Back on me bike Ct style

So we arrived back to CT Thursday night on a cool rainy evening and after a tough flight I was tremendously relieved to be heading home in the car after a 12 hour voyage. I Passed on riding the next few days so I could be around and get things back in working order so Monday was set to be the day. I must admit I was mildly excited to ride some untamed technical CT trail. I will hands down take Utah riding but it does certainly lack technical. Ok so the plan was to ride Mansfield Hollow and do the standard big loop and add in the little extra piece. Monday was hot and humid, nothing far from ordinary for a CT summer, what I did not expect was a swarm of mosquitoes to molest me as soon as I exited the vehicle. After some cursing and removing my bike I made the choice that I was just going to have to ride fast enough. Sure enough they let off as soon as I began to pedal. I was pleasantly greeted by a massive down tree in the trail, it was just in the right spot so I would get around it and then find trail and come to find out after 100ft it's the wrong trail. Back track to the trail and manage to wedge the tire and eject over the bars beautifully but ultra pissed it happened in the first place, lower than normal psi in tires....

Ok back on the trail I need and start pedaling only to have to maneuver around 3 more big downed trees in the first few minutes of the ride. I guess this might have been part of the tornado's path a few weeks ago. Surprisingly once I passed those suckers I was clear the rest of the ride, was pretty scurred it was going to set the tone of the ride. Finally making ground over Wolf rock and over to Mansfield Hollow. I stopped at the soccer fields and caught a wonderful lighting from a nearby storm and I had to stop and snap a pic.

I Caught some brush on some grown in sections and irritated the crap out of my skin as the brush normally does. Up Stoned hill and by then I was running on empty, very surprising how much CT trails can suck out your energy. I made it up that mother and across the road and a fast stroll to the car where as soon as I loaded up the bike I was swarmed once again by the bugs and I cowardly ran into the car where they continued their assault on the drivers window. I felt ok about this ride, I did leave my heart on the Utah trails as to be expected. I still have so many rides to do there, me and the lady have been talking and it looks like we are planning to move mid July next year and I cannot wait! In the mean time LuAnn is off from school for only three more weeks so we will enjoy our short amount of time before I go back on full time Landon duty. So riding is at the end of the agenda but it will happen! Enjoy your summer fools School house unwelcomed home at EveryTrail
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The last ride.......til next year....104.04 mile on this trip!

We are wrapping up our trip here and I decided to head out for just one last ride. As usual I rode super early so I can max ride time which is totally fine with me. I went to see turbo the night before which was amazingly good movie by the way, but left me shutting my eyes by almost 1am. But don't worry cause when 5am rang on my phone my eyes popped open and I felt pretty good. Five minutes later I was at the car and loading it up and headed north on a 40 minute drive in the dark with a mighty full moon, great stuff!

Arrive at the trailhead and waited for my good homie Brent to arrive and spend the two hours he had to ride with me and then I would ride whatever else I wanted to as long as I left at a decent time. Light and Brent finally arrived and off we went up the trail with a smile on my face and a nice cool morning. It sure has been great to be able to do rides this trip with my homie and look forward to when we move back so we can do it more often. Since we had two hours I picked a route that would get us on some less traveled trails along with the favorites. As I rounded a corner on the climb I just had to stop and take a picture of the moon over by the hill which was nifty. We cranked up Shoreline to potato hill which turned out to be a great climb ending on clarks at the top. I stormed down the rush trail which has now been put on my favorite down hill route at corner canyon due to the fun rollers and high speed flow. After we completed that fun, it was a crank back up the to top on clarks. When at the top we took brocks to canyon hollow which had a few uphill riders at the top but then we got it to ourselves. We hit the lot after a nice long amount of fun and I was pretty bummed to have to say goodbye but know we will ride again soon when he comes to visit September. This time it will be on the complicated tough trails of CT. Bye the way riding has been tremendously easy, despite climbing 3-4 thousand feet a ride trails are at a good grade that makes it pretty easy for me luckily. Check out this sweet ride I found in the parking lot, lots of Utah love.

So I was off on my own heading back up after already putting 2,000ft on my legs I powered back up from the car to potato hill and then onto Ann's which turned out to be so nice, still always continuing uphill at all times.

Seems every trail I have ever ridden in Utah always goes up never flat or down. Fine by me cause as long as it is a good grade the down hill is just all the more magnificent. I really love this trail system, kudos to the town of Draper for using the tax payers money for the public!

