TUESDAY NIGHT RIDES

Squaw Peak Downhill Shuttle

2009-06-05T19:52:00.004-06:00

This week TNR opted for a quick downhill ride. Naturally we chose Squaw Peak. Due to Taylor's absence the group has gotten smaller and there were only three of us there for the ride, Cole, Ryan, and myself. To shuttle the ride it is best to leave a car parked at the bookstore in Riverwoods and take the bikes to the top from there. We left a car at the mouth of the canyon parking lot behind the gas station and headed up from there. The drive up squaw is always beautiful. You can start the ride from the lookout or make it twice as long by turning left before the lookout and continuing along the dirt road up towards Rock Canyon. When you get to the top and there is a sign saying, "wanted your campfire dead out" then park and the trail is on your right-hand side. You climb for just a little bit and then the downhill starts. In just a couple of weeks the upper meadows will be full of flowers and it will be quite a sight to behold!

In an upper meadow the trail will fork right and this is where you will want to lower your seat, loosen up your rear shock, and get ready for some quick fun downhill. Unfortunately there have been some dirt biking piles of trash tearing up the trail, along with a little erosion, so there is a massive rut in the middle of the trail for the entire upper portion. When you reach the lookout the trail continues off the west face and keeps going down. On this lower portion it is rockier and there are more little kickers to hit. Watch out for people shooting targets right on the trail towards you! The trail comes out to a patio and seems to end, but it continues just beyond it with a super quick and steep switchback that puts you onto a dirt road. Take a right and then connect with the Bonneville Shoreline trail and this will take you to the bottom where there is a grassy patch and a nice little drop to hit. Take the road down from there and back to your car. It's a quick fun ride so take your time and stop to play around or take pictures.

Corner Caynon Ride

2009-05-24T17:36:00.004-06:00

***This week we will be riding the Little Deer Creek - Ridge Trail Loop.***
Let us know if you are going to make it.

This past Thursday we all met up for a ride that was new to most of us. Corner Canyon up in Draper did not disappoint. Other then a mile or so of double track at the very beginning this ride was mostly packed single track. The majority of the ride was under a nice canopy so the trail was not real dry or rocky. It would have been a little better had this trial been designated with an uphill and downhill section as it was pretty busy with bikers and runners.

A piture of most that made it Thursday 5/21/09, on time that is.

This is a good idea of what the trail looked like 80% of the time.

A shot from the top. It's a great place to see the sun set.

...and so it begins

2009-05-21T23:29:00.010-06:00

It's about time we try and catch up on the first few rides of the season. Great news is we've really gotten a great turn out this year and it keeps getting better so if you or anyone you know wants to come out and ride the trails let us know everyone is welcome. We usually have a rider at every ability level so don't feel like you will hold us back and on that same note you can ride as hard as you want. We're laid back and just like to go out and have a good time, enjoy Utah and occasionally those out of state trips.

Our first real ride was down in Moab and it couldn't have been better we got two rides in on Saturday and they were both just about everything you can ask for. We had a great crew Taylor Trevor Cole Bradlee Ryan and Pete.

The first ride we did that morning was Amasa Back. It is one of my favorites. It's just a short technical out and back 14 miles round trip. The great thing about this trail is that you can make it as easy or difficult as you'd like. The most notable point of this ride was when Taylor wrecked on a 15 foot drop that he failed to let us know he was doing in advance. It would have made for a great video clip.

After finishing the ride we were headed back into town but just had to stop for a little entertainment. It was great they rented out the whole campground. I wish we could have gotten closer to watch this battle but the road down into it was blocked off.

After Lunch we decided to do the Porcupine Rim Down hill that starts way up in the La Sal Mountains. You'd think that 27 miles of down hill would be a walk in the park but this ride was pretty intense. We started up in bear country at around 9900 ft and drop all the way down into Moab at around 4400 ft. It had a mix of everything single track, slick rock, technical double track, etc.

You don't really get a lot of chances to stop and get pictures of these drops so we made Taylor ride back up and do this one again for good measure.

As you can tell from this picture we made it back down to the Colarodo river in one peace although I dont think anyone made the whole trip without a few spills. I scratched my new bike with a mile left (It's freakin awesome by the way) I was pretty upset.

Thats about everything. It was a quick trip but a great way to really kick off the summer. A big thanks to Taylor and Ryan for riding up the 2.5 hour round trip to pick up our shuttle car at the Hazzard trail head.

-Cole

WINTER FUN

2009-04-29T20:32:00.013-06:00

It was a fun winter with one trip into the back country that was legal and another that will still be held against me until the day I die(I am still sorry Lauren). I had to post a couple of pics of one of the trips, this was the non-oked trip! It was a short trek up to the UFO bowls. It was a good time.

Class Trip!!!

2008-10-19T20:17:00.013-06:00

On the drive down!

This last weekend I took a class trip with my mountain bike class that I have been a TA in for the last couple of weeks. The class is required to take at least one over night trip so we headed over to Colorado to ride in Grand Junction and Fruita. All I can say is good by to Moab, hello Fruita!!!
This place was phenomenal. It's a Moab type of riding but all on single track trails. We rode and rode hard. I got up Friday morning early to meet the class down there (they camped Thursday night), and then we started to ride. 3 or 4 rides on Friday and then 1 good long one Saturday and then home. It was great. Here are only some pictures and I will put more up as soon as I get some of the other pictures from classmates.

At camp Friday morning.

A sign on the Trail.

A fun little creek that we were all jumping over.

Camping Friday night.

Saturday mornings ride called The Ribbon.

You ride across this huge slab of slickrock.

Getting a little technical for some.

A fun little drop.

Solo

2008-10-11T17:47:00.019-06:00

With the summer season in the past and the fall time in full affect the riding days in the upper mountains are coming to an end soon. With that being said I felt the urge to get out and ride before this weekend storm hit. The plan was to go ride corner canyon up in Draper City with Trevor and Cole, but Trevor is still young and stays up way to late to do an early morning start and Cole is a good student that has a new class on Saturdays and Tuesday nights, so needless to say at 6 AM when I called Trev to come get me he was asleep!!! I took this opportunity to go out and do a good solo ride. My choice of trails was up American Fork Canyon to do a loop that I have never ridden before. Some of the best rides I have been on have been solo rides where I get out and pound out some distance enjoy the mountains and have a time to empty my mind and kind of start over if you will.
As the weekend was approaching I knew there was a big storm in the forecast and so I wanted to get out early and try and beat the weather, not this time! As I pulled up to the parking lot at tiblefork the sky looked good but there was a good chill in the air and some dark clouds off in the distance. My plan was to take the Granite Flats road up to Dutchman Flats and than onto the Pole Line Pass, hook onto the Ridge Trail 157 and then follow this epic trail back to the Tiblefork trail and then do the fast downhill back to the truck, as stated this was my plan.
The Granite Flats road was actually a very fun dirt road to ride up. I had never ventured past the reservoir up this road so it was all new terrain for me. It starts as a larger dirt road and then soon narrows to the width of one truck or so. The grade to begin is a gradual incline that isn't bad, with a good tread. The fun part about this trip is that I started to encounter the elements. Watch the videos!!!

