Sun Valley, Idaho

Climb, and climb, and climb...
....and climb.


Well....well, I am finally biking again and feeling good. After a lame season of resting from overtraining or whatever it was, I am finally riding again. It took like what? 4 or 5 months? Man, that is a long time and I did a few rides still during the time. But now, I am rested for good. Too bad it's the end of the season almost. Anyway, I wanted to go on a bike trip somewhere with my parents and sister before the summer ends. We were choosing between Vail, Colorado or Sun Valley, Idaho. So, we chose Sun Valley because it sounded better. I also heard that there are awesome bike trails there. We left on Friday and thought we'd stop by at Lava Hot Springs to swim but there was a lot people in the area and nobody was really interested. It was also too hot to sit in the hot springs. So we stayed in Pocatello, then went to Sun Valley on the next day.

Craters of the Moon National Monument happened to be on the way and I thought it was an awesome little area where there was a bunch lava rock that looks like the Moon. It was interesting and weird. Dad picked up a few lava rocks which was probably against the law. Anyway, it was a cool visit.

Then went to Sun Valley, I went biking and the rest went around shops. Everybody seemed to enjoy it. The trail I went on was a good climb at about 1,500 feet of elevation gain and had a good downhill on the other side. I climbed on Wood River Run Trail and went down on Warm Springs Trail. Since I just started riding, I was really tired at the top and I was spent. I loved the downhill though. It was a good little area, not as many trails like Park City but still a fun place to bike. I really enjoyed it.

After the day in Sun Valley, we've headed home and stopped in Burley on the way to stay over night. Then slept and slept in. Left at 11 and now we're home. It was a good little weekend trip.

Flume Trail Downhill, Ephraim Canyon video

Untitled from blazeofgloryoffroad on Vimeo.

This is the video of me riding my mountain bike down on my hometown trail. My brother was a on motorbike behind me video taping me. I didn't know he was taping me at all until he told me down at the bottom. I was showing him and his two boys some trails in Ephraim Canyon. If I'd knew he was taping me, I would get all nervous and wreck all over the place! I didn't too bad, did I? I love this trail. By the way, I did some of the trail work, like that big bridge right at first. Still holding up! I've overheard someone saying it was built by the Army Corps. of Engineers! I should be proud of myself!

What I did instead during biking time....

Back fence

Foundation for the 10'X10' garden shed. This is a different kind of foundation and a lot easier. Using 12" piers that go 2 feet into the ground. Then put wood beams sitting on them, then build joists over them to make a floor to build my mom and dad a shed.

Duke really needed a new kennel, it started working until the thunderstorms and fireworks came along. Now he is a house dog again. I'm hoping he'll spend some time in there while I am at work once the fireworks are gone. He's not in there most of them time, he's in there just when I am not home, when I am home, I take him on runs, walks, pet him, etc. This is a really nice kennel from IFA.

This year is kind of my off year from biking, so I've used up my biking time and racing money for these projects. First, I bought a kennel for duke and made it really nice with a nice roof and a mesh tarp on the side to make shade. After that, my work was trying to get rid of their things in the shop and they had chain fence material, which is enough to do the back and the side of the house. I got all of it for 50 bucks! Good deal! Oh yeah. My mom was very happy with the deal and I put it up with the help the neighbors. While doing this, I thought of "A good fence makes a good neighbor" and it is so true. Now our neighbors love us. They are satisfied with the fence.

Now with some of my money, I want to build a shed for my mom and dad. Mom agreed to pay half it and I think it is fair because I am building it for her. I also bought enough vinyl siding to do the shed and two windows Timberhawk never got to use for like a hundred bucks. This also was a good deal. I am thinking of a lot of ways how to build this shed. I am thinking to make doors out of tongue and groove cedar boards over plywood to make it look nice. I need to make two doors to make a five feet opening just in case my dad wants to get a riding mower in the future and to fit a lot of stuff in it. The siding will look good though, I will need to get aluminum soffit and facia at a siding place in Spanish Fork. I have some siding and soffit experience from Timberhawk and it's really easy. I will post more about the shed as it goes along, it's going to look nice!

North Carolina 2011

This is the dog that can fly in airplanes, go to Disney World, sit in restaurants, and go to the beach.

