Duathlon Dinosaur

Recently Karina and I traveled to Southern Utah to take part in a triathlon (which became a duathlon) and look for dinosaur fossils.  Being near dinosaur bones makes me stalk around like a dinosaur, so the following tale will be told from the point of view of Duathlon Dinosaur - a modern day two-parted, multi-sport, bipedal, mostly-human-but-still-lizard-like Anthopocene dinosaur.

Duathlon Dinosaur (Biker runicus-lizardii or DD) is a traveler fond of journeying to events they heard about on the Internet, and taking circuitous routes that take them to meet friends and those places you've only ever seen signs for but always wondered about like Dinosaur Quarrys and Dino Trails and the things in Green River that aren't gas stations.

In mid-June of 2014 it was possible to see these dinosaurs travelling to meet their good friend Emma for a fishing lesson, because DD is pisciverous.

While unsuccessful at actually catching a fish, we were highly successful at having some fun.  

From there DD traveled to the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry near Elmo, Utah, where they discovered visiting hours were over.  But they continued on foot because DD had seen the signs for the quarry and always wondered what was there.  When else would they have time drive all the way to the literal middle of No Where and look for dinosaur bones?

The Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry contained the densest concentration of Jurassic dinosaur bones ever (more than 12,000 bones belonging to 74 different specimen).  

Never one to be deterred by a fence that can easily be walked around, DD poked around the closed quarry.  They were able to look through windows to see another, older dinosaur currently being excavated at the quarry (but were sad they couldn't help with the excavation themselves).

Building covering a dinosaur that was being excavated.  Based on average wind speed during our visit, taking the dinosaur finding indoors made a lot of sense.  

They also spotted a ferocious dinosaur assembled in the closed visitor center, but DD was not afraid because they are faster then a dinosaur that's all bolted together.

Ferocious Allosaurus fragillis.  Most of the bones excavated from the quarry belonged to carnivores.  

The natural habitat of DD is arid and spectacular.  Prime habitat has interpretive signage.  The Cleveland-Lloyd quarry had all of this in spades, so DD explored the Rock Walk in search of fragments of sauropods.  And they found them because DD has sharp, fossil-finding eyes!

Sauropod fragments we spotted on the top of a knoll.  

Sauropods are large, plant-eating dinosaurs that roamed Utah during the Jurassic Period, 203-145 million years ago.  Utah was a much different place then - there was an ocean and huge swamps and lush vegetation to support these creatures.  The idea that Utah was once such a different place and the process of fossilization gave Duathlon Dinosaur something to ponder.

After this dinosaur died all the porous spaces in its bones were filled with minerals, turning it to stone.  

Nowadays (the Anthropocene) there is a lot of aridity and shrink-swell clay in Dinosaur Country.  Shrink-swell clay has layers of crystal on the inside that can hold water and expand (up to 1000 times) when wet and then shrink when dry.  This leads to a popcorn-like texture on the surface that is pretty rad.

The popcorn-texture and cracks suggest that this soil has been wetted and dried repeatedly.  It's hard to believe it ever rains at the quarry though, given how dry it was when we visited.  

Structures would never survive on popcorn clay because it is unstable, but mounds of popcorn clay are ideal for Duathlon Dinosaur's yogic displays, as they are fleeting and off-balance to start with.

In addition to having sharp eyes for dinosaur fossils, DD also has a strong appreciation for plants, particularly this grass that glows when the sun is setting.

Desert plants are great plants.  

Dinosaur means terrible lizard, and DD has a fondness for other lizards that are less terrible but still pretty fantastic.

Un-terrible lizard scurrying around it's ancestor's stomping grounds.  

Duathlon Dinosaur is a natural climber, in addition to a love for biking and running.  The boulder field at the quarry provided excellent opportunities to show their natural skill.

Velociraptor.  Obviously

Duathlon Dinosaur then traveled to Green River, Utah, barely escaping the arid badlands of Elmo and their distinct lack of water.  The original goal of this particular journey was to compete in a triathlon called the River Rampage.  Unfortunately the Green River was running super high because of a fish larva mobilization thing farther upstream (normally great news), so the swimming portion of the triathlon was cancelled.  This was both a relief and a disappointment.  Duathlon Dinosaur (both halves it would seem) is not a strong swimmer and the idea of swimming was intimidating, but DD also loves new things and was excited at the prospect of competing in something new like a Tri.  Despite the disappointment and intimidation, Duathlon Dinosaur thought the Green River looked peaceful and beautiful the morning of our competition.

20,000 cubic-feet per second of water, hopefully carrying lots of Razorback sucker larva.  

Duathlon Dinosaur, multi-sport competitor that it is, was able to dominate in the smaller field of participants that made it to the duathlon.  By bike and by foot, DD loves going fast.

Karina-Dinosaur got first place in her division, completing the bike ride in 44:05 minutes (that's a 17.1 mph pace, excellent) and the run in 26:38 (that's 8:52 minute miles, speedy devil), for a total time of 1:12:36 to complete the Sprint Duathlon.

Becka-Dinosaur got third place in her division, completing the bike in 1:25:20 (a 17.8 mph pace) and the run in 49:01 (for 8:03 minute miles) for a total time of 2:14:59 to complete the Olympic Duathlon.  I feel particularly happy that I excelled during the run, completing it faster than the overall winners in my division, by channeling my inner dinosaur (I was pretending to be a Velociraptor).

DD love their bikes.

Following this great adventure, Duathlon Dinosaur continued toward Moab, the center of all the best DD habitat in the world.  It is on this leg of the journey we stopped by the Dino Trail in Mill Canyon.  There we marveled at the length of the Camarasaurus leg bone, but did not fear because we would be faster.

But seriously, the Camarasaurus was gigantic.  

We also saw just how big sauropod bones are, but did not fear because we are smaller but more ferocious.

The modern-day lizards might be more ferocious than DD, so we gave them plenty of space.

This may be a longnose leopard lizard

We also learned more about the flooding events that initially covered these dinosaur bones.

Cross-section of a fossilized Jurassic period dinosaur bone

Vertebrae of a dinosaur that has been turned to stone

Turned to stone and embedded in more stone

Layers of sediment with bigger rocks were deposited during big floods and the finer sediments were deposited during lower water parts of the eon.

We even saw evidence of the past environment that supported these giant, plant loving dinosaurs in the trunk of this petrified tree.

Then Duathlon Dinosaur wandered on to Castle Valley where we ooh-ed and aaw-ed at the giant stone towers and mesas that were deposited at the same time the other terrible lizards were roaming around and have been eroding slowly ever since.

Wingate Sandstone (or Dinosaur Sandstone, as I will call it in the future) is so excellent to climb.  

Duathlon Dinosaur's final stop was the Fisher Towers, an amazing section of mudstone that helped DD appreciate that while we are fast and ferocious, we are but a speck in this large, long-historied world.

Cottontail Tower

Erosion is continually on display in the Fisher Towers, where the rock appears to be both sparkling and weeping mud.

Karina can feel the rock's pain

DD is most at home in dry, spectacular places like the Fisher Towers.

Ancient Art

Here we can show our amazing abilities of cooperation that are necessary to climb safely up to potentially precarious positions and take pictures with both halves of Duathlon Dinosaur in it.

Dry, spectacular habitats are also excellent places for DD to display their incredible jumping ability.

After all this adventure, Duathlon Dinosaur returned to the Valley of Cache they call home, but continue planning epic adventures to have by bike, foot, and car.