Hot Day

Avg 8.8 Dst 9.19 Tm 1:02:13 Max 37.8

Thought: Going up Slate Canyon over and over you learn where things are and the best route past them. Sometimes though a rock has fallen off the hill and into the trail in the worst possible spot. Sometimes when something bad happens we may want to blame someone else or even God or the devil. However I think sometimes the challenge is just there for no real reason, and if we can overcome it, it will make us stronger

Ouch!

Avg 9.7 Dst 8.3 Tm 51:05.1 Max 41.0

Friday I kind of crashed coming off of the dike, so yesterday I tried it a little faster so that I could have more balance. All it did though is make it hurt more when I crashed.

So this morning I went out with a shovel and made the track wide enough that even I can go down it.

Thought: If at first you don't succeed try it faster!

No Rain

Avg 9.2 Dst 9.87 Tm 1:04:08 Max 30.6 odo 1311.0 T.Tm 170:28

It has been a long time since we have had any rain on the Slate Canyon trail. Yesterday when we were riding we came across some muddy spots and a spot where a spring had come out in the middle of the road. I guess we have more water than we have had for awhile even though it is still quite dry. Anyway, there is a place on the Slate Canyon trail where you come around a tree and when it has rained there is a big puddle. The last time we had rain, I had kind of forgotten about the possibility of the puddle being there. As I came around the tree I wasn't ready, but was still able to manage to go around the puddle. However I cut a bit close to the mud and the soft edge gave way. My tire slipped into the mud and then I was had to live with mud getting flipped into my face for awhile.

In life we need to be on the constant watch to guard ourselves from filth. Sometimes we get to comfortable and let our guard down. And then it is best to keep as much distance between you and the filth as possible, so you don't slip into it and then have to live with the consequences of not keeping your distance.

Catching up

Avg 9.3 Dst 26.39 Tm 2:49:44 Max 40.7

I keep putting off the blog thinking I will do it later. Also keep forgetting to get the numbers off the computer so today's numbers are actually from three days of riding. I believe the first day was 8 miles and 9 mph average the second day was 8.5 miles and an accumulative average of 8.? mph which would mean yesterday was about 10 miles and better than 9 mph. We rode up Provo Canyon and south on the shoreline. I think this is the fastest we have ever done this ride.

I think this is a picture that Will took by pointing his camera backwards while riding. A little slanted and out of focus but makes for a nice "artistic effect".

Jumping Logs

Avg 7.8 Dst 7.6 (9.2) Tm 57:47.7 Max 35.4

My front tire was on backwards for the first 1.6 miles and so it did not register on the bike computer.

This is another picture from the Blackhawk trip. Mike and Bruce are about to do a spectacular maneuver and hop over the logs. Well, OK I lied, they are about to go around it.

Bee Sting

Avg 10.0 Dst 6.00 Tm 35:56.4 Max 38.0

On the way out today a bee stung me in the back of my leg. A few days ago Myron was talking about how he had never been stung by a bee. It was kind of funny to hear him trying to figure out which he wanted more, to know what a bee sting feels like, or not having to suffer the pain involved.

Another picture from the Blackhawk trip.

Blackhawk

Avg 7.2 Dst 14.37 Tm 1:58:46 Max 22.7

Took off after work today and rode blackhawk trail on Mt. Nebo. It is a nice longer ride that has some great single track. I hadn't had a real wreck since before the Brianhead ride, but I made up for it today. We came to a boggy river crossing and for some stupid reason I tried to ride through it. As soon as my front wheel hit the river/bog it stuck and I went over the handle bars. The worst part of it though was landing on the rocks.

If that wasn't bad enough right after this picture was taken I went off the side of the hill. If you look close you can make out my helmet behind the tree. The trail was soft and there was a little rock that should not have been a problem but for some reason is psyched me out and I went of the trail and had the tree catch me from falling down the hill.

Three Gates Plus

Avg 10.1 Dst 9.09 Tm 53:35 Max 36.5

We did the "ride of the three gates" plus "Glendon's hill" today. Tomorrow we are planning on doing black hawk which I guess is a hard ride so they won't do Glendon's hill a second time.

This is a picture Juan took of me on the Ridge Trail back in June.

