Wednesdays 20

       The punk kid fought another day without a nap which in return I end up sneaking out a evening ride in mostly daylight  before the weekend. With him sleeping I ran off to Corner Canyon again and armed myself with my belltown. As I sped into the evening the bike felt absolutely incredible, as it always does. I am absolutely in love with this bike and love the connection it provides me to the earth. I headed onto the shoreline heading north on a speedy dose of foothill single track. It was a bit overcast this evening and was missing that clear sky glow but that was fine, I was riding! Went up Rattler was I was putting a loop in my mind that was aiming for 20 miles and whatever ride time needed to make it happen. Up Canyon Hollow I was making very good time averaging 10 miles and hour. I headed for Suncresta and light faded and on went the light for a fun ride down to Ann's. I debated dropping all the way but opted for that section of shoreline I am not too fond of. This meant a loop around Potato hill to kill a  little time and then headed for the car. I saw I had 10 minutes left and a mile to go so I headed for the new pump track and dirt jumps. When I arrived I was not prepared for the maginitude, they offer a pump track and a 3 level of jump trails. I started small and worked my way into the big jump line, they were too big for my awkward 29" wheels but man I want to go back on a DJ bike. I would love to have a DJ bike to spend time there but as we know i'm lacking funds. I killed the time and managed not to hurt myself and made it to the car with 20 miles in exactly 2 hours! Not bad at all for a Wednesday night before the weather rolls in.

Tuesday Herry Herriman Trails

     Dropped the kiddo at his school and off I went for a quick spin on the trials as usual by his class. Always feeling slightly guilty I am doing so but they I got 90 minutes to burn and if that means not having to beg my wife for just one more ride I choose to do so happily. I was playing in my head ways I might be able to mix it up but found myself riding the normal loop since it's the most efficient and most importantly puts the beginning of the ride furthest from the car so if anything happens I have plenty of time to get back to the car. All was going well as I headed up fire break trail and then down to the ravine where I found it was much more difficult on the 26r with suspension than the rigid. The rest of the ride was un eventful, milked 12 miles and got the boy and headed for the bike shop to pickup my belltown rear wheel.

Burning Monday

       Forced my way into a ride when the kiddo finally went down for his nap, I was anxious to hit the trail for a nice 1pm ride in corner canyon. Apparently I was not the only one with the same idea, plenty of other bums out there playing around on the mountain. I had my full suspension since I had not gotten my rear wheel back after popping a spoke. I have been frequenting the bike shop WAY too frequently, I really am capable of many of my own repairs when I have the tools, I have trouble committing to the repairs even if I have the right tools. The bike shop are the dudes that know it better than me and I need my bike to work when I need it to. But this has gotten out of hand, I need to step my game up. Anyway the Bike is feeling great, the new oil and seals make the fork feel completely new and revived. I had to put together a mix of trials to keep this place fresh, again I always fight the ride time with travel time, its so easy to ride corner canyons great trails less than 10 minutes form my house, but my heart does desire new trails and some adventure but time just does not work in my favor. Having a toddler who is primarily my responsibility is a battle but I can't complain if I am riding. I was aiming for high miles and was feeling good as I wrapped around the trails, the hills are green, pollen filling my lungs and eyes and euphoria flowing through my veins. It felt so good out there in the warm sun, perhaps too good as when I arrived home I had a toasty neck and arms. Again I needed to protect my fragile ginger skin but failed to do so.

Scratching that itch

      Found myself waking 4:40am on Saturday in the normal act of desperation to ride without complicating the day. I was officially the first person to grace the Canyon and I was tired, the trails were nice and tacky from the snow a few days prior. I felt like crap, I was way to desperate to make this ride happen and maybe should have pulled the plug, but I managed some slow miles and headed for the car. Later that day we ran a 5k to support Autism awareness which was great to do a little running with my lady and my son Landon. Later that day me and the kiddo went down for a nap, I out slept him with a whopping 3 hours total. Then we picked my bike up at the shop and he climbed up on about the biggest bike he could find.

Herriman Tuesday

       I hate to say it but I don't get all to excited to go ride the Herriman trails, they're uneventful and can really only be ridden two ways and not a whole lot to change up and keep fresh. None the less I am pumped on an opportunity to ride in daylight! I did the normal loop and all went peachy, I wish I could find another 10 minutes of trail to make it a clean 90 minutes but 80 will do me just plenty. Landon was pleased to find my bike when I picked him up from class