Mrytle Beach with the moonrise

We all buried Megan, burying Megan is a family tradition.

North Carolina to see my sister Karen has always been a blast. Every time I go, I have to ride a bike, any bike, because we are there so long, like 1-2 weeks and I get baserk after not riding that long but there is good riding there by the way. We were there for 10 days and I logged in 2 road bike rides and a mountain bike ride. The road rides were near Karen's house out in the country farmland. The roads are, I tell ya, a lot of fun and I like hilly roads. Utah roads are flat and boring except all the gradual mountain climbs. But these rides in NC, were really nice. For the road rides, I did ride a 1992 Nishiki Alien mountain bike, the kind of bike they put in museums. I looked it up in the internet and it's a vintage classic bike, and people actually sell them a lot of money as long as the parts on it are the original and guess what? The parts on this bike except the tires are the original. So this is my brother-in-law's bike he bought a long time ago and hardly rides it(thank goodness). Anyway, it does have the first Rock Shox ever built on it, but it really needs to be rebuilt.

We did go to Mrytle beach with everybody on one weekend in South Carolina. I am not a big fan of the beach but I've made it! I did last a day and half out of 3 days but I still had a lot of fun just swimming in the waves. We played in the sand and buried Megan. The best part was that we ate at a lot of good restaurants in Mrytle Beach, my favorite was a lasagna from an authentic Italian restaurant and it was to die for. The best lasagna I've ever had, it was so good because it was authentic, not an American lasagna. Another place I liked to eat was Captain George's with all you can eat crab. I've never liked seafood that much but I guess when you are by a beach, all you feel like is seafood, weird. Anyway, I ate a lot crab, clams, and mussels. Very good.

When we got back from our beach trip, we just kind of hung around the house for a while and one day I rented a mountain bike from Greensboro and went down to Uwharrie National Forest about 45 minutes away from Karen's house where there were some trails. The singletrack was great and I got a good ride. I had a lot of fun on a steel frame Niner, awesome bike. I loved the feel of the steel. I probably got like 14 miles that day. It was so hot and humid and when I was finished riding, I was totally drenched. I wish I had a towel. It was fun though, and very pretty with all the trees. After my ride, we did go to Seagrove, kind of like Spring City but with a pottery store every block. We did go to Phil Morgan's shop(a famous pottery maker) and we were all talking about how I went on a bike ride in Uwharrie and he was talking about a sasquatch there. There was he was, a guy that makes pottery for famous people and movie stars and he was talking to me about the sasquatch? Anyway, friendly guy. He was really kidding about the military does training there that dresses up in weeds and they look like sasquatch's.

The trip was fun and we ate at lot of good places, went to the beach, and I did some biking. Also went to the dentist. Since my brother-in-law is a dentist. My sister would never let us go back home without going to the dentist. My teeth are in good shape and he made a mouth guard for me because I lost my last one.

I guess we will be going back for Megan's graduation and Andrea's wedding.

Road bike riding.

The Niner I rented for like 35 bucks. Awesome ride.

This is the bike that should be in a museum, all of the parts are the original. Still an awesome ride!

Deer Valley 2011

Well, I wasn't ready for this race, I was physically tired from like 2 weeks of heavy lifting at work and still had some bad training rides, maybe a couple of good ones. I went to this race anyway because Deer Valley race course is one of my favorites. I didn't want to miss this one and I thought I'll just go and have fun even though I don't do that well.
The night before, I had a major case of diarreah. I went to the bathroom many times, even the next morning before the race, maybe like 5 or 6 times. I put a ton of electrolyte tablets in my water, speaking of water, I drank like 3 times as much water before and during the race because I've lost so much water and vitamins and minerals. The race started, and at the first was a steep walkabout climb and my legs were hurtin' already but I still went because I couldn't wait for the fun, fast, downhill later in the race. I did the Clydesdale class again because I am about 225 pounds and that class did 1 and a half laps(it felt like 2 laps). Even though I finished dead last, I had a lot fun and I thought it was good enough for having diarreah and sore everything on me. All I cared about was finishing and everybody in the class congratulated me at the finish and I got a 5th place ribbon and a Kuhl jacket. That was worth it. I think I've really earned it! This race course was a blast, one of the favorites of the year.

Medical Mystery?

