The Daily Climb

Avg 5.3 Dst 5.5 Tm 1:01:39 Max 24.7

Today was only the second time I was able to make it up the first hill after the gate. However today I made it further up after the hill without stepping out. The problem is the better I do on the bottom part of the canyon the worse I do later on. Obviously because it takes so much work and wears me down.

I think this picture is from above the hill that goes under the pipe. At this point the lake is just visible at the bottom of the V, but can not be made out in the picture. After that hill there is a real rocky section (OK the whole trail is rocky but these are bigger rocks) that while not as steep as other hills, was every bit as difficult because of the effort needed to plow through the rocks. On the way down it was quite scary as I was going a bit to fast and being thrown around a bit. For a minute I was afraid I would be tossed off the trail and into the dry river bed below.

No Excuses

Avg 5.3 Dst 4.8 Tm 54:18.4 Max 25.0

Rained yesterday so there were no excuses today, the trail was nice and firm. I still have only made the first hill once, but now can start in the middle of the hill. I think overall today was the strongest I have been at doing Slate Canyon. I was able to get halfway up slate hill with only two stops to rest.

Layne had talked about leaving the hill that goes under the pipe alone so we would have to battle the rocks, but today he cleaned up the top part of the trail. The problem is the start of where he cleaned is about 20 feet past where I fail.

Escape

Avg 5.3 Dst 4.86 Tm 54:24.8 Max 27.2

Today we decided to drive up to the mouth of the canyon and ride from there so we could go further up the canyon. Without the 2 miles each way on the road the average speed goes down but the workout is every bit as demanding.

We now have enough pictures of the fall colors from the last few days to supply this blog with images for the rest of the year.

We met a man today who was walking up the canyon. I think I have seen him before, but today we kind of leap frogged back and forth climbing the canyon, so we talked a bit with him. He was suggesting a lot of nice places to ride mountain bikes, everything from Peru, to AF canyon. He said he didn't mind bikes but hated motorized vehicles. Then awhile later he started cursing all of the cars on the Wasatch Front. "They're a scourge!" He has a point, but it sure is nice that we have somewhere close we can go and escape the motors of our world.

South Fork in the Fall

Avg 6.4 Dst 6.83 Tm 1:03:48 Max 27.4

Today's ride was up South Fork Provo River. The colors were beautiful making this once again a great ride. Once we got past the bridge crossings and started to climb the trail became quite loose. I guess the horses have been loosening it up. It made the climbing very difficult, and I was feeling like it was quite the workout. But on the way down it was so much fun that by the time we got back to the cars I had practically forgotten how bad the climb was and was just sorry the ride was over.

Thought: Life is full of good times and tough times. The tough times make us stronger but it is the good times we remember.

Goal: Fork by End of Next Summer

Avg 9.2 Dst 9.01 Tm 58:41.5 Max 27.4 Odo 1,424.5 T.Tm 184:41

I'm getting better all the time and figure that I should be able to go from the gate to the fork in the road by the end of next summer. Right now it takes my maximum effort to get up the pipe hill and the hill past the gate, and I can't make it all the way up slate hill yet. But at the rate I have been improving I think the end of next summer is a good goal.

Yesterday we got what I thought was a great complement when Rick told us he under estimated what we have been doing.