Monday, June 30, 2008

Mid Mountain Strikes Back...




So I was riding on my favorite trail in Park City, the Mid Mountain Trail, this past Saturday and the ride was amazing! It was warm, for Park City, but I had brought enough fluids and food so I felt good the entire ride. I did the full loop which is around 23 miles with an elevation gain of 2400 feet and thanks to information from my Garmin Edge, I burnt almost 1700 calories. The ride takes you up to the 8000 feet elevation point at Park City Mountain Resort and continues along that contour until you hit The Canyons Mountain Resort, at this point it's a fast downhill to the resort and a road ride back to the parking lot at PCMR. All was going well, I had stopped at the Red Pine Lodge at The Canyons to eat lunch, hydrate, and stretch out. This is the halfway point milewise so it's a good place to stop, but things turned ugly fast after leaving Red Pine Lodge.

There is still a good amount of snow in that area and as I was descending towards the canyons the trail wound under a very large snow bank. The trail was muddy underneath it but seemed stable enough and I remember thinking "Aww, I can ride this!" There was a puddle about four feet wide and three feet long that looked solid enough and I didn't even think to inspect it as I started riding through it. As my tire hit the puddle it dropped into the hidden, three feet deep mudbog that the puddle was concealing! My front wheel disappeared, i went over the handlebars and Pete Rose'd head first into the mud! I was covered in mud but what was shocking was how cold the water was! Coming from snowmelt, the water was ice cold and took my breath away! I just laid there for a second shocked over what had just happened, then got up and wrang myself as best as i could dry. This part of the trail is in a pretty remote section of the Canyons but of course, just my luck, there happened to be two Canyons workers within earshot and, worst of all, sight of my ordeal! After laughing for a few minutes and stating the obvious "You just ate SH$!", they asked if I was ok and I gave them a muddy thumbs up! Well, the rest of the ride was uneventful, except for the mud drying in a thick crust on my legs, arms, jersey, helmet, and face! I got home and managed to get some pics before hosing myself and my bike off. The faces of the other drivers as I came back into Salt Lake was one of the best parts of an awesome day!

Solitude Weekly Race Series...



The Full Throttle Midweek Mountain Bike series started Tuesday June 24th at Solitude Mountain Resort. It was the hardest race I've done this year. It was only around 8 or so miles but it was steep, muddy, and unfamiliar so it kicked my butt! I didn't hydrate enough, preride the course, or eat properly before the race so I cramped up early and didn't really recover the rest of the race. I should have known I was overdoing it when in the first short paved climb I was right on the race leaders wheel thinking "this race is easy, I'm so gonna place!" Yeah, I can only blame that on dehydration delirium! The course was muddy and had two or three large snow patches that we either had to run over or ride through...I ran over them. The best part of the race was passing a few of the guys on the downhill that had passed me on the first lap climb. My skills are improving in the downhill and my bike has a lot to do with that! The other best part of the race was the moose I saw just before the second lap downhill, it was a young bull and was happily grazing in a meadow near the summit. Hopefully I'll improve on it over the next few weeks!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Mid-Mountain Meditation...



Sometimes you just have to get out and ride. Leave work, life, and love's stresses behind as you pedal, push, and sweat your way up a really hard trail. The other night I needed one of these...so I packed up my bike and headed for Park City. It was around 95 degrees in the valley but in PC it was cool and calming in the 70's. I rode a combination of trails starting at Spiro, over to the Mid-Mountain and down to Park City Mountain Resort. I didn't invite any friends, didn't really see anyone on the trail, just threw a calming mix on my ipod shuffle and rode. As the miles and elevation went by...I felt my worries, stresses, frustrations, and confusion melt away as well. I felt more centered and at peace with the world, and I realized I was actually grinning! It was only an hour and a half ride but it did wonders for my soul...enjoy the ride.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

What Can be Said About a Bottle?


Well...it may seem like an inconsequential piece of equipment but finding one that doesn't leak is a dream come true! Once you do find one like this, you gotta treat it like a family heirloom and pass it down to your kids! So, this particularly fine bottle came into my possession at the Sea Otter Classic, and for FREE from the SRAM booth! Woot! Membership has it's privileges! It has a flip top for easy filling, the valve is easy enough to bite open, it's perfect for a short race or training ride, and how can you beat classic SID blue? Woot indeed!