Soldier Hollow 2010

Third place!
Trying to keep away from the slick trail, also snow in the background.
Almost to the finish! And having a blast.
Soldier Hollow this year was different but always fun. This time it snowed and rained in the morning. I actually thought about not doing the race at and go straight to Park City with my mom like what we were planning to do afterwards so mom and my sister Becky can go shopping. I just wanted to go straight to the motel hot tub. When we got to Soldier Hollow, the rain and snow stopped around at 8:30. I thought for sure they were going to still have the race but shorten the course. But good news, they didn't shorten it that much, just maybe a couple miles or could be three. They took out the very the high altitude part of the course which was at the very top of the mountain above Soldier Hollow Resort. I guess because of the trail conditions, they wanted us to stay on the grass. It was still fun and there were some slick parts but most the trails were all tacky. At the start line, it's funny, I had to pee so bad but I couldn't go because we were starting all ready. I rode with having to go to the bathroom but I didn't survive, I gave up, stopped, and went about halfway of the course right at the side of the trail. It felt so much better and then I jumped on my bike and continued. While racing on the big climb, another guy on the side of me and said, "you're in beginner 30-39, aren't you?", then I said, "ya, guess I am." Later on I said, "I got to peeee!" He laughed and said, "then I will stay at your pace". I had a good time on this course and I felt great. There were a lot of steep uphills and mostly this trail was all up and down. I guess it's because it's actually a cross country ski course, well it's the 2002 winter olympics course.
I finished in 42 minutes and got 3rd place. I was excited about getting on the podium this time and got a gift certificate and a ribbon. It was a fun experience. Mostly I had a good race. This time I am not complaining because my knees didn't bother me anymore and my achilles tendons felt better. I have got brand new pedals 2 days before and that definitely fixed my problems with my feet and knees.

Sundance Spin Bike Race 2010

Bad ass! The best scenic race of the year, I can't miss that!

The more, the merrier!

Showdown At 5 Mile Pass

As I was driving to the race, when it started raining(pouring hard) from Santaquinn through Lehi and Eagle Mountain to Fairfield, I thought this race wasn't going to be good, like last year when we just had to do the 12 and under loops because of the mud and rain. I was pretty upset because I wanted to the whole course but when I got to Fairfield(right next to 5 Mile Pass), I could see the sun shining down the race course(looked like heaven). So then I had a feeling this was going to be a good race. I was so excited and I felt good. Everybody were wearing their arm/leg/knee warmers to get the chill out during the race. At the starting line, I ate a half of Powerbar and was ready to go. I had a pretty good start but not the best but thank goodness this course had a lot of room for passing and I passed a few riders. I enjoyed the fast rolling hills and cleaned every climb. My legs felt great in this race and I was glad I was there in the race instead of home in a snow/rain storm. When I got to "the wall" (Yellow Page Hill), everybody got off their bikes and hiked up it, I got off as well, it was so steep that it made my calves hurt so bad hiking up it. My shoes kept slipping off at the hill and I strapped them down more. After that was the Middle Ring Hill and the Bob Sled Descent and I just gunned it. Then back to the finish line were some major set of hills and I got so tired and barely made it at the last climb. I finished at 6th place at exactly one hour and 24 seconds. Better position than the St. George race.

Gone Out Of The Wind

This is lower Ephraim Canyon, there is a new singletrack trail from the hydroplant to New Canyon Road then ride on the New Canyon Road(the smaller one on the far left) for a while and get back on singletrack again to the A-Frame house on the main Canyon Road then from there is nothing but a bad ass singletrack downhill back to Ephraim.

Flume Trail

Finally the snow melted on the Flume Trail and I waited all winter for this ride. It was a very windy day today but when I got in the canyon after 10 minutes from the house, there was no wind at all. Wind doesn't blow in the canyons, that is what is so nice about them. There were some downhill dudes at the top of the Flume Trail and I said hi and all but didn't stop. The climb up to it from the hydroplant at the bottom of the canyon is my favorite part because I LOVE TO CLIMB! I always enjoy the climbs more than the downhills on every ride I go. Because climbing to me is more challenging every time. The trail downhill was pretty packed down already, by a lot. I guess people like to shuttle up and go down it. The uphill trail, I was third tracks for this year. This is a good old training route that lasts for an hour total time, from the house to the house(point A to point A).