Corner Canyon Monday

      After backpacking a secluded desert canyon this weekend I was worn out and tired but that was not enough to stop me from forcing my way into a ride. I questioned my underslept sanity but off I went at 5 for a awesome ride in the daylight. Armed with a brand new rear tire known as Continental Mountain King on the Belltown I was smiles all around. I wanted to go back to Ann's and get my revenge on my last flat tire so I headed for Potato Hill. My legs were feeling abnormally strong as I rode on feeling very good. It was a speedy ride up Ann's and down Oak Hollow as I passed that horrid spot that sent me walking on Friday. I was ripping hard, I have no other way to explain why I was so fast other than that new rear tire. I was going so fast I over sped a corner and ditched the bike and my poor bike laid down on some rocks and snapped a spoke in half on a rock. Pretty glad to walk away from this one unscathed, it was scary to have to ditch down a hill filled with rocks was sketchy as can be. Shook it off and on I went to link back up with the top of Ann's. Again I was feeling good I was riding quite faster than normal and have no clue as to why. I headed down Ghost Falls on a tear and caught a pedal on a rock and shot me down on the seat and bent my septets or rails pretty severely. I put both legs on the frame and pulled with all my might to get it back to being level, luckily I was successful and rode on the rest of the ride unscathed. Mighty good ride as I saw many many personal records on my strava.

Psshhhh

        Pssshhhhhh, that was the sound I heard after waking up at 5am on Saturday to clock some miles in Corner Canyon before leaving a few hours later for backpacking it certainly was an act of desperation since I knew certainly I would be tired that day and would be worked over by a tough night sleeping in the backcountry. None the less I was happily on my 7th mile and on a good downhill until I heard a loud pshhhh of a plug releasing and spewing stand tube sealant all over the place. I sighed and got the bike upside down and could find no way to get stans sealant to seal it since I lost so much. Damn you tubeless, I hate others for bragging how good it is and I manage to find a way to make it terribly useless. Annoyed but not down I opened my pack and found a 26 inch tube in there, no big deal I threw it in and popped the tire back on and shhhhhh. Are you kidding me, I pull it out find the leak and use my last tube patch, fingers crossed and sweating my luck I fill the tube, shhhhh, CRAP! All out of options, time to walk. Screw it I hop on and ride the tire flat all the way down until I can no longer. Walking rough sections as to not damage my rim. I did not have the time to walk all the way back to that car so I walked and rode level pavement and made the best of it. Pretty annoyed at myself for not having a proper 29 tube that might not have failed but no one to blame but luck and myself. Kind of bummed but happy to find the car after 45 minutes instead of twice that. If toasted the tire who cares.

Tuesday Night

       Got out for some time Tuesday evening, I was so glad to be getting another ride so early in the week and I would need to since wet weather was on the way. It was crazy windy going up the dirt road with a fierce head wind but once I got closer to the Canyon there was hardly a breeze. I was unsure of what loop to do with my 2 hour rip. I found my way to Canyon Hollow and headed for the top on a very very nice day for a ride. The sun was mostly blotted out for the sunset but still got some alpenglow. Once at the top I opted for Rush, I was feeling like getting loose, Rush is pretty good but I want to go much faster on that trail, I feel that way a lot, like I can't get as much speed on a trail as I want to and thats due to trail construction not me. After a solid run down Rush I wish I had taken maple Hollow, with an hour left I wrapped around potato hill and up Ann's. With options for a descent I went for Rattler to shoreline to Orson Smith DH. Nice couple rides on the full suspension in the last week, its nice to be able to push the bike full throttle for the most part but I do love my rigid!

       Got out on Landons nap time and had plans for something different since I end up at Corner Canyon so often due to it's proximity to my house. The Little Cottonwood Quarry trail is another trail that has a special place in my heart, a real classic from my early days in Utah. It is a pretty bland trail that has about 3.5 miles up rocky wide sand dirt and gravel trail. There are two trails off the side of it that make a good technical descent and then a fast one down what you rode up. Climbing I could not help but think of 8 years ago when I was cranking up the trail on my hard tail. The river was running low, crazy low for April but running none the less I guess. The sound of rushing water the entire ride was somewhat relaxing. The ride up was not very strenuous as it climbs a little over 1,000 ft. I was excited for the ride down and took the first shot off to the left and found myself conquering all my suspensions travel, again this flimsy wheeled 130mm was just enough to get the job done. Back on the main trail and now onto the right side and forgot how there were some good technical spot I really enjoyed. There were some gap jumps but they were extremely tight landings and was not worth my effort not landing them perfectly this trip. I ran down the rest of the trail the way I came up, it was fun, real fun, real loose I swore I was getting a flat or my wheel was loose the entire descent but I guess it's just the soil type. I went right back up once I was done for round two, legs a little dented but ambitions high for two hours of riding. It all went down without a hitch, bunch of fun and glad I got away from Corner Canyon.