I don't know what it was but those first 5 or 6 miles were so serendipitous! I loved it. The snow falling and riding my bike, it was just very peaceful and relaxing to be pedaling up the mountain. As many know I am a gear geek and when I pack for an outing I generally over pack for me and usually bring enough for another person. Well for this ride I was glad that I was over prepared for the elements. I have always known about the importance of layering properly and using the right kind of gear, but I have been learning the different types of layers and the best materials and how to layer right. This trip a had my next to skin layer that helps pull the moisture away from the body, not allowing it to get you wet as you sweet. Then I had an thermal layer that was keeping me warm. This was the yellow jacket that you can see it the movie. As I started my shell was one of my favorite jackets that is a wind stopper and another good insulator, but as the snow began to fall it is not waterproof so I took a pit stop and changed out into my rain jacket that I love. This was perfect for the rest of the ride because it kept snowing most of the ride.
The snow started to some down pretty hard and I was thinking I should decide soon if I was going to continue or keep going. I had gone a good distance and didn't really want to turn around, if I had started and made it that far I wasn't going to turn around unless I had to. The fun thing about this ride is that I really didn't know were I was going, so each turn was something new and I didn't have any idea of how much farther I had to go till I reached the top. Thankfully the snow slowed down and the clouds broke making it beautiful and made for some great pictures(to bad Trev wasn't there because he would have made sure that we took tons of pictures of the scenes.

Looking back at the valley that I had just come up.

Trying to capture the beauty of the moment. This picture doesn't have much sun light but you can see the snow covered road and get an idea!

Here the sun was pushing through the clouds and made for some great colors. The yellow aspens with the green pines and the white snow to top it all off made for some fantastic contrasts.

Once I made the turn off of the Granite Flats road to the Pole Line Pass road it turned into a steeper grade and the road was a little more rough. Lots of switch backs and finally I made it to the top.

I made it to the Ridge Trail 157!

Had to capture the solitude that I was feeling. The lone soldier making first tracks.

To save you all from me going on about the rest of the trail to make a long story short as soon as I hit the Ridge Trail things didn't get any better. The trail single track was very hard to climb and I became great at hiking my bike up these short, sometimes long, climbs. The cold air made it so my brakes felt like the were frozen, the were really tight, but still worked thank goodness. Every time I had to get off and push my shoes got filled with snow on the bottoms so I had to kick the snow off before I could click back in. Needless to say the elements started to work against me. The snow started again and when I finally reached a saddle that I knew it put me on the front side of the hill and the wind was blowing like crazy. I was surprisingly still staying warm but the winds was hard to ride in and the next trail that I came to that would take me back down I took it. Even though this was a trail that looked like it went down it did for a little while and then started to climb and so I was off the bike pushing again at times. Finally I made it to Mill Canyon and back down. As soon as I got out of the higher clouds the sun was actually kind of out and the dirt was muddy. I made it down the canyon without going down, even though there were multiple times that I should have kissed the mud!
I was tired by this time and was grateful that I had made it back to the truck safely. I had a great time on this ride and made it the best time, as much as I could have. It was an epic adventure that will go down as one of the craziest rides in Taylor's pocket book of rides.

The smile, ice in the hair and the mud on the face says it all!!!

LIFE IS TOO SHORT NOT TO RIDE!!!!

2008-10-03T22:30:00.007-06:00

Since we hadn't be out on a ride as a group for a couple of weeks now I called the crew and put together this little trip up north that we went on. I have been wanting to ride up north but have never put anything together so I had a reason to go and mad it happen. The trail that we rode was a combination of a couple of trails that circled around the Snowbasin ski resort by Ogden. I had been looking at riding some trails around the Logan area but my business this day took me to Snowbasin. I did some research and found a trail that looked like tons of fun and it went straight through the resort.
This last February I was skiing at Snowbasin at the annual retailer demo day testing out new product when half way through the perfect pow day I lost a ski. I wont say what binding it was but I will not recommend it to anyone as it pre-released me three times that day, finally ending in me spending 4.5 hours of digging in the snow searching for a ski that was never found. Well enough about skiing here, since the ski was never found during the winter and I just wanted to know were the damn thing ended up I thought it fitting to make it into a bike trip and look for the ski one last time. So that leads us to the ride......ya
This trail is labeled Maples Loop, a collaboration of East Fork, Green Pond, Snowbasin, Wheeler Creek trails. With all of the different trails that this includes there are a couple of trail heads to start. We started at the Green Pond trail head were the East Fork trail crosses the paved road heading up to Snowbasin. Many reviews recommended starting at the bottom of the East Fork trail at the Art Nord parking area, it is about 6 more mile on the paved road passed the resort to get to that trail head. The nice thing about starting there is you finish with a nice downhill, but if you are hardcore like Trevor you can finish with a nice pedal like we chose to do here.
So with starting at the Green Pond trail head you cross the road and pass a big sign labeled Snowbasin trail system, keep going you are on the the right trail. This section of climbing was great. Gentle grind up the trail with all of the leaves on the ground making it very picturesque!!! I don't wanted to go into great detail of how to follow the trail because you can find that on utahmountainbiking.com, my goal is to talk about how awesome this trail was. I was very impressed with how well the areas trails were groomed and maintained. There were little bridges that covered the creeks that were well built, the rocks and tree were cleaned out so that you could focus on what was around you and not on dodging a branch, etc. The Snowbasin section was a blast because it was coming down and across the mountain side. Once again the trail was well maintained.
To sum this up I would like to say that life is to short not to get out and ride!!!! Get out and improve your quality of life and enjoy want we have been given to explore. Go Tuesday Night Riders!!!

Lambert Park

2008-08-26T19:12:00.012-06:00

Cole and Tay weren't feeling good so my good friend Brennan Roney and I were the only TNRs to get out and ride last week. Riding as the solo original TNR has become a pretty normal experience for me. While Taylor and Cole were deep in their studies for a good 7 weeks, I was out riding a couple of times a week, I just got so caught up in the joy of it that I always forgot to take some pictures. So, sorry for that brief departure from your favorite blog.

Anyway about Lambert Park. To get there take State Street north and take a right at the Purple Turtle. Stay on that road until you get to the mouth of AF canyon and take a left on 11000 N or Highland Highway. Take a right on Alpine Highway, you'll go straight through a round about and then take a right at the first stop sign (200 N?) Then according to google maps you'll take a left at the next stop sign which eventually becomes Grove Drive. Stay on Grove Drive, it'll wind and turn but stay on it until you come to the rodeo grounds. Turn up to the rodeo grounds and there will be a big parking lot and in the SE corner a trail map.

Lambert Park is way fun! There are tons of little trails hidden in a small area. Lots of quick ups and downs which keep you in and out of your seat. I actually came away a little saddle sore cause I'd just been cranking it up the Alpine Loop lately and not getting much action in and out of my seat. I took a picture of the trail map. It's hard to see the trails but you can see all the different names and that there a lot of them. From the parking lot you drop down onto Rodeo down. It's one of my favorite pieces of trail in the valley. Then you'll come to a triple intersection: River, Middle, or Spring. We took River to the right and it was way fun. Oh, and just a side note: Don't ride without a shirt! I didn't have any clean shirts so I was riding shirtless and a massive Wasp came and stung me. It wasn't pleasant. Sorry to freak you out Lauren.

