No 24 Hrs of Moab, so I've busted.

I just told the race director of Mad Dog the bad news. I don't have any money and can't go to 24 hrs of Moab. I took my bike to the bike shop to get my wheel fixed and they said I need a new wheel which is $500 and my old wheel won't hold up for 24 hrs of Moab. I got laid off for a while and not working as much right now. I won't get paid until maybe 2 weeks but most of the money will go to my mom which I owe her. So Moab is out of my list. I could if the race was at the end of October but I guess that won't magically happen. That's ok. I am comfortable just doing the Intermountain Cup races during the spring and summer every year I guess. I am just doing long rides right now and taking it easy and I guess that's going pretty good. But I did get some more lights to make the night rides more magical! So when the daylight savings time changes, I will have more fun than anybody else at the 24 hrs of Moab but I hope my wheel will hold up for these rides.

A pedalin' at Deer Valley on Labor Day

That day on Labor Day with the family, we went to Park City, yes I was there to work earlier that week to install a $7,500 bunk beds we made. I had a chance to ride for like 2 hours around Deer Valley resort and had a fun time. I haven't ridden for a while and so the first hour was brutal but the last hour was much better. At first I climbed a new trail, I've never ridden before which went up to Silver Lake then went down Little Stick and Deer Crest then did the race loop for another hour which was Pipeline and Gap trails. I had a lot fun and the weather was perfect, it was cold that morning so I waited until later in the day like in the afternoon.
I had a good trip but I had to get up at 5 the next morning to go up to Deer Valley again to work on the beds. Now I am home and not going back up until we get the entertainment thingy thing made then install that there. My co-worker is doing some touch up finishes tomorrow on the beds then I am supposed to call and see if I work some more in the shop later this week. I really like Park City riding, it's my most favorite place in the whole state of Utah to ride. So much trails everywhere.

Night Ride

Well, I got my lights and one of them was a fortune. The one mounted on the handlebars is the good light with 255 lumens or 25 watts. Which is pretty good and has three settings, high, low, and boost. Boost last 2.5 hours, high lasts 3.5 hours, and low at 10 hours. I set mine on boost because I don't go that long. I was going get a good head lamp for my helmet for like 80 bucks with 130 lumens but I bought this Energizer head lamp with 30 lumens for like 20 bucks just to use temporary until I get money saved up but the Energizer did good enough so I might use this one for 24 hours of Moab with my handlebar headlight. I am going to have to another battery for my headlight because I am going to be doing it twice that night. Maybe the total of 4 to 4.5 hours.

I went for a night ride last Saturday night and I decided to do the Flume Trail and it was great, I wanted to ride for another hour but had to get home. I will need to do it again as soon as I get my front wheel rebuilt after this week. I ordered a new rim for my tacoed rim like two weeks ago and it came so my bike is there at the shop getting fixed.

It is a whole lot different when riding at night, you just don't know where you're at when you're out there in the dark. To get a better fun ride, ride on a trail you are familiar with then you wouldn't panic. Also on a trail you have all memorized.

The Flume Trail is a great trail and really packed down! A lot of mountain bikers and some motorbikers have been doing so great ridin' on it.

Blackhawk/Rock Spring Trail Riding...

I spent the last two weeks right after my last race not riding, well maybe a few short rides, but mostly recovery rides not more than one hour. This morning, I felt good enough to go on a hard long ride(finally!). Since I went to watch the Tour of Utah, I thought a lot about Payson Canyon and the Blackhawk Trail happened to slip into my mind. I remember doing this trail during fall of '97 with two other guys. I remember it was a lot of fun and we did it because there weren't much singletrack trails near Ephraim. I decided to do it again today and it was harder than I thought! A lot of granny gear climbing and very long. I did a 16 mile loop and went on the Blackhawk and Big Spring/Jones Ranch trails. These trails are actually equastrian trails and is shared with mountain bikers and hikers. There were a lot of fresh wet horse poop everywhere and I got some on me and my bike. I didn't run into any horses though, thank goodness. There were a lot people up there though, a lot campers, bow hunters, mountain bikers, and road bikers. On the trail, it was nice, only ran into maybe 5 other mountain bikers. It was a good ride today and I was out and in my car in about 3 hours. I probably got 2 hours and 30 minutes of riding and 30 minutes worth of taking breaks and eating snacks. The downhill was great though and that reminds me, I checked both of my brake pads, they are all worn down, I need to get some new ones next week. I'd do this trail again!