Busy Saturday

          The boy finally napped at 1pm and I was out the door like a rocket with my bike heading towards Corner Canyon. I needed somewhere close as usual and although it was a saturday I was not prepared for the mob that was in the lot. Everyone in the valley was there and in my first mile of trail I saw easily 15 people. Luckily by the time I hit Clarks I was in peace and found it quiet thank goodness. I hate crowds, especially when mountain biking, but this was my time to ride and I would have to just deal with it. The beaters, the endure bros, the racers and then theres me placed somewhere in the mix out on my first ride on the new Kona Tanuki frame. 

       I headed for Eagle Crest since it would be quieter over there, the suspension was a welcome and even though my bike is far from the modern tech I see out there I am happy to have something in the full suspension category. Anyone out there who wants to buy me a Yeti Sb6 size medium feel free please! Anyway I was feeling good and headed for the Maple Hollow Downhill Trail. I was hoping I could have it to myself and dropped in a minute after a lazy ass rider got a shuttle to the top. I was having a good run but definitely reserved since being back on full suspension things felt funny. As I finished the big tables I saw a line of DH bros in full gear even leatt and all. I mean come on, here I am on a 130mm ride hitting every damn thing these fools are without any armor and anyway I cut the line and popped into the berm since I am sure they all were together and were going to be awhile. Further down the trail one of them was catching me, I took the original turn and they took the shortcut that I have no idea why exists but anyway I locked eyes with his blacked out goggles as we were about the hit head on and made it clear I was not moving for him since I was first down the trail and he was taking the "shortcut" for no reason. After winning that battle I caught back up to him and wanted to have a few words with him but decided to keep quiet it wasn't worth it. Crazy how all these bros has solid DH bikes, full carbon etc etc.... and here I am on this damn humble bike, I want a new bike man, I want a new fancy awesome bike! I pedaled back on shoreline and pinned it for the car. Good ride, despite me hating on the other trail users, I am not proud of it but it happens.

Desperate Friday Night

       Not really finding a good time to ride without complicating a tough tough week with my toddler, I ran out into the sunset despite support for my ride but I was so desperate. I started at the Orson Smith trailhead offering another mix and a comfy ride up the dirt road as the sun was setting fast. I got to the Quail trail and thought I heard a hissing, I take my headphones out and hear the hissing, not a great start to a planned dump of frustration onto the trails from my week like I had planned. It as holding and i was not going to stop until it made me. About 5 minutes down the trail it sure did stop me, I pulled out a tube and popped the bead and saw the fridge bike shop stuck a tube in there last fall when I asked them to get me back going tubeless. I was pretty annoyed they stuck a tube in there but after a quick change I was back going and on my way up Clarks and losing light quickly. As I crested the top the massive full moon appeared and it was magnificent. I picked Rush and headed pretty lazily down it, as I began to brake they felt funny, they just weren't stopping well, I just waited for them to heat up and maybe that was all. Well then soon I lost lever on the front break, I stopped and realized I had a leak or bubble somewhere, no amount of figuring out would do me any good, the brake was gone. It was pretty manageable for the most part but definitely crapped myself a few times but made it down safe. I then headed for home but would still have a solid 90 minute ride, I was bummed that I had killed the from brake but I was still riding and it could be worse. Riding down to the trailhead was scary, the traction was much more loose on this trail and I sure worked that rear brake and tire as I barely managed my way down safely. I took a look at the front brake at the car and the caliper pissed itself, some sort of seal was compromised and looks like it's off to shimano for warranty. I can't complain too much since no other brake has ever done this to me after a lot of years of riding, did I expect shimano Zee brakes to do it no, but oh well. 

Shorelining Monday

     I love starting the week with a Monday ride, no better way to get off on the right foot and work towards riding at least 3 days a week. The schedule is not easy for me to ride more than that but I push and push and ride in darkness and get myself in hot water with my wife but I push with eagerness to get out to where I love to be.
     So I was up early in the morning and on trail with my headlight, I picked a starting point at Hidden valley which has a few hike a bikes but offered a change of scenery. It was quick spin to the Corner Canyon trials as I flowed along shoreline trail, the light came earlier as we are getting more into summer so more sunlight which is sweet since I have a feeling when LuAnn goes back to school I will be doing mostly all rides in the dark.
      Anyway the plan was to see or far I could get in an hour and then turn around and head back. As I was nearing the turnaround point something felt funny, I look down and found my crank arm just about  falling off. This is the second time I have had this happen, turns out this bikes bottom bracket shell is just slightly wider and that coupled with a stripped plastic shimano cap thinger was the last time it would wiggle loose since I know knew exactly what was going on. I hit 10 miles and was stoked since I was going to make 20 miles in under 2 hours. Turns out I guess starve was lying to me and subtracted 2 miles off my route back although it was identical, oh well.