I really enjoyed ann's as I wrapped around canyon to canyon. Once I hit maple hollow trail I knew I was getting on the home stretch.

I arrived at the top of my ride where I would then make my way down to the maple hollow down hill trail. The way to the beginning of the trail was really beat up, extremely choppy from bike bikes bombing hard on the brakes. Once I entered the trail I was slightly disappointed to see it in worse shape than I ever have. It was still great to be tearing down that hill though. As I got further down it got better, found a good set of table tops and finally felt pretty good at guessing landings on the new jumps. Saw a wall ride and went for it, have not done one before, good success as I did the math on the fly with angle and speed. Had to take a pic after I rode it for evidence I guess. Continued on and had to pass on a few features since I had no time to spot the stuff and hike back up so I hit what I knew. The DH ride was over too quick, but I was out of time and had done some 4,000ish climbing and 22 miles. I hit my goal, rode over 100 miles this trip! I was pretty pumped to ride at all this trip and my wife was extremely understanding and I managed to workout 6 varied rides! What a trip, can't wait to move back. I had to pass on a few rides I have been dreaming about but that will be for later right!

LOVE YOU UTAH!!!

Three Forks

So Three forks is a pretty sweet ride up Spanish Fork Canyon, I have ridden it 2 times before. It is also probably the closest ride since it is 35 minutes from the house. I was set on a mission to repair my broken spirit from the last ride and this certainly did! My wife has been so great at finding time for me to get out and pedal which has been great but also I feel terrible how my addiction gets out of control on a regular basis. With that said I got a comfy start at 9 or so and crossed Cottonwood Creek and began climbing as it usually goes here. The Canyon was nice and cool and a little breeze for what was certainly going to be a hot day! The climbing was a little steeper than I remember but that was not going to stop this freaking guy. Again motos made they're way down this trail but it is not a big deal since they did not do too much damage. I was really surprised to see bike tires is the dusty dirt, definitely a first and somewhat comforting since the canyon has a very creepy feeling like a Bear or MT Lion could be waiting to snack on you. It was so nice on the twisty single track, this place has really good character and you would understand if you ever rode it. There is one downside, there is a pretty big paved road connection to the top of fifth water. If you have time and legs this can be avoided by just crossing the road and continuing uphill into a mega ride. But I was pulling off a two hour ride so that meant a pretty hefty 5 mile ride on a paved road that rarely sees a car. A trail could run near the road and really make it a perfect ride but I am sure there is a reason why some one has not done it. It took longer than expected and after climbing and descending some big paved hills you arrive at the fifth water where you drop into one sweet down hill. Was a solid 25 minute down hill and I was bummed as I did not have time to stop and bathe in the hot springs. Got to the car just over two hours and so stoked to have my comeback from the previous ride. Good stuff!
Three forks loop w rays rd at EveryTrail
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Waste Of a Ride

Tried to go on a quick ride, turned into a huge mess, hiked more than I biked, still pissed about wasting my time on this ride. Don't feel like talking much about it. Time to redeem myself Monday, still so short on riding time and would love to get to Park City area but it's just too far away. Trip is coming to an end thursday morning when we leave I think I might have time for just 1-2 more rides wish me luck!

Waste of time at EveryTrail
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The 2nd ride

I did a bit of research and learned about some trails above the small Provo race loop. I had little interest in the race loop since it was small and I like big loops. I had just finished my Coyote Canyon ride and this one was right on the way home so I could ride until I was out of time. It started up a stupid steep gravel road that sucked but I somehow had the leg to get up it where I ran into a maze of forks and tried to pick the best uphill route. Playing roulette I evidently lost and ended up hiking and finding a cool line skirting a cliff that I was able to pedal most of. I was still really lost but kept at it and ended up find another trail above the race loop but it was still stiff climbing that had me hiking. I took a bad fork and ended up on a bushy thick trail which did lead to a really rocky steep trail that was ok. So far I had not been impressed nor was I going to be. I was way confused where I came out and took a road near where I was earlier and dropped into the race trails and to the car where I was pissed at how much that ride sucked. Still happy to put down 30+ miles that day riding on new trails but not the fun alpine adventures I look for. I am sad to be staying in Utah Valley I wish I was in the SLC valley where my favorite rides are. The closest rides are 45 minutes away and the best are hour+ which sucks when I am trying to be around as much as possible. The Corner Canyon ride was good but I don't think this trip I will have the time to do the rides I really want to do since they take up such a large amount of time and that is ok. I will be back next summer perhaps for good we think.

