain. The wind is calm and the temps are chilly but relatively nice. The entire expanse of the St. George valley is unfolding below us in the amber radiance. The views are spectacular. Descending Icehouse this time of day typically is this awe inspiring. We make it almost all the way to the road cut before I flip my light on. JT keeps on rolling doing the thing in the dark.

As typical as the views are for this time of day, the way we end the ride is not.

After the rowdy, dark drop off the edge of the mesa down the old pioneer trail, we hit the Powerline Road and stop. The stopping isn’t the abnormal part. It’s almost mandatory to stop and shake out your hands and throw some high fives around after that descent, but we don’t then get back on our bikes and head toward the water tank. No, we start looking for a flat spot.

Of course, the flat spot is because we are camping here. A few hundred feet from the junction, there’s a great spot just under the powerline. We each pick a spot and begin unpacking the little bit of gear that we have brought. Our undertaking does not allow one to overpack and do well. I pull out a sleeping pad, blow it up, attach the uber thin quilt I plan to use to stay warm and then put on all my layers I brought. It’s dark and past my bedtime, but there are still more riders out pedaling and while we settle down we keep an eye out for lights dropping down the trail.

The Ultraknuckle

The Ultraknuckle is a little project that was planted in my brain by Harrison Shotzbarger. In another desert not too far away, a thing called the Ultracruise went down and he attended. This got him to pitching a similar idea for SoTah. It took me at least one full beer to catch the vision, but once I settled, I was all in. The first year, we called the thing the Ultracruise, but it felt different, and I needed to feel like it was its own thing. So the Ultraknuckle was born.

The idea is to link up all the trails, preferably the good, hard ones, all in one go. To be able to do that, the route is quite contrived. There’s a couple of out and backs, multiple loops and almost countless possibilities for cutting course. We head out from the Lounge and start pedaling dirt by jumping on City Creek. Then Pioneer Hills to T-bone followed by Lange’s Dugway and then Icehouse. Prospector gets us to the Harrisburg Gap where we use the Quail Creek Trails and then pedal some pavement and dirt roads to the Three Falls connector trail to Goulds. And then it’s the Mesas. Starting with Little Creek, we ride them all, Goose, Gander, Grafton and Guacamole.

Of course, this doesn’t really work till the loop is finished, so we continue up Dead Ringer, wrap around the backside of Little Creek dropping the Honeymoon Trail into Werner Valley to use dirt to get back to the Airport Trails. The last dagger in your side is twisted with some pavement spinning and then Kentucky Lucky Chicken.

This was the 2nd year of that route. Harrison pedaled last year and mentioned that he wasn’t sure it was possible to finish it in the given time. So we found out by capping the amount of time at 72 hours and enforcing a strict no cut policy. While cutting trail may seem like a weird thing to have to enforce on something like this, you have to understand how easy it is to rationalize when you are deep in the pain cave and the route takes you several hard miles in the opposite direction of where you are trying to go. It can be both infuriating and entirely too enticing to just slip through the bottom of a loop.

This year we had our highest number of participants pedal out. This thing is a niche of a niche of a niche. Think about what small percentage of the population actually rides bikes. Then cut that down to the percentage of cyclists who are interested in riding all day long, like 8-10 hours a day. Then cut that percentage by those who are interested in carrying what they need to camp and survive for a few days and then chop out the few who would be excited of doing all of that while riding hard trails. Trails that are almost always underestimated because the mileage and the time it takes to ride them never seems to line up. A three hour ride on a mesa is probably only going to get you about 13 miles. Plus, you have to be willing to ride down Grafton DH on a loaded bike or drag a loaded bike down it. There just aren’t many people into that.

We started with 7, 5 of which were aboard singlespeeds because interestingly enough that tiny niche is populated by a high percentage of people actively trying to make things harder.

Day 2

We start at 5:30 on Thursday giving people the opportunity to knock out some miles that evening. John and I finished up just shy of 27. Day 2 is the first full day and is all about getting to Little Creek Mesa.

We awake with the reversing of the light from the evening prior. The twinkling lights of the town and few stars we can see slowly fade into the sky as it goes from black to light blue to deep blue. The sun pops up illuminating the layers. The mesa below the foothills below the mountain all light up. The green is taking over the desert and the sun amplifies its presence.