Tour of Utah Fan Experience...

Today, my dad and I decided to go to Nebo Loop and watch part of the Tour of Utah bike stage race. Today's stage started at Thanksgiving Point through the backroad of Utah Lake, Goshen, through Mona and Nephi, then finishes off with a 20 mile climb up the south side of Nebo Loop with 4,500 vertical feet of climbing. We ended up parking almost at the top but we got a good spot to watch the racers climb up the steepest road of the Tour of Utah stage race. It was pretty cool, about 118 riders and they were just professional cyclists from all over the world plus Levi Leiphiemer who finished like in the top 5 in the Tour de France in a number of years. Also he just won the Leadville 100 last weekend(breaking the course record). Speaking of him, he won the stage today and is the overall leader now. I never had a chance to find him climbing up but dad said he saw him(number 190) and said, "go Levi!". I thought dad was rooting for the wrong guy but I guess he really didn't, I don't know.

Well anyways, watching this race made me want to climb up Nebo Loop, and I need to sometime. The racers made it look easy but it really isn't. The south side is the hardest climb ever because it is so steep, now going up the north face of Nebo Loop from Payson is a less graded climb and is probably prettier but I bet it is busier though but if I was going to climb up Nebo Loop, I would have to go up the south face because it's closer to home.

Back to the tour, the Tour of Utah is the hardest stage race in America they say, and the last stage of this stage race is supposed to be the hardest stage ever. From Park City, through Heber City, to Sundance and up the Nirvana climb to American Fork Canyon, down American Fork Canyon, from American Fork to Salt Lake City and up to Snowbird. Sounds hard! There are some tough riders in this race. I bet!

Plus the vans handed out Tour of Utah bells, drinks, and other souviners before the racers came, and also I got a water bottle a racer used that a team car threw out. Pretty cool I guess.

24 Hours of Moab or BUST!

Greg asked me like a month and a half ago(at Solitude race) if I wanted to do the 24 Hours of Moab with him and some other guys. I told him lastnight I would like to and I am excited about it. We'll be the Clydesdale group and we are going to try to shoot for 2nd place in the Clydesdale class.
There will be four of us as a team and we will be taking turns. The course is 15 miles of jeep road with 1,300 vertical feet of climbing per lap. Greg told me we each will be doing it like three times during the whole race. So I will be doing it once in the afternoon or evening, then once during the night hours(in the dark), then once during the sunrise on Sunday morning. The race goes from noon on Saturday 'til Sunday at noon. Whoever finishes the most laps in a 24 hour period, wins.

Most people like to do this race solo, duo, coed, or a team. There will be some fast riders out there and this will be great. A great endurance race in the end of the bike season. Most endurance races are always held during the end of the season. That's when everybody likes to do them.

To train for it, I need to get some lights for my bike to practice riding at night, Greg told me I should get a handlebar mount light for like $130, then one of those energizer headlights for the head.

This race will be held on the first weekend of October. I am going to get me a medal this time.

Group Ride lastnight...

In order to reach my membership in the race team requirements, I had to guide a ride. I guided a ride with another rider, Greg. We decided to take everybody to Lambert Park in the foothills near Alpine, UT. I told Greg I wanted to go there and try them because I've never ridden them before and I heard good stories about these trails.

About 8 people showed up and we had a blast. The trails were just very windy and very snaky. They were easy though, not much climbing, but you could still get a workout. The girls stayed together and the boys in front went where ever they wanted. We had quite of few beginners and they had a lot of fun. At the end my computer read 11.75 miles with an hour and 22 min. of riding. I got a good ride even though I am not fully recovered from all my races.

Lambert Park has many trails you can choose from, it's like a playground and you can ride all over. It's open year round and they have a race every February called Frozen Hog which riders have a blast in the snow. They say all you do is more walking in the snow.

Well, now I know some more good trails to ride on in Utah County, I had a blast on them.