Race loop above 1st attempt at EveryTrail
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Coyote Canyon Loop

So time has been of the essence and unfortunately the massive ride I had planned was not going to happen, this trip anyway. LuAnn went to Salt Lake to visit a friend So I naturally took off for a ride. The destination was Heber, it't a little city that lies south of Park City up in the mountains. This was only my second ride of the trip so I had to make it count! I read on Utahmnountainbiking.com about this new loop that was built and it seemed like something different. As I left the trailhead with sore legs from the hike the day before, they quickly loosened up and put out the steam I needed. I started on an empty belly from the beginning which was a bad idea but had some energy packets to hopefully get me through. The loop was 22 miles with 2900ft of climbing so I was in for a pretty good pedal. I had a decision to make which was clockwise or counter, I went with clockwise and really glad I did. The trail was lined with menacing cactus and I was terrified of hitting one and having to change a tube and pull out thorns. The trail was probably 6,000 ft elevation so I was really surprised to find such a dry cactus filled trail but oh well. The trail climbed very well for what elevation needed to be gained. It took a long time to reach some shade and was nice since the trail was pretty exposed and was getting pretty boring to be honest. I was fearing I made the wrong choice for this ride but kept telling myself it was something new which it was, only being finished just months ago. It was really choppy in some areas, a bobcat cut 90% of the trail and plenty of roots were exposed and it will take some time to shape in but no big deal. I finally reached some aspen groves and welcomed the change in view, I now was pretty high above Jordanelle and was finally making ground. Now I was halfway around the mountain and still climbing mostly on buff trail. I soon reached some switchbacks where I descended finally! This was a pretty fast downhill that was nice and steep but very choppy and lacked rollers to catch some air. I descended for a long time and it felt so good as I was low on energy and worried about my finishing time. Eventually after a tremendous amount of downhill I was back climbing on a comfortable grade until I closed the loop and rode down to the car. I was pretty happy with the ride despite it was not as good as others but a good change I suppose. Turns out I did 22.64 miles in just under 3 hours, not a bad clip for a beater like me. I headed home and found out LuAnn was going to be in Salt Lake a little longer so I hit another brand new spot called Provo Canyon race loop.

Coyote canyon loop at EveryTrail
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Mt. Timpanogos Hike

There are not many other hikes that I have been on that give you as good as bang for the buck as this trail. I was planned for a morning mountain bike ride but decided to take to my own two feet with my new buddy Rick. He picked me up at 6am and we were off on a long drive to the trailhead. I had to be back in the valley by 12:00 to meet LuAnn and Landon at the recreation center where we would swim in the pools and water slides. We were cranking up the trail at a good speed and had plenty of shade and nice cool temperature. Don't let that guys age fool you he is an avid road biker and is in good shape. We came to the last bit before Emerald Lake and I was pretty disapointed that we would not make the lake. We took in some peanut butter jelly sandwiches and admired the beauty of the area. Wild flowers were pretty prime, they really made my pictures look all the better. We got down in two hours making a little over a four hour hike and then it was off to the pool. Spectacular hike, I have done it 3 other times and never was one as good as this one. With more time I have got to summit that dang thing one of these days. I did not mind at all that I did not ride cause it was a good change of pace. Hit Scout falls on the way down and got under what little water was flowing off it and it felt might great! Not a bad way to spend a morning. Hike down timp at EveryTrail
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Zipping

Running behind on my blog but wow on tuesday, we finally got to try Zip Lining, surprisingly I had never done it before so that left me and my wife's Uncle Rick and I the fresh meat for the zip line. We got all trained up and then we were off in the gondola up to mid mountain where there were two zip lines one smaller one and one large one. LuAnn rode the zip line with ease and it was pretty fun getting to experience racing down the line with here right next to me. She beat me pretty bad on the first ride. Once we took our ride on that one me and Rick were off to the large one, when we got to see what we were up against we both nearly crapped ourselves. After watching everyone go we were dead last and set off and with hesitation and complete reliance of the equipment. I guess the zip line was 2111 feet and extremely high up as it spans the canyon, at the midway I must have been flying over 800ft dangling from a cable. It was by far more scary than any other Amusement ride I ever experienced. After that we met back with LuAnn and did another ride comfortably on the smaller zip line. It was a great day up there, it was slightly difficult watching riders taking runs down the mountain bike park trails but I know I will be getting me some soon. Way fun!