Well, as I mentioned earlier in my other posts that I haven't done much riding since February because I was overtrained or something. That's what I thought, according to exercise research, when overtrained, your body should take a maximum of 9 weeks for it to recover and feel good again before exercising again. Well, for me, it's been now 12 weeks, and I did go on a few rides but my legs especially on the quads and calves gave me a torturing sharp pain as I went riding. I have thought about it for a while why I have these things happening to my body? I have never felt this after 15 years of mountain biking and cycling. It was getting too rediculous and too weird. Then it came in my mind, that beginning of last fall, I have started taking a new medicine called, "Invega Sustenna" to replace the 'Resperidal Consta' I have been taking for years. The psychriatrist I go to thought I should change to the Invega Sustenna which is a brand new medicine that just came out and does the same effects as the Resperidal Consta but with this new medicine I can get the injection once a month instead of two times per month like the Resperidal Consta. I went for it and mentally, it's working great. Then I thought, because I am exercising poorly now than I have ever been, is it the medicine? I did some research on the Invega Sustenna and I could see on one of the side effects on the list is "muscle cramps or muscle soreness". Then I googled muscle cramps and it said if you have a prolong muscle cramp that would not heal, it could be medicine you are taking as well.
So I went to the nurse I go to and asked her about it, and she said she thinks it's possible and will talk to the doctor so I am waiting for a reply back. I asked if I could change back to Resperidal Consta because that stuff never caused the same problems I have right now. The only diffence between the two medicines is the number of injections. They do treat exactly the same. I'd rather have more injections and ride my bike than have less injections than not ride my bike at all(oh yeah, definitely!) So, I don't know if this is the problem or not, but I hope it is because I am dead tired of not exercising. Exercising is good for you and I don't want that taken away out of my life.
I have read other people's reviews about the Invega Sustenna, and not really any of them really talked about the same problems I have. They talked mostly about weight gain, nightmares at night, and being thirsty at night. So, I assume, none of these people exercise at all. Only one person in the reviews talked about she swims a lot but did talk about muscle stiffness and aching joints.
So, I don't know, it's a real mystery. We'll have to see after a few months and changing medicines. The Invega Sustenna is really helping my mind and helping me think more clearly but I want to ride my bike a lot too and we'll see what the doctor has to say. I want to keep riding my bike and it's the main reason why I am getting better. I learned that you can't only get mentally better just exercising but both medicine and exercising helps. I hate medicine but everybody says it is helping me so I'll stick with it. Taking it especially with biking or other exercises helps even better.

This is my home...

Yep. This is it. I have to be honest with you, every time I go to a race or away from home, I'd rather be home. I was born here and I grew up here. I am a true Sanpeter, even though I don't farm, or hunt, or 4 wheelin', or any other thing Sanpeters really do, I still fit in just fine. All probably because I was born here, I am the only one in my family that was born in Sanpete and I am probably going to be here forever because I assume I don't fit in anywhere else in the world. I just mentioned that probably ten years ago and I can't think of anywhere else I want to be. I love the towns, the mountains, the people, the farms, and all the animals. The animals and I just get along just great around here. Even a bear didn't attack me, maybe he likes me, I don't know.

In the past while, I was doing a lot of thinking, maybe I don't want to keep doing so many races all the time and not have much time to ride where I "really" want to ride. It's great around here, there's awesome bike trails that were just built and where it is just fun to stay home and ride. I like the peaceful and relaxing environment I have here....and a whole lot of space. Maybe one day, there will be a lot more bike/horse/hiking trails in Ephraim Canyon, we are working on that, talking with IMBA and the Forest Service in the future. Many people around here do have some great ideas on some new trails in some areas in the canyon.

I can't get a job anywhere else but in Sanpete, it's true, most outsiders can't get a job here probably because they are not from Sanpete. I believe that, because we, the Sanpeters really hate city slickers or a person that is not a Sanpeter. When they do move here, all they do is complain. Complaining about how horrible it is here, like there is nothing to do, then they end up leaving. I go, "so long, we don't want you here anyway". Yeah, we get that a lot. We also hate visitors, even during the Manti pageant, LDS church pageant thing, people that come here gets really annoying, and especially college students that go to Snow College, they are just a nightmare. This is our home, and my home. A bunch of hardheaded haigs that know how to really work hard, live hard, and play hard.