has allowed me to ride nearly every day, steadily racking up the miles, now at 77% of the distance around the Earth at the equator since September 2020. That’s 19,174 miles or 30,860 kilometers!
Taking a break at Middle Earth on the singletrack today.
on the Dome Plateau today. Please excuse the Bronco porn that follows but this is its first time off road since being assembled only 28 days ago in Michigan.
Expansive view towards the south from a high point along the trail.
So-called “Cave Spring” in the Entrada Sandstone escarpment, used historically by ranchers to provide water to stock.
Relict uranium miner’s cabin on Owl Draw Upland.
The new manual Ford Bronco Badlands/Sasquatch is an enormously capable machine that will open up more areas in the backcountry for exploration. What’s a retired geologist to do when not mountain biking or launching rockets?!
turned into rapidly flowing muddy torrents within minutes in response to the passing of an intense thunderstorm cell. My neighbor and I were enrolled in the Bronco Off-Roadeo driving clinic and were out on the Dome Plateau trail undergoing guided training. It was absolutely perfect conditions to demonstrate the vehicle’s capabilities and the Bronco powered right through the mud and easily ascended wet and slippery slickrock.
Owl Draw on the Dome Plateau, north of Dewey Bridge.
Why the off road training? I am about to take possession of the 2025 Bronco Badlands/Sasquatch next week in Moab that I had ordered in late June this year. I’m somewhat excited!
3 November 2025 UPDATE: The Bronco has landed in Moab and is being prepped by the dealer.
on the new Trek Rail+8 on the singletrack in upper Castle Valley this afternoon. Perfect place to accomplish this milestone. It’s good to be back on Mars.
The view over the handlebars. Click to enbiggen.
UPDATE: This puts me at 72% of the distance of the Earth’s circumference at the equator (since September 2020)!
stoked my early interest in geology and, next to my parents, Ellis Underkoffler is clearly the most pivotal person in my early formative life. Here we are, now years later, at a regional meeting of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, Ellis having invited me to deliver the keynote address at the conference highlighting my adventurous cave research in Central America. It was a fun reunion. Inspiring teachers are important!
of me fracturing my femur and requiring a hip replacement passes with hardly a notice, other than it being memorialized on my calendar on this date. Since then I’ve biked more than two-thirds of the circumference of the Earth, so it seems to be working well.
(27,000 km) ridden on my collection of electric mountain bikes since September 2020! My riding style is becoming increasingly aggressive with growing experience and time on the trail, so I’m leveling up with a new enduro-style eMTB. But the acid test of this very capable bike awaits on the considerably more challenging trails around Moab, Utah this fall.
It still has the new bike smell: Trek Rail+ 8 Gen 5 eMTB at Fish Lake on its first ride. The sidewalls of the tubeless tires matches the terrain in Utah!
in Castle Valley National Park for the summer as the weather forecast calls for scorching temperatures the week ahead. Time to flee north.
on the Trek hardtail eMTB on the return leg of this morning’s ride. These bikes don’t ride themselves!
to another remote petroglyph panel occurred yesterday, with seven good friends of Rory Tyler hiking eight miles with his remains, dispersing them at this site where he had his epiphany in rock art interpretation.
Longtime friend of Rory’s, BH explains some of the symbols and their interpretations at the panel.
occurred at dusk at an unidentified petroglyph panel to pay respect and say goodbye to Rory Tyler and to return his remains to the Earth. Rest in peace, my friend.
A memorial stone has been hidden in the landscape.
on my trek around the world, with the hardtail turning 4,800 miles (7,700 km) old on today’s ride. And what a terrific place to ride!
so far this year ties me with SpaceX, where they have launched an equal number of Falcon 9 rockets into orbit, on just the 93rd day of the calendar year.
The Semroc Arcas model rocket soared to 507 feet (155 m) on a C6-5 engine and soft-landed under parachute 20 feet away on a 48 second-long flight on a gorgeous morning in Castle Valley.
by successfully launching and recovering the high-power HV Arcas model rocket with an “H” motor to 2,314 feet (705 meters). Here are several images taken at the remote launch site on the Colorado - Utah state line. It’s very good and quite satisfying to set and achieve lofty goals in retirement.
HV Arcas on the launch rail, prepped for liftoff on a reloadable Aerotech H128-8W engine.
Blast off!
Thumbs up on a successful soft touchdown under parachute about 1,500 feet (450 meters) down range.
The flight recorder showed that the rocket’s top speed was 391 mph with 16.1 G peak acceleration for a flight lasting 146 seconds.
HV Arcas launch video courtesy BH. “That’s the up part!”
and the many experiences we shared together in canyon country, I can offer a few images shot while recording his poetry at various locations or examining and debating the symbolic meaning of rock art. I shall indeed miss his good humor and insights in the field, particularly in archeoastronomy.
Click on any image to enlarge.
has shuffled off this mortal coil, when, sadly, creative narrative poet and rock art expert Rory Tyler passed away at home in Castleton, Utah last Friday. Close friends are gathering with Rory’s brother in order to determine how to preserve his on-going academic work on local rock art and to honor his legacy.
Rory Paul Tyler, 1950 - 2025, RIP.
on the hardtail during today’s gloriously nice ride. This also pushes me past 60% of the distance around the Earth at the equator.
punctuated the mid-morning calm below Parriott Mesa, delighting friends and neighbors of all ages. No flying reindeer were harmed in this exercise and all safety guidelines of the National Association of Rocketry were stringently followed.
Patriot heading to a 444 foot apogee (~135 meters) on a “C” engine.
Nike Smoke whooshing to a 423 foot apogee (~129 meters) on a “C” engine.
I launched my first model rocket as a gray-haired adult on Christmas day last year, and these launches bring the year’s total to 103 liftoffs with only two failures (a CATO and a lawn dart). Bigger rockets. Neater gadgets. Huge fun.
and another spectacular winter day on tap, I took advantage of the continued mild weather and headed out to Moab Brands for a terrific afternoon bike ride. Few others are out and the trails are in perfect condition. Here’s a self portrait.
again in Castle Valley, Utah with the Trek full suspension e-mountain bike turning 3,000 miles on today’s ride. Since September 2020 the cumulative mileage on all my eMTBs comes to 14,357 miles (23,110 kilometers), or 57.6% of the Earth’s circumference at the equator. I’m feeling a bit like Forrest Gump during his running phase.