A Saturday Road Ride

After a half of week of rain and snow, most of the hills were all muddy so there's no stopping me from going on a ride. Since it's no fun to ride a mountain bike in the mud, I went on a road bike ride on the backroads in northern Sanpete. This time I hit a 56 miler in 3 hours and 20 minutes, I left at 10:30 and got on the road by 11:00 and it was maybe like 49-50 degrees, not too bad, I just put on a bike under garment, arm warmers, and knee warmers. Brach and his friend were already on the road, I saw his truck parked on the 5 Mile Junction where I also parked. I thought I could see him during the ride. So I just gunned it most of the ride and went through Spring City, Mt. Pleasant, Fairview, and to Milburn. At Milburn, which was higher than most other cities, it was a lot colder and this was the time I wished I had my windbreaker. Then I turned around and headed back(kind of shivering). I didn't see Brach at all, I assumed maybe he was at the Whispering Pines Road. I took a snack and drink break at the Fairview convenient store. I felt great overall but my legs were a little achy from my previous rides during the week. I still climbed the hills on the way back and my back was killing me most of the way but I thought I could just keep going and beat the pain. So, it wasn't too bad when I went a little harder after Spring City to 5 Mile Junction. I got back and hit the 56.3 mile mark on my cyclometer. Chris, my boss was there at 5 Mile Junction in his truck changing and I said hi to him. He said he just got done with his ride also. He said he was right behind me the whole time and turned around sooner than I did(halfway between Fairview and Milburn). He said he saw Brach too. I can't believe I didn't see any of my biking buddies during the whole ride! Well, I had a fun ride, that was my Saturday.

Another fun, tiring weekend...

Duke getting a major drink... What a great weekend! Spring has really sprung. I felt really great to go on a ride at the Black Hills on Saturday and I asked Chris my boss and see if he wanted to come and he did. It was great to have Chris around and we talked about lot's of things during the ride. We did a lot of climbing and I felt great on this ride for some reason. We went like at 10:30 in morning and the weather was perfect. I like the Black Hill trails, there's no one else there and it has definitely great riding for a mountain bike. Riding on those trails can really give you a workout and get your heart rate up to 180 in some places. So really is a great spring training place for a racer/rider.
On Sunday morning, it was Stake Conference for the Ephraim Stake but that don't matter for me because I go to Singles Ward in Manti so there was still church but I really didn't want to go though so I didn't. Instead, I went on a easy ride on the leveled dirt roads on the base of the foothills in the back. I took Duke with me because he's been begging for a run all week. I decided to take him for a long time. We logged in 14.5 miles, Duke was really tired on the last 4 miles and just died. He drank a lot of water every time he saw water. He is really tired right now and sleeping. That should do for a week, maybe, according to Duke, he thinks he should run every time I go on a ride but sometimes I don't want to take him because the ride takes a lot longer when he comes with me, like I have to ride my bike slower, etc.
Overall, the weekend was a great biking weekend and no wind at all, nice!

Went on a group ride...finally...

There's me!

I finally went on one of the group rides with other people in the race team(Mad Dog Cycles). I had to go on one to support the team so I just went, it was hard because they are all in Utah Valley and here I am in Sanpete Valley, also the rides are always on a weekday(usually Thursday nights). This one I went was in Mapleton which was 45 min. from my work which was in Mt. Pleasant so I thought I could head off there from my work and make it on time. So I did and I was the first one at the trailhead and waited 45 minutes for everybody else. We went on the Whiting Trail near Whiting Campground in Mapleton Canyon. I thought it was a good trail and we rode for an hour, about 40 minutes uphill and 15 minutes downhill. There were a lot of people that came and we all had a blast. Good climbing with some awfully steep sections and water bars in some places, mostly singletrack and the last 2 miles of the climb was doubletrack. I do remember hiking some of the trail while I was living in Provo but never biked on it though. I thought it was a fun ride and I got to know everybody. I should go on more group rides if I can besides racing which can get me to work harder because I would really like to ride with guys that are faster and can make me a better rider.