Cache Valley Century Ride

It was the start of a long but exciting day. I awoke at 4:00AM, got my gear ready, ate a small breakfast then waited for Mas to pick me up. When he arrived, I loaded up my road bike and we headed north on a two hour drive to a small farming community in Richmond, UT.

This is where it was to take place. The Cache Valley Century Ride. We opted to endure the Metric Century, which is just over 60 miles, instead of the full 100 mile ride due to our lack of experience. Our ride took us from Richmond to Preston, ID. then over to Dayton, ID. and back into Utah.

With over 500 participants, the ride started off slow but soon picked up pace. I found myself being swept up in a Peleton of 35 riders charging down the scenic country road. I hung in with that group for the the first 14 miles at a pace ranging from 26 to 32 MPH. I knew I couldn't keep that up all day. I soon dropped off and pedaled my way to the first rest stop in Preston where I waited for Mas.

I'd never been on a supported ride before. It was nice to find bananas, orange slices, and granola bars at the rest stop. We re-fueled and were soon on the road to Dayton. This is one of the only sections with hills. After slowly making our way to the top, we were rewarded with a downhill stretch where we reached speeds of 44 MPH. It wasn't long before I found my self being overtaken by another group of eight cyclist. I was able to latch on and managed to ride the next 20 miles at a 25 MPH pace, and it felt great!

After two more rest stops and a whole lotta miles, Mas and I finished back in Richmond and enjoyed a nice chicken fajita lunch sponsored by the Cache Valley Veloist cycling group. We then loaded up and headed back for home. Total riding time was 3 hours 37 minutes at an average speed of 17 MPH. With the rest stops included, our tptal time was just around 4 1/2 hours. It was great to know that I could ride that kind of distance and survive. I'm already looking forward to finding another century ride, maybe even completing the entire 100 miles. So stay tuned...

Park It

Tristan and I enjoyed lunch over at Cottonwood Park.

We ate a the pavilion and got some cool pics.

We then played on the playground until it got too hot. Later went home and took a nice long nap until Lily got home from work.

Epic Adventure

It was the perfect plan. Rent a couple of Specialized Stumpjumpers, get up real early and find a volunteer to drop Mas and I off at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Add in a morning temp of 65 degrees and you've got the perfect day.

It was a ride of epic proportions. The Wasatch Crest Trail! We started up "Puke Hill." A 1.5 mile trek straight up. This was the year I made it all the way to the top without stopping! Whew...was I tired.

We then followed the trail to the "Spine." A jagged section of rock that is extremely difficult to navigate ( I ended up walking this section.) This is a great vantage point. We could see the Salt Lake Valley to the west overlooking Desolation Lake, and to the east is Park City and the Canyon's Ski resort.

We soon reached the downhill section leading into Millcreek Canyon and bombed down the trails with our full suspension bikes. How Sweet It Is! This is the payoff for all the uphill riding. After finishing the Crest Trail we road the pavement down Millcreek Canyon to the Pipeline Trail which runs two thirds of the canyon.

We stopped for a few photo's, rode all the way out to the lookout point at the entrance of Millcreek Canyon, then hauled down Rattlesnake Trail to the main road. You can see Granduer Peak in the background of the picture above (which I hiked straight up the face a few months ago with the Scouts in the pooring rain.)




We then road the pavement back to my house. In all we covered just over 30 miles. You just can't ask for a better day!

All I Want For Christmas...

Well maybe I don't need two complete teeth. But I'll take half a tooth and two veneers. About three weeks ago I cleaned out our back storage. Since the doorway is shorter than I am it required me to duck down in order to enter. Well it started to rain and so I began to rush moving things in. And then it happened. I was carrying a metal object through the storage doorway when I hit my head on the top which caused me to move my head down and my arms to jerk towards my face. This caused me to cut my lip and break my tooth in half. It also caused a hairline crack about two thirds of the way up and cracked my other front tooth vertically.

I kinda like the look and was thinking about keeping it. I figured that since I was halfway to Hillbilly that I'd grow out that mullet I've always wanted and find some real comfortable overalls! Y'all come back now...ya heard!