It's easy to get lost at Lambert Park and you'll probably end up riding along the same trail twice. We up the river then took Ziggy up and then it ended in the middle of no where so we caught a jeep trail down until we came to Lambert Luge and then rode that till we came on the River trail again. This time up we took Zag and it was a lot better climb up. I told Brennan there wasn't much climbing but that was a lie. He rides a Gary Fisher and rides it like a pro, even though there ended up being a lot of climbing it didn't phase him. I think you can make it out with a lot of climbing, but I kind of enjoy it so we took the Spring trail which goes up high and then drops down onto Rodeo again and that's where we ended it. It was a great ride and thanks Brennan for coming along! Now here are a couple of pics to satisfy your cravings...

This last picture is why you don't ride without a shirt... Wasps!!!!

We're back!!!

2008-08-13T20:22:00.003-06:00

I think that we can all say that it's good to be back.

Stay tuned you can expect big things from TNR in the coming months.

Being that it has been 7 or so weeks since the last time we got out together and went for a ride, Tuesday we thought we'd take it easy and go back and ride the Big Springs Loop up the south fork of Provo Canyon. This time Big Al Horne decided to join us and it goes without saying, "We love to have people come along".

The trail was described pretty well in an earlier post so I'll just add a bit and throw in some pictures for eye candy.

The trail is a pretty moderate climb for 20-30 minutes then you loop around and are back at the car in 10-15 minutes. It is right up the center of a small canyon with a stream running through it so it stays pretty green year around. That is so nice because most of the other local rides get pretty hot, dry and rocky this time of year. In fact, the downhill section was a little more over grown then I prefer and then Taylor can handle. (He had a log jump out and grab one of his pedals, luckily he was able to keep it in the saddle.)
The downhill section has few higher banked corners that you can roll through but it would be nicer if you had a little more room to pick your lines.

Al did pretty well and didn't slow us down at all. It's not a problem if we have to take it easy anyway. Sometimes it's more enjoyable then racing up the hill. On the down slope Big Al was on his own. (In his defense he was on a hard tail OUCH! how did we used to do it?)

If you have questions or need directions let us know.
Tay and Trev feel free to amend this post at-will.

-Cole

Attention Bloggers

2008-06-29T16:20:00.009-06:00

Click on our advertisements, over to the righr of the screen and at the bottom, if any of them interest you. We are trying to get enough money to buy some lights because the next seven weeks or so TNR will be riding after dark.

If you can't find what you're looking for try our totally customized search on the right.

These Triple Shot Pro Cateye lights would be nice, but that would require a lot of add clicks. Especially because we will need three sets.

Not to far down on the TNR's shopping list is a helmet camera. We can go ride anytime but for those that can't - we can bring the ride to you. The VholdR looks like a nice easy-to-use helmet cam. What do you think? We only need one, but again keep clicking.

Lastly we are going to be planning a ride out to Telluride Colorado during the later part of August so a little extra spending cash will be nice. Click click click...

(and just so you have a visual)

View Larger Map

Per Googles adsence rules, I don't think that we explicitly tell you to click the links but if you are interested click away. If not interested, get interested.

South Fork Deer Creek / Ridge Trail

2008-06-24T21:41:00.006-06:00

This past week we rode one of Taylor's favorite local rides and picked up a few more riders along the way. Trevor's Buddy Scott Smith came along for the first time and Jessie aka (JO) was riding for the second time with the TNR's. The second time you come out with us you're made an honorary member and get some pretty sweet stuff. Stay tuned for some freebies and give away's here on the ONE AND ONLY Tuesday Night Rides.

We actually did this trail twice last week. We did it the second time for a few reasons:
1. First and foremost any reason to get out and ride is a good one.
2. We wanted to take some pictures while everything is still green and cool enough for all the wild life to be out roaming in the evenings.
3. My reason, I was supper sick and suffered through in a super bad mood the first time. (I hated it and didn't care if I ever came up there again. I'm glad we did thought.)

So anyway, Getting there: You head up Sundance Canyon past the pay window for the Alpine Loop, which has been closed lately. Turn turn right on the south fork to Cascade Springs road and head down a few miles to the until you get to the big parking/camp area on the right hand side of the road. The trail head is in the South west corner of the parking area trail # 252 I believe there is a marker there you can look for.

The trail is single track all the way. Most of the trail is packed dirt but there are a few loose rocky areas. The majority of the ride is climbing but it's mostly short up hill climbs so I would say any beginner to moderate rider can handle this trail. It is still cooler in the evenings so if we weren't moving it got a little chilly when we were still down in the valleys. Up on the ridge where the sun hit you it was the perfect temperature.
You take trail 252 up to the ridge trail parking area and cross the road and link up to trail 157. There are a lot of trails that branch off 157 (The Ridge Trail) but if you stay right at every fork it will lead you back to where you left your car. A ruff estimate judging from Google maps is that it is ruffly 600-800ft of vertical climbing. The loop came in on Tay's computer at about 6.7 miles. The last 2 miles or so is some of the funnest downhill around. Don't take my word for it go out and try it yourself.

WARNING: Mosquito repellent is strongly recommended. During the first ride we went without. One of us, who will remain nameless, counted 13 mosquito bites. (WestNile?)

We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed the ride.

Oh SNAP! That is one sick wheelie.
We all took turns passing the camera around because we are still without a point and shoot camera and had to take the SLR. Trevor's is lost in a deep dark hole somewhere. I got scammed on eBay, AGAIN! Taylor's is still on vacation somewhere out on the East coast.
Some of the fast, tight little, winding downhill.
A few of those could be post cards... I hope no one stills our pictures. I think Trevor posts a bunch up on his personal pages, ladies you can get some of his there.

This picture is taken of the trail map at the Ridge Trail parking lot (Sorry, no cool google maps. No GPS and to hard to see so I couldn't free hand it. Maybe next time. As you may or may not be able to tell from this picture there are quite a few trails up here to choose from and hopefully we can get to most of the good ones. I outlined the trial we road in brown for those that can't see well, or those that are R/G color blind. For those that are color blind, Ha! you will never know were to park (Red dot) or where the Ridge trail parking lot is (Green dot).

Scott and Jessie thanks for coming out and putting up with all of Taylor's crying and Trevor's trash talking. To everyone else don't be shy come out and ride with us we are really starting to gain some kind of following.

Trev and Tay, thanks for another great ride. Let's not wait to long before we do it again.

Well I better do 1 post before Tay gets home

2008-06-14T11:16:00.007-06:00

It has been rainy or cold or something was keeping us from riding for the past 2 weeks so Trevor and I were determined to get out and Ride Thursday night no matter what.
We have really been wanting to get up and do the Hobble Creek Ride so that's what we did.

Getting there: Go up Hobble Creek canyon and take the right hand fork. Drive exactly 7.3 miles from the fork just after the golf course. You don't really have to measure it, if you get to the dirt road you know you went about 10 feet to far. Park there and the trail head is on the north side of the road. (Be sure to close the gate behind you) Have fun.

The trail was a lot easier then I remember it being in the past. This is the first time we have stayed right when the trail splits. If you go left my memory tells me it's quite a bit more challenging.

The trail itself is really awesome this time of year. It is packed dirt with just a few rocks here and there. It has a gradual grade as you climb up the canyon as you follow the stream. The run off was still very high so crossing the river was a little difficult in a few spots. Most places you cross the river there was split dead fall that you could ride across. There were one or two spots that required picking your own route jumping from rock to rock and logs stuck in the flow.