Despite being in the lead group when we stopped, everyone else has now passed us and is in front. Our plan was to get up early and get moving, but the cool breeze and low temperatures dampened any excitement for that and we awoke with the sun and were slow to get moving. Our 6 or 7 am intended start turned into closer to 8, but once we were moving, we were moving.

Camping just outside of a suburban hell creates an interesting juxtaposition. Wake up in a sleeping bag in the dirt, watch as the dog walkers and runners emerge from their homes and watch their faces as they notice the 2 dirtbags where the dirtbags probably shouldn’t be. Then jump on your bike and within seconds your pedaling through a gate onto pavement and into a neighborhood. I highly recommend it.

John and I ripped Prospector to Harrisburg catching the morning light radiating off the red cliffs. Then Quail Creek to some pavement to get to Hurricane. I was carrying all the food I would need with the exception of lunch on this day so a stop was mandatory. We hit Lupitas and then the Sinclair and made our way to the Three Falls Trail. This would be the first hike-a-bike section of the day. Not that it is all pushing, but there are definitely a high percentage of corners that I was unable or at least unwilling to pedal.

Then onto Goulds.

Last year, we hit this section in the rain and the wind was ripping. When we finished I thought to myself, “No wonder no one rides that trail, it sucks.” This year, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze to keep us cool and when I finished, I felt that the trail was the most underrated one in the county. Must have been the weather.

Goulds brings us to our 2nd hike-a-bike, the road up to Little Creek. Maybe someone is capable of pedaling this, I’m not and don’t see myself ever trying. At this point, we had caught and passed everyone except Jamon and Ian. I had received a text that Jamon had just finished the climb up so I knew we were getting close. Ian remained a mystery pretty much until I got to KLC.

We made our way to the trailhead to find Kenny and Jamon waiting for us. Kenny was there to rip out a loop with us. Having someone to follow around Little Creek was actually really nice. We would have been able to do it, no problem, but at 55+ miles in, having one less thing to think about can be clincher. As these things go, hitting the mesa both hurt and, at least for me, was also a relief. I’m not sure if it’s just how much I love riding mesas or that I get sick of spinning, but every time I start riding a mesa I feel better.

We made it to the Waterfall and stopped. Our plan was to camp there as we had guaranteed water, even flowing water this year and that makes a huge difference when you are carrying your shit. Kenny stayed and drank a beer with us and then pedaled out. The ladies all wanted to be involved with this undertaking so they met at the trailhead and hiked in bringing the party with them.

Day 3 – Mesa Day

If you’ve never watched the sun come up from the bottom of the Waterfall, it’s worth getting your ass there to do so.

My objective for Day 3 was to get all the way to and ride Guacamole. I knew it was going to be a big day and felt the weight of the prior two in my legs as I was getting ready to go.

We finished out the last couple of miles of Little Creek and then pedaled the god forsaken road to Gooseberry. The washboards have to be at least 6″ deep and the 4Runner convention that apparently was happening did not help the situation with the endless dust.

Kenny was once more waiting for us at the trailhead. After a potty break and a snack, we began to ride the mesa. As I mentioned, every time I start riding a mesa, I get a surge of energy and this was no exception. Kenny led out and soon we were cruising. It almost felt like the faster I went the easier it was. We crushed the South Rim and the North in just a couple of hours. Kenny refilled my hydration reservoir at the yurts and I headed onto Gander.

Gander is one of those trails that is hard to have a bad time. If you are in the pain cave, all you have to do is look around. The views are unrivaled and I personally can’t have a bad time when I’m surrounded by that.

Grafton Wash is an entirely different beast and is only part of the route for the sheer fact that it gets us to the Grafton DH and then into Rockville. If you are unfamiliar with this section of trail, it’s steep, loose in some sections, and the switchbacks are crazy tight. There were parts I pedaled, but the majority was certainly pushed. #itsnotbikepackingtillyourepushing

Grafton DH is definitely the crux of the route. Most folks drop this wearing full face helmets and with more than six inches of suspension. I was on a loaded hardtail. This was the first time I had ridden it solo and I will admit I was nervous. As soon as I dropped in, everything felt normal. My mind shut up and focused on the task and I bombed down it. I shouldn’t be nervous riding it, as I’ve been doing it for over 20 years, but there is a high cost if I screw something up.