Plastic Spike

Avg 8.5 Dst 9.31 Tm 1:05:04 Max 35.3

I got a flat tire today. I figured it was because I hadn't checked my pressure lately and so I got a pinch flat. However when I got back to the car I found a piece of plastic shaped like a spike in the side of my tire. Looking at the tube it turned out the puncture was right where the spike was in the tire. I guess I was lucky it didn't puncture the replacement tube somewhere on the way back.

This is a picture of the Henry's fork area. King's Peak is the distant peak about 1/3 of the way in from the left edge of the picture.

The Dike

Avg 9.0 Dst 8.63 Tm 57:14.5 Max 36.3

Glendon showed me a different way to get across the pipeline trench. After crossing the trench he then took me up a nice climb up the dike. So today's ride was up the dike then out to Slate Canyon, try and climb the hill past the gate twice, and then back up the dike hill and back to work.

This is a picture Myron took on our Timp hike.
Thought: After a week of riding sometimes you just get tired and want to take a day off. Its on these days that you don't feel like riding, but force yourself that you gain the most strength. Prayer is like that, when you feel least like doing it is when you need it the most.

Lambert Park

Avg 7.7 Dst 7.94 Tm 1:01:19 Max 18

The plan today was to meet at the Alpine Rodeo Grounds and ride Lambert Park. Something must have happened because we never found Mike, but Juan and I rode the park anyway. This reminded me a lot of the dirt hills we use to ride our bikes on when I was a kid, except this was a lot larger area. It has a lot of nice little twisty trails, and in spite of the fact that there was not a lot of climbing I still felt like I got a good workout.

Another picture from the top of King's Peak. Here we are looking down into the Henry's Fork basin.

AF Playground

Avg 7.1 Dst 7.63 Tm 1:03:55 Max 18.4 Odo 1211.5 T.Tm 158:22

Today we started at the Pine Hollow Trailhead and went up the road to Timpooneke campground then up the Ridge Trail and down Pine Hollow. I've decided to just call this area "The Playground" and like all of the other trails in the playground this was a great ride. Going down Pine Hollow reminded me a lot of the top of Slide Canyon. Same kind of look and feel only it is all ridable, which is not true for Slide Canyon.

Today's picture is at Gunsight pass on the way to King's Peak.
Thought: After climbing a distance it is fun to look back and see how far you have gone.

Provo Canyon

Avg 9.8 Dst 9.83 Tm 59:41 Max 22.2

Today we went up Provo Canyon and then south on the shoreline trail. What can I say? It was a nice morning ride.

Today's picture is from the top of King's Peak looking west. I believe the lake is Tungsten.

Slate Canyon

Avg 9.1 Dst 8.76 Tm 57:21.4 Max 31.6 Odo 1194.1 T.Tm 156:15

The trail is getting very dry. I kept spinning out trying to climb the hill past the gate. The frustrating part was that I was spinning out before even getting to the hard part.

I went with my son and a couple of neighbors to the top of King's Peak last week. I was amazed at how easy it was. I have done this before and it wasn't this easy before. Mountain biking has made a huge difference. It was a great trip. We started at Henry's Fork on Thursday, hiked about 6 miles to Dollar Lake area and set up base camp. It rained a little while we were hiking and quite a bit at night. On Friday we hiked to the top of King's Peak. We went up Gunsight Pass and then took the short cut over to Anderson Pass. This was a lot nicer than dropping down into Painter Basin. I believe this was about a 10 or 12 mile round trip. On Saturday we hiked back to the trailhead.

Hog Hollow

Avg 8.3 Dst 18.47 Dst/D 13.88 Tm 2:13:26 Max 37.0 Odo 1,185.3 T.Tm 155:13

I guess writing in a blog just like writing in a journal. I start out well, and then all of the sudden no more entries. I have been at least entering the ride stats in most every day so I will just let those go in with no comment. Today's picture comes from the 7/29 ride.

Today's ride was up Hog Hollow and down "the chute". As always it was a fun ride. It has been raining a lot lately (by Utah standards) and it rained again last night. The trail was a bit wet but not as bad as was expected.

South Fork

Dst ~4.7 Tm ~42:30

Slate Canyon

Avg 9.0 Dst 8.5 Tm 56:13.1 Max 31.8