We rode the trail for about an hour until we got to a section of the stream we couldn't pass it was 20-30 feet across and there was no tree to ride across and we didn't feel like getting in and walking so we turned around and headed down.

Coming down was great almost no pedaling at all. You wind back down the same track you come up its right next to the trees and under the tree cover so it was cool and nice and everything is still just so green. (This would have been a great ride for pictures ***see last paragraph***) Hopefully we can get out next Tuesday with Taylor and we will be sure to take a camera.

Trevor Trevor Trevor... Just when we need a camera to take along and snap some nice shots Trevor goes and looses his camera. We check 3 different house 3 different cars to no avail. Taylor had his camera with him and he was out of town. Becky's camera was dead, and well, mine just has not come in the mail yet. It just wasn't meant to be. It's a good excuse to repeat this ride in the next week or so. Check back for some pictures.
Thanks for reading.

Heres a ruff map of the trail...

BEACH CRUISING

2008-06-07T17:39:00.003-06:00

TAYLOR HERE POSTING FROM EAST COAST, SOUTHERN STYLE! MY WIFE AND I AND THE KIDS ARE OUT IN SOUTH CAROLINA VISTING OUR FAMILY HERE. ALL OF LAURENS FAMILY IS HERE AND SO WE TRY AND MAKE IT OUT A FEW TIMES A YEAR TO SEE EVERYONE. WE ARE IN CHARLESTON NOW WITH GG AND POP AND HAVING A GREAT TIME, THE WEATHER IS GREAT AND THE BEACH IS AWSOME. CHARLESTON IS NO UTAH VALLEY WHEN IT COMES TO MOUNTAIN BIKING BUT I STILL GOT ON A BIKE AND PEDDLED THE BEACH. JUST LIKE ANY BEACH TOWN THE CRUISERS ARE OUT IN FULL FORCE AND THEY ARE OUT HERE. LAUREN AND I RENTED SOME BIKES AND PEEDLED UP AND DOWN THE BEACH AT ISLE OF PALMS. THE BEACH IS GREAT TO GET OUT AND RELAX ON, MUCH DIFFERENT FROM HOME, BUT RELAXING IS WHAT I WAS GOING FOR, I'M ON VACATION!!!!

IN DOWNTOWN THE CRUISERS ARE OUT ON THE WEEKENDS AS THE LOCALS AND THE TOURISTS HIT THE LOCAL BARS. BAR HOPING IS A BIG THING HERE AND A BIKE IS MUCH BETTER TRANSPORTATION THAN GETTING IN A CAR TO DRIVE 100 YARDS TO THE NEXT BAR. JUST BE AWARE, YOU CAN STILL GET A DUI FOR RIDING YOUR BIKE UNDER THE INFLUENCE!!!

THE MORE I COME HERE THE MORE I ENJOY THE AREA AND WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE THE MOUNTAINOUS AREAS TO THE NORTH ALONG THE BORDER. I HEAR THERE ARE SOME GREAT TRAILS OUT THERE THAT I NEED TO RIDE. THATS IS WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MOUNTAIN BIKING THAT ANY WHERE YOU ARE YOU CAN FIND TRAILS TO RIDE AND PEDAL YOUR BIKE. I WAS READING IN THE DECLINE MAGAZINE AND THEY EVEN HAD AN ARTICLE ON RIDING IN CENTRAL PARK IN NEW YORK, WHO WOULD OF THOUGHT. GET ON YOUR BIKE AND RIDE!!!

Squadizzle

2008-05-30T17:03:00.007-06:00

This last Tuesday we decided to do a little gravity riding instead of the normal cross country trails that we have been riding thus far this year. Here in Utah Valley we are blessed with all kinds of riding and trails and the Squaw Peak Trail is one that hangs at the top of the list. Its called Squaw Peak because it descends down the face of the Squaw Peak road and overlook. There are many trail heads for the decent but the longest starts all the way at the saddle of the Squaw Peak road past Hope Camp Ground. Because of the late spring and the crazy weather that we have been having the upper road just opened and the trail is still muddy!!! (Be aware this mud will cake up your tires so fast that it wont be able to move, so pick the times that you ride accordingly.) This time we picked to go about half way up the dirt road and start there.

I have loved riding this trail and most anyone with some biking experience can make it down, even though I have been riding with 3 people that have broken collar bones and a vertebrae(Kirk). This particular trip we were down one of the group(Trevor) but picked up two more riding companions(Riley and Tyson). Here is a video of Riley hitting the hip close to the end of the trail.

Keep riding everyone!!

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5/20/2008 "FRANK"

2008-05-26T18:44:00.003-06:00

This week as we were pulling out of Cole's house to go ride we were still not sure which ride we were going to ride. We had thought about riding "FRANK" again and maybe try some other singletrack trails up there but we also thought about heading out to Alpine and ride in Lambert Park(which by the way is an awesome network of trails ) but we were running a little late on time and decided to do our group fav that's close by "FRANK." Always a good time when you ride up "FRANK," you are in for a good time and a good workout!

Here are Cole and Trev getting in a good leg stretch in before hammering out the climb. I personally have some fond memories about this trail and times that I would ride it back in Jr. High and High School. The different routes that you can take to get to the same place here in the foothills is almost endless. Back in the day (15 years ago!) I would ride this starting from Canyon Glen off of the Provo bike trail and then ride up past the water pipe and up the ridge line of the "bowl," as named by many in the valley. As soon as you hit the dirt water tower road then you would take a right off of it onto the Great Western Trail that we are on now in this picture. I remember challenging myself every time I would ride this trail, trying to make it up one more hill without dropping a foot. I finally made it one year all the way from Canyon Glen to the upper meadow with out stopping. Man that felt good that day that I did it. Now that I am an old man I will have to turn it up a notch to match what I was back then!

You have to throw in a picture of yourself, and the bike, if you are the camera man!! Last week in Moab a part on my new fork fell of on our last ride, nothing that is super important, but it put my adjustments down a little bit. The Marzocchi 55 ATA that I am running is a good fork. I will be honest I was a little hesitant on it because the last Marzocchi that I had I wasn't to impressed with, and the last two bikes that I have had have been running the Fox 36 fork on them and they have been awesome. But the more I learn about the 55 and have been getting more time on it the better it seems to feel. The Marzocchi forks I have learned require a lot more time to break in than most forks do, so I will keep you posted on how it feels through out the year. Anyway about the part that fell off I ordered up a new piece and it came in the other day but without the little screw to hold it in place, nice so I have it rigged up that it will stay in place until I can get a screw small enough to fit it.

This week at the upper meadow and the rock pile we opted to keep riding up the trail towards the little baldy saddle then catch a trail to the left that would take us around to dry canyon. It was fun because we were blazing new territory for the Tuesday Night Riders. I had just heard that there was a cut off trail to the left and so we headed out hoping for the best. The trail from the meadow starts climbing pretty good and then the switch backs start and they are pretty fun. Like the bottom part of the trail, very rocky and loose, this section starts that way. But as you get to the switch backs it turns into good dirt. I was really enjoying myself on the climb which is not my thing, I don't like to climb that much, but being out on a new trail with good dirt and again perfect weather I was feeling good and so I enjoyed being in the granny gear and pushing along up the trail. Sure enough around a corner the trail broke left and the section we were looking for was there in front of us. Some time this year we are going to make the long climb up and over the two bald mountains.