Bill had a water station setup for us in his driveway in Rockville and I made my way there to refill. He was home and we chatted for a bit. JT rolled up and I found that Shelby was just around the corner dirtbagging on the lawn of the church. We regrouped and made our way to Guacamole.

The climb up to the mesa had absolutely destroyed me during the Mesa Buffet and I was not looking forward to repeating that scenario. I left my pride on the highway and any time the burn started, I walked. I’m sure it was slower than it would have been if I had tried to pedal all of it, but I got to the top and was able to keep riding. I knew that resting at this point would mean I was done for the day. I also knew that if I was going to do Guacamole, it would have to be on Day 3. I shoved some snacks into my mouth, checked my water and started cranking.

The light was starting to shrink in the sky and once again, the surroundings kept me happy and pedaling.

Day 4 – Let’s finish it up

Everyone except the mysterious Ian and Plug Along Pete, regrouped at Guacamole. Part of the fun of this thing is that we kind of do it enduro style. We start together, rally at our own pace to a set campsite and regroup for the after party which is fueled by the Ladies of the Alliance who show up with coolers of beer and bags of wine.

We all awoke to a warm morning. Soon the camp was buzzing with preparations. Jamon was the first to head off in search of sunscreen he had lost. Shelby and I started pedaling together.

Despite the warm morning, the drop off the mesa was shaded and fucking cold. Luckily, the cold was replaced by warmth pretty quickly as we hit pavement and made our way into Virgin.

Day 4 has the least amount of singletrack and to be honest is mostly a get it done situation. We headed up Sheep Bridge Road, caught Dead Ringer at the trailhead and then popped back to the road to jump the highway. It was gravel roads for the next bit. The route takes us behind Little Creek Mesa which is an interesting place. Wide open expanses and what feels like no humans. Shelby and I had caught Jamon after he hit the store and we all made our way to the Honeymoon Trail.

The Honeymoon Trail is an old one and specifically this section would be a killer shuttle run if it wasn’t such a pain to setup. The trail drops right down through the Hurricane Cliffs. Despite being a road, it’s rowdy and pretty fun. The three of us made our way through Werner Valley and around Little Black Mountain before jumping on the Airport Trails. This is definitely one of the sections that makes you consider cutting course. You are finally back in civilization and then you head more or less the opposite direction of where you want to go and the trails aren’t that great.

Then it’s pavement.

The pavement always gets me. Riding a singlespeed might make you think the climbs will suck and sometimes they do, but it’s really the flat easy stuff that kills you. While everyone else is cruising along in an easy gear, you are spinning your guts out just trying to make some forward momentum. I had been dreading the last section of singletrack, Kentucky Lucky Chicken. Not that I don’t like the trail, I just couldn’t imagine enjoying it at this point in our journey. It turned out to be much like the mesas. As soon as my tires were on singletrack, I was moving and my body suddenly felt better.

After a short respite from the sun sitting in the shade of the sign, it was a short, spun out pedal to the Lounge.

It is possible

Curiosity might or might not kill the cat, but it certainly motivates me in almost everything I do. Pique my interest with something that I’m not quite sure of and there’s a pretty good chance I’ll give it a go. As I mentioned, this was certainly the case for this year’s Ultraknuckle. When Harrison questioned the possibility of it, I knew we had to find out and we did. It is possible.

The Mysterious Ian actually showed up to try and crush the route. He was packed incredibly light and didn’t expect to be camping much. He even had a hard deadline of being back to Grand Junction at 11 on Sunday. As I sat in the shade on KLC, I finally checked my phone and found that he had given it a hell of a go finishing up everything to Virgin and then had to bail. I’ve heard from a few others that there might be an FKT style attempt on the route. I’d love to see it, not sure that piques my curiosity enough to try it.

Or at least, I guess it doesn’t yet. Maybe next year.

Participants

Starters

• Harrison Shotzbarger
• Jamon Whitehead
• John Taylor
• Pete Rognli
• Ian Thomas
• James Barret
• Moose Knuckler

Official Finishers

• Harrison Shotzbarger
• Moose Knuckler

Unofficial Finishers (Pedaled most of the route, but missed or skipped some)

• Jamon Whitehead (Missed Lange’s Dugway due to bad gpx file)
• John Taylor (Missed Guacamole due to heat exhaustion and KLC)

Embrace Chaos. Seek Discomfort.