News about the Canyon Road....

The Ephraim Canyon Road is now oiled. It is so much better for the bike and the car. I always like to climb up the road for service to the bike trails in the canyon. Now with debiogradable oiled sprayed on the road makes up very good reasons on why it is better for the climb up. The number one reason: now the loose gravel on the side of the road isn't so loose anymore and is ridable so I can ride way on the very side of the road for the sake of safety of myself and the other cars. Another good reason: NO DUST so I can breathe and see easier. And the final reason: the road doesn't have any loose gravel at all so it is a lot safer on the turns. They just put this oil on a few weeks ago and it is now oiled until the GBEEC. The last two rides, I went all the way from Major's Flat to Bluebell and I see the spray truck parked there by the big tank full of oil sitting there in that area. I don't know if they are going to oil it all the way to the top this year but I hope so though. Since my bike season is over and hunting season is coming up next week and the temperatures will be dropping, I will have to wait 'til next summer for more mountain biking on the road for all the fun downhill singletrack trails. I really love the long gradual climb up through the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Bike made by the aliens? The Delta 7 Sports Arantix mountain bike...

Is this bike made by the aliens? Looks like it, but nope, by a BYU graduate from Payson, UT and it sells for $11,995. And there are only 200 of them in the world now. This bike is a hardtail that uses IsoTruss carbon fiber and kevlar spider web like, open-lattice top tube, down tube, seat tube, seatstays and chainstays. IsoTruss technology combines two ideas into one. The first is to apply a truss design to tubes similiar in shape and diameter to a traditional aluminum-tubed mountain bike frame. This feat is tough to pull off with steel, aluminum, or titanium, so the second trick is to use the right material. Using a composite of carbon fiber and Kevlar allowed the Delta 7 Sports engineers to pull off the truss architecture of the tubes.
They claim they can better tune the frame using the IsoTruss tubes by positioning more fibers on the side of the tube for improved lateral stiffness and then back it off on the top and bottom of the tube so the bike doesn't beat up the rider.
Is it flexy? Hell no, lateral flex is not an issue. While it is hard to quantify this from the saddle, the Arantix may be the most responsive hardtail they've ever dropped the hammer on. The IsoTruss guys should pitch their design to NASA, because this bike takes off like a space shuttle. Pushing massive gears didn't faze the rear triangle or bottom bracket area, and spinning insanely little gears didn't result in any detected frame "bounce" or flex.

This is mom and Becky...

Why women are more multi-task...and men are more aggressive...

I remember my art teacher way back in high school told me this and then Becky and I were talking about this a few days ago that women are more multi-task than men. The woman's two sides of the brain are closer together and the man's brain has a big gap between the two sides of his brain. That explains why women can talk on the phone and clean the house the same time. Or watch the kids, talk on the phone, wash the dishes, and vacuum the floor all at once. And men can only do one of those things at once. The wife comes home and the kids were being watched by the husband but the house is not clean so the wife gets mad about the dirty house. So, don't blame the men, blame God. That's the way men were built, to focus on one thing at a time. That's probably why men are more aggressive, because they think about one thing and really get into it, and not thinking about something else. So, the good thing about women, they can do a lot of things at once and get things done more, but not as aggressive. And men are more aggressive and that is a really good thing.

Brian Header Mtn Biking Blast and Cedar Breaks...

Started riding at 9 in the morning, it was still a little cool but felt really good.
North Shore style bridges and jumps all over the park.
That's a jump off that wood thing. I didn't go off it just to let you know, I am not that insane.
I did go on that.
Color Country Trail, uphill route to the top of the mountain bike park if you don't want to pay for the lift ride and your a XC rider that want to get some strenious exercise. Ya, talking about hard stuff. At 10,000 feet.

View of Brian Head Resort in the summer.
Color Country Trail.
Cedar Breaks National Monument.

Upcoming Trip(August 15-16): Brianhead Mountain Bike Blast!

Brianhead should be my last bike vacation of the year and it should be fun. Better be. I have ridden at Brianhead at a few mountain bike races of the Intermountain Cup Race Series and Brianhead has always been my favorite. This is the first time I go riding in Brianhead without racing. So, it should probably be a lot funner so I can actually stop and smell the flowers and enjoy the scenery.
I will climb up the dotted trail all the way to the top then go down the black diamond Timberline Trail at the end of the map. Click on the map to get a closer view.

Mom and Becky are going too but not biking. They will just sit in the motel and swim in this swimming pool in Cedar Breaks Lodge. I guess we will sightsee Cedar Breaks before we leave. Enjoy summer while it lasts!

The last three weeks of mountain biking....

As the mountain bike season and summer winds down, I always think of the great rides and training I did since April. It was positive and fun. Have I improved? Yes, I did. Did I have fun? Well, that's the most important part, I assume I did. If I still want to bike in the last three weeks this August, then I am having fun and that's a sign that I did not overtrain. Well, after this week of rest, I got to think how I can enjoy the last three weeks of mountain biking of the year, because after that, it's back to boring road riding until November and November is when I really slow down, probably will want to before the new 2009 bike season starts. Well, Brianhead mountain biking is on August 16th and that is probably the LAST bike trip of the year. I think about all the trips I did this year, such as: St. George, Park City, and Snowbasin. They were well worth it! And most fun of all, Ephraim Canyon mountain bike trails. Climbing up the Canyon Road was always a grand trip up. My favorite climb was the Willow Creek Trail in Willow Creek, that was a good short steep climb. I remember how tired I was. The next three weeks will be a farewell tour of Ephraim Canyon, like the Pioneer, Maple Syrup, and Flume Trails. Especially the Maple Syrup! That trail is getting funner every time. I really hope Brianhead will be a blast though.

Snowbasin Mountain Bike Blast!

I went mountain biking on the Snowbasin Trail System last weekend and sure I did love it! I went up the green trail up and until I got to the blue trails, the blue ones were too steep to climb. So I rode on the green trails down below. The green trails are designed for XC riding, the blue trails above the resort(look on the map on last post) were designed for downhill riding from the trip on the gondola. So, if you don't want to climb, the gondola is for you! I bet they have some great trails up there, and good views. The XC trails down below were very fun and you could get a good workout. Those were the trails the Bicycling Magazine were talking about. Anyways, I guess I found a good place to ride when I go visit Becky and Tony(if he doesn't move, but he will anyway). Becky's never in her apartment all summer so that's the only time you can ride in Snowbasin, so I can just go up and borrow her apartment for the weekend. She's got HBO and Starz channels, so.
According to the magazine, Snowbasin got a shitload of money from the 2002 Olympics and they used it all for the mountain bike trail system in that area. Good job Snowbasin! Hell ya!

Thank you for your kindness and generousity Tony Barlow family. I enjoyed the visit with you at your house. The swimming in your swimming pool was fun, I loved it! I am thinking of getting one when I have my own house. I had fun throwing the kids high in the air in the pool. Watching "Blades of Glory" and the new "Rambo" movies were worth watching with you Tony.