As the trail breaks off you ride up this gully like thing and take a hard left and climb out, as Trevor is demonstrating here for us all. Cole and I were messing with my camera here and just happened to get the photo with him behind the bushes, oh well my picture taking skills will improve as I have the master Cole teach me. As you continue to climb up short little climbs you keep passing through little meadows that are so pretty. Yah they were pretty, I wanted to jump off my bike and going running through the forest, with my cloths on of course!
This evening as we were riding something very scary happened to us. Trevor was bitten by a rattle snake and Cole had to suck the poison out of his ankle and then we carried him back down the mountain to were an ambulance was waiting to take him to the hospital. Trevor held up pretty well for being bit and stayed in good spirits as we made it back down. No I'm just kidding but we did almost get bit by one. It was dang funny, I was in the lead and then Trevor was right on my tire. It was getting a little dark and things on the trail were kind of hard to distinguish, but as were were riding through a thicket of trees I thought that there was a branch on the trail and I was getting ready to ride around it when the thing moved and it was a massive snake. I freaked out and kind of jumped and almost made Trevor fall right onto the snake but he made it by and then Cole stopped and we were all hootin' and hollerin'. I have never come so close to a rattle snake like that and that kind of freaked me out. If Trevor posts the pictures he took of the ride he has a video of the snake. Being the boys that we are we had to mess with the snake and scare it off.
What a fun ride this was, a new trail, a snake, a sky filled with dust and getting back to the car just as it was to dark to go any farther. I sure am glad that I can have these fun times with my two best friends and do it all again following Tuesday.

THE MOAB TRIP

2008-05-21T18:35:00.002-06:00

FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THE 3 OF US BROTHERS HAVE BEEN DREAMING OF THE TIME THAT WE COULD BREAK AWAY AND ENJOY SOME QUALITY MOUNTAIN BIKING TOGETHER. AWAY FROM THE DAY TO DAY SCHEDULE AND WORRY OF TIME AND JUST ENJOY THE TIME TOGETHER ON OUR MOUNTAIN BIKES. THAT DREAM WAS GRANTED TO US BY OUR KIND WIVES AND WE JUMPED SHIP DOWN TO MOAB A FEW WEEKENDS AGO. I HAVE TO SAY THANK YOU LADIES FOR LETTING US TAKE OFF OVER MOTHERS DAY, LAUREN YOU SURE ARE SEXY, THANK YOU AND THANK YOU TREVOR FOR HAVING A BIRTHDAY! THE TRIP WAS PLANNED, THE TRAILS PICKED OUT, THE BIKES WERE TUNED UP, THE BAGS PACKED, AND THE CAR LOADED UP AND WE WERE ON OUR WAY! FOR ME BEING ON MY MOUNTAIN BIKE IS SOMETHING HARD TO DESCRIBE, A TIME TO LET GO AND ENJOY THE MOUNTAINS PUSH MYSELF AND GET SOME GOOD EXERCISE, ALSO A GREAT TIME TO BE WITH YOUR PALS. THIS IS WHAT THAT TRIP WAS ABOUT, BEING OUT WITH BROTHERS AND ALL ABOUT A GOOD TIME!

AFTER THE CAR WAS LOADED AND WE TOOK OFF FROM COLES HOUSE WE MADE WAY TO OUR FIRST STOP, WENDYS. BEING THE GOOD OLDER BROTHER THAT I AM I DEMANDED THAT TREVOR GET OUT OF THE FRONT SEAT AND LET ME DRIVE. SO I BECAME THE DESIGNATED DRIVER OF THE TRIP, PLUS I KNOW THE AREA THE BEST! LEAVING OREM WE THOUGHT THAT THE WEATHER WAS GOING TO BE GREAT FOR US AND AS YOU CAN SEE BY THIS PICTURE THE RAIN STARTED TO FALL AS WE WERE PULLING INTO TOWN. BEING THE HARD CORE JAZZ FANS THAT WE ARE AS SOON AS WE PULLED INTO TOWN OUR FIRST STOP WAS AT EDDIE MCSTIFF'S TO CATCH THE END OF THE GAME. WE SAT DOWN IN THE BEER PIT AND HAD A GREAT TIME CHEERING FOR THE JAZZ. AFTER THE GAME WE HEADED OUT TO FIND OUR CAMP SPOT. I WAS PLANNING ON CAMPING CLOSE TO THE TRIAL HEAD OF SLICKROCK BUT THE OVERCROWDED CAMPING AREA CHANGED THOSE PLANS REAL FAST. IT WAS ALREADY 11:30 AND WE JUST WANTED TO SET UP CAMP. I KNEW OF A GREAT SPOT UP THE ROAD FROM SLICKROCK ABOUT 5 MILE ON THE SANDFLATS ROAD UP IN THE LA SAL MOUNTAINS, SO WE HEADED OUT THERE AND COLE AND TREVOR ABOUT WANTED TO SHOOT ME BECAUSE IT TOOK SO LONG TO GET THERE BUT THE DRIVE IS WELL WORTH IT......

THE NIGHT WAS COLD AND EVEN THOUGH ITS 60 OR 70 IN MOAB UP IN THE LA SALS' IT WAS ABOUT 40 AND RAINING A LITTLE, NEEDLESS TO SAY THAT FIRST NIGHT WAS COLD. THANKS TO COLE FOR BRINGING THE TENT OF THE YEAR, SOMETHING THAT WE FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF. IT'S A NICE 6 MAN MARMOT TENT. I BELIEVE IT CALLED THE HALO 6 MAN AND IF ANY ONE IS LOOKING FOR A HIGH QUALITY FAMILY TENT THAT WILL STAND UP TO ALL THE ELEMENTS AND IS STILL LIGHT AND SMALL THIS IS THE TENT FOR YOU. ANY HOW THE CAMP SITE WAS THE BEST EVER AND SO WAS THE FIRE. WE SAT AROUND IT FOR A BIT AND THEN HIT THE SACK. THE NEXT MORNING I WAS THE FIRST ONE UP AND WENT ON A LITTLE HIKE AND GOT THE FIRE STARTED AND THEN THE OTHERS CAME OUT OF THERE SLEEPING SLUMBER AND JOINED ME AT THE FIRE. WE ALL WENT OUT TO THE OVERLOOK BY OUR CAMP AND TOOK SOME PICTURES OF THE AWESOME VIEW. FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE BEEN ON PORCUPINE RIM MIGHT RECOGNIZE THIS VIEW, ONLY WE ARE FROM THAT OVERLOOK BY 4 OR 5 MILES. BY THE WAY YOU CAN START RIDING YOU BIKE FROM HERE AND IT WILL CONNECT WITH PORCUPINE RIM AND MAKE IT INTO AN 18 MILE DOWNHILL RIDE!!!!!!!

