Today I went to Park City, UT to ride with my sister Susan and her husband Brad. We did an 18 mile loop around the Park City rural and residential area. It was amazing! The weather was a bit cool but the sun was shining when we rode. We stopped by Hapa Grill, a Japanese restaurant on the way back to the car, ordered sushi to go, finished the ride then drove back and picked it up about 20 minues later. It was an awesome ride.
Browsing Posts in Outdoors
A front was coming in last Thursday and the wind was steady out of the North West so I called a few friends after work and we went to a local soccer field on the UVSC campus to do some power kiting. I had all four kites there – the 1m Ozone IMP, 3m Edel, the 5 and 10 meter Ozone Frenzys. It was too windy for the 10 meter but everyone was able to fly the three smaller kites and we all had a really good time. Pretty cool. I met Jen and Seretta for the first time. Below is a picture of Jen with Seretta and myself in the background.
This morning at about 10, my friend Sara, her dog Nellie and I met at the Bridal Veil Falls parking lot to go mountain biking. We followed the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for about a mile an a half. It was pretty steep and rocky but a good initiation back into single track. Now that I have both my road bike and my mtn. bike, I put the fat tires back on. It was a weird feeling and it took me most of the ride to get used to the tires and riding off road again. I’m still not there and haven’t got my rythm back yet. A few more rides should do it. I think it’s been two years since I did any serious off road on my mountain bike.
Went on a really cool ride at lunch. Rode from the Novell parking lot along Kuni Rd. to the old Thunder Mountain Raceway then west, over the freeway to the National Guard Armory before heading back along the same route. I turned on the heart rate monitor about half way through and it had a bogus max heart rate of 222 so the HR info is a bit off today. I’m adding 300 to the calories burned to make up for the time the HR monitor was off. Nice ride.
I usually don’t ride on Sundays unless I’m stressed out. I’m stressed out. Vivian and back. Trail not too busy today but there were several families out after church. Overcast and a bit cold with some wind. Looked like it might rain.
Now I’m off to SLC to have dinner with my family.
Today I took the tarmac out for the first ride. I didn’t push very hard because I wanted to get used to the way the bike feels and shifts and handles. This is my first road bike. It’s amazing. With the small effort that I did put into the ride, I was able to stay at my old levels on the mtb bike on which I did push hard. Totally fun. The weather was amazing – blue sky and in the 70s. I road to Vivan Park then to through North Orem to Pleasant Grove and back. Nice ride. Not too hard. I did forget to use my heart rate monitor so no vital stats this ride…
Just called Bingham Cyclery. The bike is in their Sunset, UT store and will arrive in their Provo location tomorrow. It’s like waiting for Christmas morning except there’s no snow and it’s April…uh…anyway, you get the idea.
Today is the first stage of the Tour de Georgia, one of the largest cycling races in the USA. Team Discovery is there without Lance Armstrong this year. It’s a new year and a new beginning for the team as it comes out from the shadow of one of the greatest cyclists to ever live. Timely (as live as possible) updates of the tour’s stages is given on VeloNews’ website at the following URL if you’re interested in following it:
Went to the Perl Izumi outlet in Park City, UT yesterday and they had some of last year’s shoes on sale. I had tried some Specialized shoes on at Bingham Cycles the other day and really like them. My mountain bike shoes are specialized and I’ve had them for several years. They’re comfortable and have worked well for me.
Had an appointment that I had to be to at 7pm tonight so I ran home as quickly as I could then I only made it to Bridal Veil Falls before I needed to head back. Hopped in the shower and was off. I barely made it.
There are three reasons I like cycling. I was talking with Melissa tonight and this was one of the many things we talked about. Of course, this is one of the less important things – it was a really good talk. The three reasons are in order of importance and relevance:
- Because I enjoy riding
- To keep physically fit
- To think
This past Saturday (March 25, 2006) was a perfect day for kiting – the wind was steady at 15 to 20mph out of the south and it was in the 60s. A bunch of us got together at a park in Orem, west of Geneva Rd. to kite. It was awesome! Most hadn’t flown big kites before so we started off with the 1 meter two line kite and most flew the three meter. I was impressed by thoes who flew the 5 meter :)
I rode up to Vivian twice before heading back home (bet you couldn’t have guessed that – ha!). It was cold and rainy as I headed down from Vivian Park the first time. Looking over my sholder at Bridal Veil Falls I saw the most amazing rainbow ever. I also saw a deer and a rabbit on the trail this eveing. Fall colors are in full swing. They are incredibly bright this year with deep reds and suprizingly very little yellow yet. I’m amazed at the richness of the colors which is definitely due to the heavy precipitation we had this past year. So cool.
- 32.32mi
- 14.7mph ave.
- 908ft gain
- 2h 11m 29s in the saddle
I picked up my Wheeler mountain bike from the bike shop yesterday evening. I got a new Marzocchi MX Comp ETA and Shimano Deore LX V-breaks and levers.
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| 10 meter Ozone Frenzy05 |
A great day. 87° F, 29% rel. humidity and sunny skies. I got up early, about 6:30 or so and went kiting at a near by park. I flew the 5m Ozone Frensy05 first but the wind was really light so I packed it away and pulled out the 10m. Perfect. I got a small jump once that took me about 5 feet forward and a foot or so in the air – pretty good for a < 10 mph wind.
For thoes who don’t know or missed my last story on the Multiple Sclerosis 150 mile ride this weekend, now’s your chance to catch up. The MS150 is a fund raising event where almost 2.3K riders will be conveining in Logan, UT for a 150 mile ride split over two days. I have done it since the early 90′s as often as I have been able to. I’ve missed a few years but attended most.
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Janene about to fly the Ozone Imp |
When I was in highschool I made a single-line parafoil with 4 cells. I was amazed at how it inflated into the shape of an efficient airfoil shape using the force of the wind entering the openings on the leading edge. I was also intrigued by the fact that the design had no spars, it was completely soft yet formed a large wing when in use and could be packed away in a small bag for storage or in a backpack. Although I was excited about the kite, it was sewn together with a small defect that made it turn clockwise in strong wind. I have always liked the kite and have always wanted to get a large one.
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This year I will be participating again in the Utah Multiple Sclerosis 150 mile bike tour. It’s a great opportunity that I try to take every year to help those suffering from MS. I think I’ve done the tour 7 or so times although I’ve lost count. I started in the early or mid 90′s and while I’ve missed a few years, I have ridden as often as I’ve been able.
Read on to find out more about MS, the ride and how you can help sponsor me…
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Yesterday as I was traveling home I noticed some columns of smoke rising up into the sky west of the highway. Being the curious type, I drove closer trying to find out was was burning. Apparenlty there were several other that were also the curious type – the streets of Vineyard, UT were busy with people trying to get a glimps of the fires. Vineyard is an old steel town SouthWest of the old Geneva Steel Works. The site was shut down a few years ago putting a large population of the local towns out of work. The closure has played a large role in cleaning up the air quality in the valley. I remember seeing thick purple, orange or red smog surounding the plant when I first started commuting to work in Utah Valley. The steel industry in Utah had been dying since the mid ’80s so the closure was an inevitable result of the state of the economy but also the increase in technology firms located in the valley.
