Day of flying...

Justin's airplane

City of Ephraim

Ephraim Canyon

Above Manti looking at Gunnison Resevoir

City of Ephraim

Manti Canyon

Maple Canyon v

My boss took me flying above all over Sanpete County today. I never flew in a small plane before and I thought it wasn't as scary as a big jet airplane. We flew all over the place for 2 hours and I found it very enjoyable. We looked all over and had a lot of fun. Justin used to fly for Jet Blue for 2 years before working at Timberhawk so he bought a little plane for himself. It was an awesome day at work!

New sport!

Dusted off my XC skis, put on new shoe laces on my XC ski boots which I took off years ago, then went up to Fairview Skyline Drive to try it out again. I have to admit it, if doing it right, it's a little funner than snowshoeing. I only tried it once or twice when I bought my XC skis and boots with some my financial aid money during college. I decided not to do it anymore because of my injured knee so I put them in a closet. In the past week I kind of got interested in it again and did some research on how to do it by looking at it on the internet. Today I went up Fairview at the very top which had barely enough snow on a dirt road, about less than 6 inches. I went on the road because it didn't have steep slopes and it mostly had gradually rolling hills which I thought would be perfect for XC skiing. It was fun and good exercise! I could feel the burning in my legs and my heart pumping, it felt good. This would be a good sport to stay in shape in the winter time other than snowshoeing. I was looking for an aerobic sport to do out in the cold every Saturday to get some aerobic exercise during the winter. To get ready for the bike season next spring, I usually lift weights during the weekdays twice a week then do some aer0bic exercise outside every weekend when it's not dark because it's always dark right after work every day. So weight lifting is a good strength exercise to during during the weekdays while riding a stationary trainer bike also. Then get some fresh air in the mountains every Saturday on XC skis or snowshoes. This will be a good sport for me this winter. Downhill skiing at resorts are getting too expensive! Cross country skiing is like snowshoeing and downhill skiing together. If you want to see me on a weekend in the middle of the winter, I'll be XC skiing at Fairview Skyline. To my brothers and sisters, I won't be seeing you at your house during the holidays, I'd rather be skiing!

New bike!

I just went to Provo tonight and put a down payment on this 2010 Gary Fisher Superfly 29er. I won't get it until January or February but that's ok, there's snow now and it's ridiculously cold. I was going to go put a down payment on a Trek Elite 9.8(26 inch wheels), after I wrote the check, I asked them if I could ride one of their bikes to make sure it's the right size. At first I rode a Trek with 26 inch wheels with a 18.5 inch frame, it felt too small. Then the only 19.5 inch frame they had was the 2009 Gary Fisher Paragon which had 29 inch wheels. I rode it around the parking lot and the first thing I noticed about the bike that it had so much more control and stability. It did fit true to size to my body because of the bigger wheels? I don't know. But it did feel a lot nicer and I could understand why most people like the bigger wheels. I told the guy that I really liked the bike and he told me that about everyone in the race team has the Paragon or the Superfly. I thought about it for a while and I was having a hard time deciding. He was talking into me of getting one because of the advantages. Of course it was like $250 more than Trek Elite 9.8, so I went for it. I can't wait to try out the big wheels on the trails next spring and the races. Also the frame and crankset are both made out of carbon fiber, that is like a big bonus.

Snow!

Last week I was in Five Mile Pass mountain biking in shorts and today I went winter hiking around Fairview Skyline Drive area. I was planning to snowshoe but there wasn't that much snow for it, like a foot of it. So I went hiking in the snow. It was just gorgeous up there with brand new snow and I just wandered around to get some fresh air. I think one more big storm, it should be enough for snowshoes.

Fun at Five Mile Pass...

Owen kickin' butt!

Brayden rippin' it!

There's goes the rear derailler, bummer.

Had a fun weekend with Tony and the boys at 5 Mile Pass between Lehi and Tooele. It was sure a heck of an indian summer all weekend so it because a blast. I took my mountain bike and had some great rides. I rode on the "Showdown at 5 Five Mile Pass" race course they have every spring. I did race it last spring but it turned out to be a rainy day and we just rode on the short course. So I wanted to try out the real actual big 11 mile course so I know what is like for next year's race. I thought it was fun and fast on the big and middle chainring most of the time. Lot's of rolling hills plus "The Wall" and "The Wash". On Saturday, I rode on the race course for like an hour and a half while the temperatures were good in the 60s. Had fun with the boys shooting rockets and playing with the potato gun. Ate bratwurst then watched Transformers 2 in the trailer. Slept in the heated trailer after a heated shower. The boys and Tony did go on rides while I was riding. We also played with RC trucks most of the time. Saturday morning we got up and I went for a short ride around while everybody else stood by the fire and played in the dirt. Then we all ate breakfast while watching a Baja racing video. Then I went for another ride while everybody else went on a ride on their motorbikes. I went to "The Wall" and back then the last mile or so, a rock flipped up and hit my rear derailler while it was in the lowest gear then got caught on a spoke and totally bented and twisted it like a taffy in a taffy machine. There's goes like $200! Well, ya?!?!. So I just coasted back down to camp then we played with rockets and potatos some more. Then we went home. It was all fun except when Owen's brake lever broke, my derailler broke, and Tony's RC truck broke. We all still had a fun weekend. Thanks Tony and the boys!