Park City 2016

My family got together to do a Park City trip.  I went biking while we were at it.  When I got there, I biked in Park City Resort.  Up Armstrong Trail, then along Midmountain, and down on Jenni's.

It was a good ride and I had fun.  A nice summer day like this.

My family swam in the pool at the motel after we ate.  I swam before we ate though.

Everyone had fun swimming.

My nephews and niece went skiing while we were at the Olympic Sports Park.

At the top at Olympic Sports Park there was a ninja warrior course we wanted to try out that it didn't cost us a dime.

We had so much fun on this course and it was challenging.  We all had time competitions and challenged each other.

We want to build one of these in our local parks.  Good Eagle Scout project for the boys.

After everyone left and ate at Arby's, I went on one last ride before I left.  I did the Flying Dog Loop.

I was tired from the previous ride so I figured I just go up a little bit and pedal at an easy to moderate pace.  But I kept going and going before I realized I was at the top at the mountain.  So I figured that I'd do the whole 18 mile Flying Dog Loop.  It was fun.

About right here almost to the end, I was so tired that I was literally crawling with my bike, but it's a good view!

Then that night, I went to stay in Syracuse and Clinton at my sister's place and watched a firework show with my brother's family.

On that Sunday, I finished the trip by riding the Syracuse paved trail and then we ate and went home.

Vike on a Bike Race Loop Trail Repair Project

So, my hometown does this bike race every Memorial Day Weekend which I don't get involved in because I go to Tooele and Clinton every year during Memorial Day.  But I did repair some sections of the trails in the Black Hill area where they have this race.  Someone and I talked about repairing it but I did it mostly for myself because it's a dang fun ride loop in Black Hill, probably the best there is for mountain biking.

Rabbit Run trail had some ravines you go through and it's hard for a mountain bike to ride through but the dirt bikers like it.  So I made a B line for mountain bikers to miss the ravines.

The first ravine is what I worked on first.  I redid the whole thing and the planning and flagging for a whole six hours.

It was a lot of raking with a mcloud rake and shoveling and pulling out the sage brushes.

Fast and fun!

The turns are so much better and more easy and fun by missing the ravine.

Then I got some pictures from the GoPro camera a few months later just 3 days before the Vike on the Bike Race.  You can see that the green grass grew and the trail has been ridden on a little more.

Then here are some pictures of the new B line trail I built to miss the 2nd ravine at the end of the Rabbit Run Trail.

Lots of fun turns!

This trail turned out really good and I got some good compliments.

The trail joining back to the old trail, you can see the ravine on the left and where the old trail is.

Then at the climb right before the Quarries downhill trail, I made a new trail to make it easier to go up on a mountain bike.  Before it was just a steep hill you had to walk and sometimes too steep to walk.  So I made some switchbacks in an area in the southeast of the start of the Quarries Trail.

This one was an easy trail to build but the hardest to plan and mark.  It was so confusing because I was trying to make it 3 or 4 percent grade all the way to the top but I figured it was impossible so it had to be 10 percent grade on some parts.

It's pretty good but for me it's granny gear all the way to the top, but no problem.  A lot of other people liked it!  Sure beats walking your bike.

About 3 switchbacks all the way to the top and a good climb to do before doing the Quarries downhill trail.

The race happened and I've heard a lot people liked the new stuff and I really like the loop ride so much better and no more walking on the hard sections!  And the work paid off.

It took me two months to finish by doing on and off work, like work on it for a day for a few hours, then continue it a week or two later.  It was fun though and I hope it will be good for the future.

Memorial Day 2016

It's a tradition every Memorial Day weekend I go up to Tooele with my parents every year.  For sure I took my bike.

After seeing family in Tooele, my parents did the grave thing at the cemetery and I went biking in Settlement Canyon.  I went up along Dark Trail, then Upper Dark Trail, and finally on the road to the top.

I rode this ride last October but I didn't know about Upper Dark Trail so I found it this time and it adds another couple miles of shaded singletrack, it was nice.

Then on the road for the rest of the way was a climb up passing by cows and crossing many streams.  It was pleasant.  After Lower Dark Trail, the road is gated and it was nice to ride someplace where there were no vehicles and atvs.  So nice and quiet.

After Tooele, we went up to my sister's up in Ogden Area.  On the day after, we went to Promontory Point National Park.  It was so cool to see train stuff especially after watching the "Hell on Wheels" TV series with my mom all winter.  I really like locomotives!

We also saw some other stuff like the Rocket Garden near there.

On Memorial Day morning, I took off in Ogden Canyon near Eden to ride.  I rode on Mule Ear and Mule Shoe Trails.  I really like those trails because I never run into anybody else every time I ride there.  This was the third Memorial Day weekend I rode there.

It just rained the night before so it was kind of wet and moist on the trail and the vegetation around it.  It was still rideable and I enjoyed it.

It was fun to see family in Tooele and Clinton and I had put in some good riding.

Payson Spring of 2016

Well, no more desert riding for a while now.  It's time now for the forests and grass.  This weekend, I went to Payson 4 Bay Trails.  I went up there mainly to take this desk up to my sister-in-law's brother I have been making.

It was raining on the way up from Nephi to Payson and it was raining a lot.  I thought my ride would be long gone because I thought the trails were muddy.   After I delivered the desk I went up the canyon to check for the heck of it.  Shockingly, the trails were dry as bone but down at the city of Payson, it was all wet.  

So I rode and it was a blast.  It was very windy but that didn't stop me.  I love these singletrack trails and they are very well made and this is like the 3rd or 4th time I rode in the Four Bay.  After the trail riding, I wanted to ride more and then I rode up Payson Canyon Road a little bit and just kept going.  I made it up until the gate that said, "Road Closed".  I could of passed the gate and gone more but I ran out of water.  I then headed back down.  It reminded me that I have to do more canyon road climbs, not just trails only.  I need to be more versatile on my bike riding.

This is the desk I made since President's Day during my free time in the shop.  My sister-in-law's brother got this granite top from Morocco and he asked me to make a standing desk with it.

My boss helped on all of the thinking and this is how we planned it.  I did all the work and my boss did the clear coat on it last.  It looks really nice!

Now one less thing to worry about.  I have a few more "free time projects" to do and it's like people are on a waiting list.  Ha ha.  Well, it's just for my family members though.  But it's nice to be able to work in a cabinet shop and have all this equipment and tools to work with.