AFTER WE GATHERED OURSELVES TOGETHER AND LOADED UP THE CAR FOR THE DAY (BECAUSE CAMP ISN'T WHAT YOU WOULD CALL CLOSE TO TOWN) WE HEADED DOWN TO THE SLICKROCK TRAIL HEAD. I HAVE BEEN MOUNTAIN BIKING SINCE I WAS TEN AND HAVE BEEN TO A FEW TRAIL HEADS TO RIDE BUT SLICKROCK TRAIL HEAD IS A ONE OF A KIND. DOZENS OF FELLOW RIDERS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE THERE TO DO THE SAME THING, RIDE! ITS ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE. THIS WAS COLES FIRST TIME IN MOAB ON HIS MOUNTAIN BIKE AND SO I THOUGHT IT FITTING THAT WE WARM UP ON SLICKROCK AND ALSO LET HIM RIDE THE INFAMOUS TRAIL, EVERYONE SHOULD DO IT AT LEAST ONCE. WE WANTED TO GET 3 RIDES IN ON SATURDAY SO WE OPTED TO RIDE JUST THE PRACTICE LOOP AND GET OUR LEGS WARMED UP FOR THE DAY. THE PRACTICE LOOP IS PERFECT IF YOU AREN'T LOOKING TO DO THE 12 OR 13 MILE LOOP AND WANT A GOOD TASTE OF WHAT THIS TRAIL IS ABOUT, IT WILL GIVE THE SHORT LITTLE CLIMBS AND FAST LITTLE DESCENTS THAT SLICKROCK IS KNOWN FOR AND A LITTLE SAND JUST TO MAKE YOU EVEN MORE TIRED. MY RECOMMENDATION IS IF YOU ARE GOING TO RIDE THE WHOLE TRAIL MAKE SURE THAT YOUR INTERVALS ARE GOOD BECAUSE THAT IS THE NAME OF THE GAME HERE AT SLICKROCK, SHORT STEEP CLIMBS THAT PUSH YOU. THE PRACTICE LOOP IS AROUND 3 MILES LONG AND IS VERY WELL MARKED, JUST FOLLOW THE PAINTED LINES ON THE ROCK.

AFTER WE LOADED UP AT SLICKROCK WE HEADED TO OUR NEXT RIDE, AMASA BACK. THIS TRAIL HEAD IS OUT ON KANE CREEK ROAD WEST OF TOWN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COLORADO RIVER FROM POISON SPIDER. TAKE A RIGHT AT THE MCDONALDS AND FOLLOW THE ROAD OUT UNTIL IT TURNS TO DIRT AND THEN THE TRAIL HEAD IS ANOTHER HALF A MILE ON THE RIGHT. AT THE PARKING LOT OF AMASA BACK WE DID A LITTLE WORK ON TREVORS BIKE. I PUT A TIRE OVER THE CHAIN STAY TO QUITE UP THE RIDE AND ALSO PROTECT THE FRAME FROM THE CHAIN. BEING THE MASTER MECHANIC THAT I AM I PULLED OUT MY TRUSTY PARK TOOLS BIKE STAND AND GOT THE JOB DONE. AFTER THE BIKE WAS BACK TOGETHER WE HEADED OUT. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE RIDES IN THE MOAB AREA. IT IS A JEEP TRAIL THAT WAS CUT TO GO TO THE OVERLOOK. THE TRAIL IS AN OUT AND BACK WITH A GRADUAL CLIMB UP TO THE OVERLOOK AND THEN A GREAT DESCENT.

THE TRAIL HAS SHORT LITTLE TECHNICAL SECTIONS THAT CHALLENGE YOUR BALANCE AND RIDING TECHNIQUE. BUT NOTHING THAT WILL SCARE AWAY ANY INTERMEDIATE RIDER. JUST BE AWARE THAT THE FIRST 2000 FEET OR SO OF THE ACTUAL TRAIL ARE NOT WHAT THE REST OF THE TRAIL IS MADE OF, THE FIRST 500 OR 600 FEET ARE A BUNCH OF DROPS IN A ROW, WITH OPTIONAL ROUTES AROUND THE SIDE, AND THEN A BIG DROP THAT IS ABOUT 3 OR 4 FEET. YOU CAN DROP IT AND A GROUP OF RIDERS WERE HITTING IT AS WE LEFT OR YOU CAN TAKE THE SIDE ROUTE AND ROLL SOME ROCKS. I HAD DONE IT A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE AND KNEW THE ROUTE BUT TREVOR HAD NOT AND ENDED UP HAVING A GOOD LITTLE TUMBLE. HIS FRONT TIRE CAUGHT AND HE ENDOWED HARD RIGHT ONTO HIS HEAD AND SHOULDER. A GOOD WAY TO START US OFF, EVEN THOUGH I SAW THE LOOK IN COLES EYES LIKE HE WAS GOING TO SHOOT ME FOR BRINGING HIM ON THIS RIDE!

TREVOR HERE STOMPING THIS LITTLE TECHNICAL SECTION! JUST AS WE GOT TO THE TOP A JEEP CAME DOWN AND IT WAS FUN TO WATCH IT GO DOWN THAT SECTION. AFTER A COUPLE OF MILE OF THE GRADUAL UP YOU PLATEAU AND THEN DROP A LITTLE AND THEN CLIMB TO THE OVERLOOK. AND IT IS ALL WORTH IT.
THE VIEWS ARE GREAT OF THE SURROUNDING AREA AND THE COLORADO RIVER. HERE IS COLE AND THE RIVER AND PLATEAUS IN THE BACK GROUND. MOAB OFFERS SOME OF THE MOST PICTURESQUE BACK DROPS IN UTAH, LIKE YOU ARE LOOKING AT PAINTING.
THE THREE OF US HERE ENJOYING THE SHORT BREAK AND THE BEAUTIFUL OVERLOOK. STAY AWAY FROM THE CLIFFS BECAUSE THEY DROP FAST AND FOR A LONG TIME, COLE ESTIMATED 1000 FT OR MORE! AFTER ENJOYING THE STOP WE SET BACK ON DOWN THE TRAIL. IT WAS FAST AND FUN AND THE BIKES WERE WORKING GREAT. IT WAS FUN TO WATCH COLE GO FROM BEING A LITTLE HESITANT ON SOME OF THE STUNTS TO MASTERING THEM BY THE END OF THE TRAIL. HIS RIDING IMPROVED IN JUST ONE RIDE AND IT WAS GREAT TO SEE THAT.

AFTER FINISHING UP AMASA BACK WE GOT SOME DINNER AND THEN SET OUT FOR OUR LAST RIDE OF THE DAY. I WILL TELL YOU SOMETHING, RIDING 3 TRAILS ALL DAY LONG CAN TAKE IT OUT OF YOU. I ONLY HAD AROUND 15 OR SO MILES ON MY BIKE AND I WENT WITH A LITTLE MORE STREAMLINE SADDLE AND MY REAR END WAS NOT USED TO IT AT ALL, SO WHEN WE STARTED RIDING OUR 3RD RIDE I COULD HARDLY SIT DOWN. OUR LAST RIDE OF THE DAY WAS ONE CALLED GOLDBAR. IT IS A BREAK OFF OF THE GEMINI BRIDGES TRAIL. THIS TRAIL WAS PICKED BY TREVOR AND SO WE HEADED OFF UP THE ROAD. GEMINI BRIDGES BRINGS BACK SOME GOOD MEMORIES FOR ME. IT WAS THE FIRST DIRT TRAIL I EVER ROAD AS A MOUNTAIN BIKER, THANKS TO THE JARVIES, I WAS HOOKED. WELL THE FIRST PART OF THIS RIDE IS GOOD, A DIRT ROAD THAT CLIMBS AT A STEADY RATE AND THEN DROPS TO A RIVER BED VALLEY. THIS PART OF THE ROAD IS IN GOOD CONDITION BUT AS SOON AS YOU BREAK OFF ONTO THE GOLDBAR SECTION IT TURNS INTO SAND. NOT JUST A LITTLE SAND BUT A LONG STRETCH OF SAND THAT TOOK ALL OF THE ENERGY THAT WE HAD LEFT. WE PUSHED THROUGH IT AND STARTED TO CLIMB BUT EVEN AFTER THAT THE TRAIL WAS VERY LOOSE AND TORN UP AND WE VOTED ON CUTTING THIS ONE SHORT AND GET BACK TO CAMP. SO I WOULD HAVE TO ADVISE ON DOING A DIFFERENT RIDE THAN THAT OF GOLDBAR, TO LOOSE AND HARD TO RIDE.

