The Grand Canyon had always been one of those places that I had heard about, thought it would be neat to visit, but never seriously contemplated going to nor did I really expect to ever make a trip there. Which made it all the more fun when my dad called me up in the middle of a semester 
and asked if I wanted to go for a couple day bike ride down there with my cousins and uncles at the beginning of the summer!This would end up being a two day ride on two separate trails, with a night of camping in between on the north rim of the Grand Canyon under the stars. Attendees on this inaugural visit were myself, my dad, my Uncle Kerry, Uncle Scott, Uncle Brad, and my cousin Chet, as well as some of my Uncle Brad's friends (Ray, John, John's son, Bert, Joyce, among several others).
Day one we ride the Rainbow Rim Trail, located on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. This is filled lots of steady climbing, several more pronounced ups and downs, and a lot of relatively flat cruising through the woods. There are some absolutely breathtaking vistas on this ride.
Day two I don't recall the trail we rode on this year, but I believe it was a portion of the Arizona Trail and had a lot of downhills, and at this point one tired set of legs trying to make the bike continue forward.
As I recall we also got lost a time or two on this last day of riding. That or I may have been slow enough that I lost the main group and struggled to know which trails to take at various forks!
All in all though we had an absolute blast!
We also got to celebrate my dad and my Uncle Kerry's birthdays on the ride that year - two of the best men I know and two of my role models.
This was one of the highlights of Ray's first day of riding - I didn't get to see it myself, but the aftermath looks pretty exciting!
