First big ride of the year!

2 hours. 13 minutes, and 34 seconds(2:13:34), that's how long the ride was. Pretty good during February in the Utah mountainlands. It was at a decent temperature, barely, to go out for a long ride today which was at 55 degrees in the afternoon. I started from 5 mile Junction(Pigeon Hollow), went through Spring City, Mt. Pleasant, to Fairview on the backroads and back to the junction. It was 35 miles long and I just gunned it. I went so hard and was having so much fun. Did some climbs and threw in a couple of sprints(watching the Tour of California in the past week motivated me). I hope it'll do for the mountain bike race in St. George in two weeks, I think. I got a lot more rides to do to get ready for the race, I just don't know how I am going to do, I haven't raced in 8 years so I am just going to do the best I can and see how I do and work from there.

New release from Gripped Films

Every April since 1896 the world's best road racers embark on the 260k's of the most grueling roads of Northern France, many made of centuries' old cobblestones. This is a film that celebrates one of the most historically relevant races in the world. Another film by Gripped Films(Off Road to Athens, 24 Solo), Road to Roubaix. Showing it in Washington DC next Thursday and later on in the Banff Film Festival.

Elementary School, the good old days...

I want to go back to elementary school. Not high school, not middle school, or college, but if I had a choice to go back to school, I would go back to elementary school. Recess three times a day, playing kickball, basketball, soccer, or playing on the playground. You get to be with your friends all day long and finger paint and listen to storytime. Get a hot meal for lunch and come home after school, eat a snack and play with your friends some more then eat a good meal made by mom. Then play or watch tv afterwards. You don't have to worry about work, paying bills, taking care of yourself, drive, or going to the store. That would be nice.
I remember in my elementary school there were a lot of fun stuff going on. So much stuff. Like Readasaurus's birthday party, Halloween Carnival, Christmas parties(no learning all day long, just eat candy and watch movies all day...with your friends), star show in Mrs. Madsen's dome tent in the library, Gold Notes, recess, recess, and recess. I remember seeing a cow on the school grounds, that was a big deal for us, maybe the grown ups too. He was standing there eating the grass. I remember Junior Genius, that took a lot effort. Also the Pioneer thingy thing in 4th and 5th grade, I won a quilt made by all the kids in those grades, each kid sewed a square cloth to make a quilt, I still have that quilt, it's out in the cabin and I shouldn't be using it anymore and put it somewhere where no one can touch it because that is something neat to treasure.
All the teachers were really fun, good old Miss Erickson, she died a while ago, then Mr. Barthlomew, he is still teaching there, Mrs. Stoddard was a very friendly teacher, also died. They actually cared about you. If I chose anywhere I want to go right now and there are no laws, I would go to elementary school and ride my bike every day. Talk about fun, fun, fun!

Possible Trip...Bootleg Canyon near Las Vegas...

Click on picture to see better view.

Bootleg Canyon is exactly near Boulder City, Nevada about 40 minutes from Las Vegas. I never been to Las Vegas or anywhere in that area before so I am looking forward to it. The farthest I have gone down south was St. George, UT, well, been to Grand Canyon and Phoenix but not in Las Vegas. I googled "bike trails near Las Vegas, NV" then it came out a few trails and the most funner and popular trails I looked at was the Bootleg Canyon trail system. It is famous for both cross country and downhill mountain biking. They have a downhill trails for downhill bikes only area and a lot of cross country trails surrounding it. For downhill bikes, they have shuttles to take them to the top. For me, there are plenty of cross country trails to ride on. It is very warm down there this time of the year so I am guessing by April, it will be 80-85 degrees. My family wants to go down during spring break in April and see Las Vegas. If we go down I will be biking in Bootleg Canyon while they see the Boulder City Dam and other stuff. So, it's possible. I will be racing in St. George, UT in March and in Hurricane, UT in April so it will be fun to go down south a lot while it's warm.

Clear pictures for you smog/inversion people...

Mt. Nebo

Sanpete Valley

Mt. Timpinogous in the center distance

A better view of Sanpete Valley

I climbed that mountain on a pair of snowshoes to get to the top to take the dang pictures for you people.

It was fun. There were quite a lot of snowmobilers and snowboarders at Fairview Canyon and it was warm, I even saw a boarder wearing a wife beater's shirt. I went out in the backcountry to get away from all the crowds, a nice day today.

Turning your mountain bike into a snowmobile? Use the Ktrak!

I had a dream about these things lastnight so then I googled it and I would like to get one of these and they look pretty dang fun. There are a lot of snowmobile trails up in the mountains and snow covered roads and trails around here you can ride this thing on. I saw one of these in the bike shop last year and they were pretty expensive but now I googled it and they are for sale for $449 for the track and ski kit to hook on your mountain bike. It is called the Ktrak. The price is not that bad and it is probably something to think about getting for next winter. Maybe it would be a little cheaper by next year. I can think about many routes I can go on with this thing and think about how fun it would be with the snow for a change. It would only add five pounds to your bike and keep winter alive! Looks funner than snowshoeing!

What I missed out...

This is what I missed out in the summer of '99 while I was on my mission in the Northwest! Oh dear. Now I have to go back and do some riding! All I did was ride on the paved roads to people's houses and I missed out all of this?