THE NEXT MORNING BROKE DOWN CAMP AND HEADED TO OUR LAST RIDE OF THE TRIP, THE SOVEREIGN TRAIL. THIS WAS ONE THAT NONE OF US HAD BEEN ON AND I HAD BEEN TOLD ABOUT IT FROM FRIENDS AT PARKS SPORTSMAN. THIS TRAIL IS A NETWORK OF TRAILS, FOR ATVS, MX, AND BIKE. THE NICE THING ABOUT THE BIKE TRAILS IS THAT IT IS SINGLE TRACK AND ONLY BIKE AND MX CAN RIDE IT. THE TRAIL HEAD IS EASY TO FIND OUT SIDE OF TOWN HEADING NORTH. POISON SPIDER BIKE SHOP HAS SOME GOOD MAPS OF THE TRAIL ALSO THAT WE LOOKED AT. THE SOVEREIGN IS FAIRLY NEW AND THE TRAIL IS MARKED VERY WELL. THE TERRAIN IS FUN, FAST AND VERY FLOWY. YOU CLIMB UP AND THEN MAKE A LITTLE LOOP AND THEN DESCEND BACK DOWN. IT HAS UPS AND DOWNS ALONG THE WAY THAT ARE TECHNICAL AND FUN. AGAIN NOTHING THAT EVEN MOST BEGINNER RIDERS CAN HANDLE. WE HAD A GOOD TIME ON THIS TRAIL. THERE WERE A FAIR AMOUNT OF RIDERS ALONG THE TRAIL AND IT WAS FUN TO RIDE WITH THEM. THERE WAS A SECTION THAT WE CAME TO ALONG WITH SOME OTHER RIDERS AND THE THREE OF US WAITED AS THEY ALL ATTEMPTED TO CLIMB THIS SECTION. TO MUCH AVAIL THEY JUST COULDN'T MAKE IT UP. AS THEIR GROUP WAS REACHING THE TOP I STARTED OUT WITH COLE SAYING SOMETHING IN THE BACK GROUND LIKE "YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS!" AS I ROUNDED THE TOP THE OTHER GROUP GOT BACK ON THEIR BIKE AND LEFT THE LAST GUY IN THEIR GROUP BEHIND ME. I GUESS THEY DIDN'T LIKE GETTING SHOWED UP!! I LOVED THIS TRAIL AND WILL PUT IT IN MY TOP 5 RIDES OF ALL TIME, LOVED IT.

THIS TRIP WAS ONE THAT WILL GO DOWN IN THE BOOKS FOR THE TUESDAY NIGHT RIDE CREW. I THINK I SPEAK FOR ALL OF US WHEN I SAY THAT WE HAD A GREAT TIME TOGETHER AND AN EVEN BETTER TIME RIDING OUR BIKES. THE WEATHER WAS GREAT AND THE MOUNTAIN BIKES WORKED FLAWLESSLY, NO BIKE TROUBLES. SEEING THIS PICTURE OF ME LOOKING INTO THE DISTANCE MAKE ME THINK OF ALL THE GOOD TIMES THAT I HAVE HAD ON MY MOUNTAIN BIKE AND THE MEMORIES THAT WILL STAY WITH ME FOREVER. THERE IS A QUOTE THAT A GUY FROM ONE OF THE BIKE MAGAZINES THAT READ THAT SAID: "IF YOU MAKE MOUNTAIN BIKING YOUR LIFESTYLE, IT WILL BE A PART OF YOUR LIFE FOREVER" THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO, MAKE THIS GREAT SPORT A PART OF OUR LIFESTYLES AND SOMETHING THAT WILL CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

First off, I just want to point out how this blog is shifting from Tuesday night rides to Cole's a wussy and has week bike skills. I am here to say that if I only had $6000.00 kick'n around that I could drop on a Coilair and then have the nerve to strip it down so I could upgrade it, well then I'd be the biggest bad-A on the trail. Geometry aside there is a huge difference between 3.5 inches and 7 inches of travel. I think Trevs got 5.5 in. but both of you have top of the line rides. You enjoy it now... one day!

Seriously though this trip was a blast. Talking trash to the Aussi's that cheered the Lakers on to there first loss here in Utah was great. (Darn those Lakers)

I wasn't that impressed with slick rock but now I can say I've ridden it.

Amasa Back was one of my top three rides of all time. The massive drops in the beginning were very discouraging. It would have been nice if Taylor would have said, "Cole it's not this bad the whole way". Four to five foot drops is no exaggeration, ask Trevor's face. It was great, one I'll do again for sure.

Goldbar SUCKED! Enough said.

The Sovereign Trail was actually a really fun trail but my foot was killing me so I wasn't that pleasant on the ride. (It's been two weeks and i still can't feel my toes) Most people like Tay said were fun to ride with but the group he described was not one of those. It was 5 guys and 1 girl and they were totally trying to impress her. The hill he described was probably a couple hundred yards long but super steep loose rocky and technical. (Describing it doesn't do it justice) Three or four guys made it a couple of switchbacks from the top and the last guy was struggling. (I'm not talking trash at all. I didn't make it very far.) I told Tay he better make it to the top and he looked at me and said "Oh, I will!" He did it was pretty sweet. (Taylor could do anything down there, he is one of the best riders I seen.) There just is a lot around here that can bring out his skills like Moab did. (Now you have to live up to that Tay or you'll look like a big dork.) Trevor followed him up the hill and would have made it, I think, but his chain skipped so he had to clip out.

We need to plan another trip before the end of the season if we can fit it in after Colorado, and follow up with Amasa Back and the Sovereign.
It was a blast...
Thanks guys! and Jess I had a great mothers day, I love you.

-Cole

Tuesdays Make-up Ride

2008-05-17T23:51:00.000-06:00

We didn't do a ride earlier this week because my foot was still numb from Moab. I bought some new shoes, insoles, and pedals. I got better to a point, so I figured we were good to go. The new set up made a world of difference. Now if the feeling would come back that would be great.

Upper Frank Loop

Dirt road
Loose rocky single track
Approx. 1200-1300 total feet vertical climb (Upper loop adds 200 vertical ft)

Anyway, today Trevor and I decided we would do the complete upper Frank loop since we didn't have the time last week. (Taylor was out of town. For all you burglars, he's back now.) The trail is pretty much 1 long loose rocky climb. The first 2-3 miles is on a nicely groomed dirt road. From there on, until you get back to the car its pretty loose and rocky. The first 1 mile Approximately you climb about 450 vertical feet. The next 2 miles on the dirt road it is flat. Take a left (Northwest) and start climbing on the single track of Great Western trail. There is a lot a loose rock from this point on. The trail is made up of a lot of short steep climbs until you get up to the meadow.