So so awesome

We arrived Sunday into Salt Lake after a long morning of flying, our day started at 3:00am and we made a extremely smooth adventure with the 8 month old. I was so stoked as I drove through the Salt Lake Valley in anticipation to finally have some alone time and eating at all our favorite spots and oh yeah eventually pedaling the trails. After we settled in Sunday it was a super long day and Landon was outstanding the whole day taking it in stride. I set my bike up that night from being shipped from CT and was having a hard time getting the rear gears to tune. I guess I am not so fantastic after all. So monday I stopped at a shop and got a cold shoulder vibe from those fools so I dipped and decided after test riding I was going to ride Tuesday on my mechanics. I was all set to ride with my good homie Brent at 8:30 in Draper Utah. The ride location is known as Corner Canyon which sits at the end of the Salt Lake Valley on a ridge that divides it from Utah Valley to the south. I always loved this ride location since every visit it seems to get better. I had some time to kill since my friend was running late so I checked out the bike skills park. It was smallish and offered a pumptrack and three different level short flow trails. Easiest was a joke, medium was pretty fun but had awkward flow and hard had some good gaps and a wall ride but I was not hitting it since I had alot of trail to ride and did not feel like injuring myself since I could never forgive it if it happened

A About 30 minutes of screwing around I took off a known trail for a short stint and then back to the parking lot to meet my homie. I had a new loop in mind that would be a lot of climbing and two new trails I had not ridden yet. We got cracking just short of 9am and dayum it felt amazing to be be riding my home trails again. We rode up the shoreline trail and did quite easily, despite a minor elevation at 4600ft starting elevation I was right at home going up hill. Things are super buff here, my legs were working differently since I spent so much time sitting on my butt versus powering up every climb out east. Made our way over to Ann's trail which took more effort than I expected but once we were on Ann's things were wide and moderate climbing. The views opened up as we climbed upwards and it was stunning. Luckily we got a little rain right before we rode so the moon dust was minimal and it was cloudy which made it tremendously more comfortable. It was pretty awesome to be riding with my good friend, we use to ride here and there when I live in Salt Lake and we have good memories. He has been riding more this year when he could and was doing just fine keeping a good pace with me.

We climbed out of Ann's and into Maple Hollow Canyon and views opened up even more to the Salt Lake Valley floor, offering inspiring views of joyous glory. By now we had been climbing a really long time, we took a few breather breaks since this was a minor social ride. We hopped on a trail i have not rode which sent us up to the top of the trailhead, it was hard not to drop into the Maple Hollow Downhill trail filled with flawy fun and kickers. But on a mission we found Eagle Crest Trail which was narrow and skirted the nice homes on top of the ridge. There was still a little more climbing surprisingly. Soon we were on a steady nice roll down to pavement where we crossed onto double track.

We rode double track for awhile up to the top of Jacob's ladder, Brent was feeling the hurt I was putting him through and luckily he chose to steam on so we could reach Jacob's ladder where we plunged a steep loose and fun descent. From the top it is over 20 minutes of not pedaling down a 2,000 ft descent. Ghost falls trail was so ridiculously fun as it always was and a huge smile struck my ugly mug as Brent tried to chase me down. In a bit of a time crunch we straight shot it to the car and Brent was off.

After 4 hours of riding I went back up the mountain just one more time and rode up Clarks and then down the Flow trail. Finally this trail actually flows with lots of doubles and greatness. By then I had rode a good 25 miles and could call it a day after a good trail day. Such an amazing morning ride spent with good company, can;t wait until the next one, maybe tomorrow Am but definitely Friday will be another big ride. Oh yea, snapped a spoke and needed a tune, I called a mobile repair bike man, yes it does exist in this spectacular state! I made an appointment and 30 minutes after I got home a knock on my door and 40$ I had a bike all ready to go and ready to rock! Really nice guy and was so interested in his little business. Could not get any better, never left the house. Suck It CT!

Warm up to epic corner canyon at EveryTrail
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