Last Big Climb of the Year - Big Cottonwood Canyon

One of my goals at the beginning of the summer was to hit Millcreek, Big and Little Cottonwood, and Emmigration Canyons. The summer has come and gone and one canyon stood out, unclimbed by me, reminding me every time I drove up to Salt Lake for something. Even at night when I could not see it, shame came upon me when I thought of it. So after 5 rainy Saturdays in a row I had my shot today. I drove up to Sandy and up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It is definitely epic in length. When you pass the park ride lot at the bottom there is a sign challenging you to make it: Solitude 14 miles, Nordic Center 15 Miles, Brighton 15 Miles. At that point you know there is only up to go.

At the beginning of the day I was also hoping to get to Guardsman Pass and see if I could get over 9000ft in elevation. I hit the end of the road in Brighton and headed up to Guardsman. There was snow just after the Winter Maintenance Ends here sign. I road in just around a bend hoping that there was clear pavement ahead, but there was not. 23mm tires are really not effective in the snow, so I turned around and went down the hill fast. I made it to 8915ft, which is higher than I have climbed before. I guess I will have to top 9000ft next year. What a beautiful canyon and nice day. I am happy to be warm again now.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4311577


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It's Not Summer Anymore

The good weather is officially over. Today the weather was supposed to be bad in Utah. I check the weather on multiple sources just before lunch and it looked like there was going to be a break in the rain. Out my window it did not look inviting but neither did it look forbidding. So I put on the necessary clothing for a bike ride at 40 degrees.

10 minutes into the ride it started to sprinkle, but that should not be too big of a deal, I had the right equipment. 20 minutes into the ride it started pouring and at that point I was going to be completely soaked by the time I got home so I kept riding. At the high point of the ride, about 5200 ft in elevation, it started snowing. I kept the snow with me the rest of the ride home.

I already miss the days when it was 70 degrees at 6 am and there was no need for leg warmers. At least when I got home my wife, knowing that I should not have left in the first place, had a warm lunch waiting for me. After the feeling came back in my fingers I was able to enjoy a nice warm lunch. My brother-in-law saw me riding in the rain and stopped to talk to me in his car. He told me I was crazy for riding in that weather, earlier he had told my wife on the phone that I was an idiot. He is probably right, but I still love the feeling of being out on my bike trying to climb a hill that I have ridden a hundred times faster, or just being out with only my thoughts.

Here is the route I took on this crazy, rainy, snowy afternoon:


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Big LOTOJA Prep Ride

This Saturday I am going to ride the Nebo Loop from my house. It will be a great ride to test my preperations for LOTOJA in Spetember. 138 miles with 5700ft in climbing.

My New Pirate Name

My pirate name is:

Iron Tom Rackham

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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My Saturday Bike Ride

On Saturday I have planned an epic ride with more climbing than I have done before. We'll see how long this takes me:

This morning I put one of my Christmas gifts to work up American Fork Canyon. The local bike club organizes a weekly snowshoe hike. Since there is not a lot of outdoor biking going on around here (mostly ridden by people with suspended drivers licenses,) and snowshoeing shares many of the same muscle groups as riding the group is pretty dedicated.

So we started at about 6500 ft and walked about 4 miles roundtrip gaining 1500 ft in elevation. It was beautiful and quiest except for the sound of snow crunching. It was also cold, about 8 degrees at 8000 ft. My hat had ice coating it from the sweat coming through. We did have to jump across one stream and I took a picture of the little waterfall just for Lowell. Timpanogos kept peaking through the trees and I think I could take a lot of pictures of that mountain. It is one of my favorites because you can go all the way around it.

I did not buy poles since I have heard a lot of great points on both sides of the argument, but as I was sliding down on my bottom a few times going down, I thought I might pick up some poles this week before next Saturday. Not that sliding out of control down a goat path wasn't fun, but I would like to do the sliding by choice. Maybe it will be warmer next week.