We sat down in the meadow for a minute next to the rock pile... It's a good place to rest.

When you see the giant rock pile marker take a left more or less West. Go across the meadow not South down to the frontage road. There is more tree cover at this point and it's a little less rocky which makes for a nicer ride. Follow this trail until you come out to a point were it looks like it dead ends and a 4-wheeler trial cuts across. Take that trail Northeast and it'll turn back into a single track. You come to a trail that brakes of to the South pass that and after another couple hundred yards the main trail will head back that way. That is pretty much the top of the climb. If you've made it to this point you follow the trail all the way down... Just a heads up if you come flying down Dry Canyon keep in mind they have some steps built at the mouth that are difficult to handle if you aren't expecting them. (They are just the wrong size for bikes) From that point ride the new Shoreline trail back to the parking lot. It was our first time on the Shoreline section and it was actually a pretty fun section. It's mostly down hill to the car. I think we'll do it again next week so Taylor can try it out this season.

Upper Frank is one of the better rides here real close to Orem.

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Come Ride With Us

2008-05-16T16:02:00.000-06:00

We have had a few people ask if they can come ride on a Tuesday night. Well, we'd love to have you come along. Maybe we'll post the planned rides a few weeks in advance so that you have some idea of what you're getting into. If you're slow don't worry, Taylor is pretty laid back and will wait for most anyone. Trevor on the other hand, well, always rides way out front. I think he's trying to impress the ladies only there haven't been any. (If it means anything Trev, it impresses me.) Just let us know If you want, leave a comment (If we don't know you) or just call.

Next Tuesday we are doing an out'n back up Hobble Creek Canyon. It's a pretty good climb but coming down is a lot of fun.

MOAB UPDATE:
I think Taylor and Trevor will have that posted some time next week. It was a blast... but I still can't feel my foot. Oh well.

Upper Frank's Downhill

2008-05-08T21:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, seeing as how I'm new to the world of the blog, I'd like to post a disclaimer excusing myself for horrible grammar, non-witty posts, and non-creative presentations. I just like to ride and I hope you enjoy it! So... Last Tuesday we rode a portion of my old favorite trail:Frank. In the old days I'd ride it by starting at Canyon Glen Park and then end up at the water fountain by the new Timpanogos park. Now a days we've moved on to bigger and better things and we ride it a little different. Take a look at the map, courtesy of Cole, and you'll see the route. It's an interactive map so you can play around with it:

We parked at the water tower and cranked it up the road. It was a good climb and at the top and we were all pretty winded. Especially Cole...

After riding along the flat road for a while we caught the single track trail, which I thought was the Great Western Trail, but it wasn't. On the way up we spotted quite a few deer and a fearsome bear looking for revenge... No not really. No harmless bears, just deer. Tay was looking for a trail he heard about from some guys at the shop. We took a trail thinking it was the one we sought, but, it was not. It was just a different way around a steep portion. After a nice little climb, we made it to the meadow and had a little rest next to the rock pile.

I love being up in the mountains with my brothers. If you don't bike, you should start because it's a great way to get in shape and spend time with friends and family. Well, once the sun started to set, we decided we'd better take off and we went back down the way we came up except we took the old Frank downhill section which cuts out the flat portion of the road. The highlight of the ride is right before you meet up with the road again you climb up a little ridge and take a turn and suddenly whabaam! You get a great view of the valley. It's beautiful. Then you take a pretty steep drop to the road and you're done. When we got the cars, Cole hadn't had enough and decided to peddle home. It was a good ride, but Frank just isn't what it used to be. As a kid I loved it so much but now it's super dusty and pretty rocky. One more Tuesday Night Ride in the books and now were off to Moab for the weekend!!! And now, two hours later... Seriously, two hours, my first blog is a wrap. Thanks Tay and Cole for the good times.

Chech out the interactive map below:

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The Shoreline Trail

2008-05-04T17:13:00.000-06:00

Saturday, Cole and Trev decided to take a quick trip up Provo canyon and do the Shoreline trial. We are all trying to get into something close to acceptable shape for our trip down to Moab, Utah this next weekend. Its a short, quick climb to work the cardio. One of the rides we are planning is described as a gnarley climb. (I'm not that stoked about that.)
The Shore Line trail in the past few years has been one of my favorites rides. It is slowly becoming more of a walking trail with each year that passes. Early in the Spring it used to be cool with packed dirt which made for a good climb to the flat that eventually leads out to Squaw Peak road. Unfortunately the trail is becoming super rocky. I hate riding the rocks, it makes for an extremely unsafe squirrelly event. (I'm not the most controlled rider)

Side Story: Last year I went for a ride on the Shore Line and on the way down I washed out over a ledge. I threw my bike back up onto the trail. In what I though was my own private little area up in the mountains, I was using some choice language that I reserve for only these special times when I'm alone. Of all the people that would happen upon me in this time of crisis was the Bishop, my moms bishop that is. I actually wasn't even that embarrassed cause it hurt. I jumped on my bike and yelled hello as I rode off laughing down the trial. The next night Jessie ran into the Bishop and he told her the story about my improper use of language. I think it embarrassed Jessie a little. Sorry Jessie. :)

On the way up we passed one hiker but on the way down they were all over the place. I slowed up to talk to one group and I asked, "How's it going?" They said nothing, they just stared at me. I said " Are you guys having a good hike?" Again Nothing. I took this as my cue to start riding again. I wondered if Trev, who was ahead of me, went blowing by them or something. He said that he didn't even see them, so they must have come onto the trail at a different point or he was riding so fast he didn't notice them. I think that the trail is becoming more of a walking trail. I know those hikers thought it was. Thats ok it's not really my favorite anymore.

Just as Trev came out on the paved trail a long boarder went by and half of his face was ground off. If you longboard you should wear a helmet. (Thats my PSA for the day)

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Big Springs Ride

2008-05-04T16:37:00.000-06:00

Tucked away up South Fork canyon, Big Springs is a local favorite. A smooth climb on a well maintained single track running alongside a nice little creek. Down in the valley it was windy and cool but up the canyon it was a mystical setting, the weather was perfect. The only traffic along the trail was an occasional trail runner and some campers.

The three of us ready to head up the trail.
Cole and Trevor in the upper meadow. Unfortunately shortly after this our ride was cut short because of deep snow and we rode down the way we came up.
In the parking lot after the ride, Trev and Tay with Kona s and Cole with the Specialized.

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Riding The Race Track

2008-05-04T16:33:00.001-06:00

This was the first ride that the three of us rode together and out on the dirt. Also it was the brake in ride for Taylors new ride. We drove up to the trail head at the park in the mouth of the canyon and saddled up. I love this ride because it is a nice and easy peddle. As you leave the parking lot you hook right onto the double track and climb up to the single track. We made it up the trail and worked up and back across the hillside. It was nice climbing and the bikes were working great. The enthusiasm was high because Taylor was on his new bike and Cole was pretty much on a new ride. Cole got some nice upgrades from last year and changed the bike for the better, even though it is a Specialized! We put disc brakes on for much better stopping power and less maintenance, he put the new Shimano XT disc set on with 160mm rotors and it made a big difference on the stopping. These are the other parts that we put on the Stumpy!! A new XT cassette and the new XT shadow derailleur and shifters. Everyone was stoked for the new parts!
The ride up the Race Track was quick but nice and was good to get the legs working again.