Carson Chynoweth

Profound Statements

2011-05-24T13:21:00.000-06:00

Thinking about riding is not riding.
Talking about riding is not riding.
Planning to ride is not riding.
Not riding is not an excuse.

Man Cave

2011-04-18T07:39:00.000-06:00

Exploring

2011-04-05T07:39:00.000-06:00

Too many trips South this month, I decided to go East. The family went to Vernal, it's sort of East, maybe a little North. Two more trails to investigate, Corkscrew and Race Track. UMB and Altitude Cycle have more information. The Race Track was fun, nothing special, a good warm up. Corkscrew has a ton of potential for a great ride if it's packed and hard. Otherwise the soft dirt just slows you down and takes away the flowing rhythm. All in all a good ride except for the wind. I hate wind, it always seems to blow in your face. Sorry no pics, left my phone and tunes in the car.

Decisions

2011-02-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

It's served me well for the last couple of years, now I can't decide what to do with it...

is it my color?

2011-02-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes being a good husband involves a little sacrifice...

Maybe I have a new pre-race ritual?

Worked

2011-01-23T20:45:00.000-07:00

I've been excited to ride lately, not sure why... I'm amazed at how difficult, well time consuming, it is to ride a mountain bike on the road. I met up with the Holley's today but decided to ride from the house to "make up" for the day before. It took me over an hour to get to the meeting place. Granted I took the long way, but I've done it a hundred times before on the road bike and it's never taken that long. Then again, if I were on the road bike I would have frozen! It was cold, cold, cold until I hit the dirt near the mouth of Hobble Creek. We rode to the Y parking lot, the trail gets a little nasty toward Rock Canyon, then back to the Buckets. I was totally going to ride home, at least that was the plan, but KC set her usual pace, with no stops for idle chat. Thank God they gave me a ride or you wouldn't be reading this!

Sun

2011-01-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

I love the sun, too bad we have to spend a few hours in the car to enjoy it.

Is this going to work?

2011-01-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

The first race of the So Cal Endurance series is later this month. It's questionable whether or not I'm going to make it but I thought I would start getting things ready just in case. I drug out my backup wheels from under the house, where they've been since last spring. I shook them, there was something inside. I decided to open one up and check for monsters... No Stan's Monsters, but they had been there and ate well.

Not Much To Say

2010-07-13T07:46:00.000-06:00

I'm going to take a blogging sabbatical. See you when I get back...

Take the Stairs

2010-06-10T21:06:00.001-06:00

Descending Dry I decided to bypass the stairs, I never know when I'm going to create a spectacle. I rounded the corner with a lot of speed and ran into, almost literally, this...

Trail work anyone?

Last Chance

2010-06-06T12:16:00.002-06:00

It's sad when a perfectly good road gets covered in gravel. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to leave it dirt and periodically grade it? The last mile was stained green, so Wadsworth will be shitty!

Another Race

2010-05-17T21:33:00.001-06:00

The ICUP at Sundance was last weekend, in case anyone that reads this wasn't there. Jamie and Brennen decided to stay home. Not that I blame her for not wanting to come. Would you want to stand around for hours occasionally seeing your significant other ride by? Didn't think so. Besides, Grandma and Grandma (grandpa) came out. So Brennen had way more fun with them.

I did better than last year. So guess I'm still improving? Maybe it's the coaching? Maybe the fast guys didn't show up? I passed a couple of spent riders on Archies on the first lap and caught up with Chad. He and I spent the rest of the race working together to pick off anyone we could see in our category. If you call it a strategy it worked. I brought us onto forth places wheel on the final climb of the last lap. The three of us hit the bottom of the road together, shared a glance to make sure we were all ready. Then no more team work. I made about twenty yards before my quads both cramped. Hours of riding only to blow the race in the last minutes. I knew it was coming. The pace we were pushing combined with the limited refueling opportunities, it was only a matter of time before I ran out of gas.

Unfortunately you can't call timeout take a drink and rest for a few minutes. Wouldn't that be an interesting twist? Everyone stop where ever you are and take five. I like it the way it is.

Karl snapped this at the finish line.

I couldn't decide if I should laugh or cry. But doesn't the new kit look good?

How do you measure a workout?

2010-05-03T21:33:00.003-06:00

I used to measure my workout by how difficult it was to climb the three flights of stairs back to my desk. Today's ride was nothing out the ordinary. Except the sun was shining, it wasn't windy and I had really good time!

I brought my mountain bike and headed up Squaw Peak, pealed off on to the dirt by the paintball range then up to the BST. The trail conditions were perfect, I even had a couple of "puker" moments descending the BST toward the park. I had so much fun going down I turned around at the bottom and went back up and down to the paintball range. I was having shifting issues that couldn't be resolve bouncing around on the single track and thought the rest of Squaw Peak would be a great opportunity to fix the problem. As I approached the gate the Forest Service was there taking it down. I asked if they would leave it up for a couple more weeks. They didn't respond. Just before the big turn, about half way, two cars came flying by... I opted for the dirt again and took the sketchy single track down to the BST and over to the cemetery. Great ride!

The stairs weren't a bad climb at all. I was feeling like I should have gone harder or longer. I went downstairs to meeting about 45 minutes later and almost fell. I think I did all right.

May is looking much better than April.

New Month

2010-05-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

I'm so glad to have April over. Nothing against that month, just the consecutive strings of shity weather. I was supposed to be training for the heck-tick May races. I probably only road my bike a dozen times. I did time-trail the White Rim, but one long ride doesn't make up for a month of consecutive riding. My yard is a disaster, except the grass. With the extra rain my lawn is thick and green. Good thing I bought a riding mower and trailer to take care of the waste. Jamie and I decided to put cement curbing around the back yard. Now I need to bring in a few tons of playground bark and gravel. Not mention killing the grass I worked so hard to get to grow. It really makes me feel bad! Because we put the curbing in after the lawn they had to cut out a path which left small sections of grass in the rocks and bark. All attempts at spraying the leftovers and other weeds have failed. Funny thing, weeds germinate and thrive in colder temperatures, yet sprays don't work unless the it's warm. Damn weeds!

Enough complaining. It's May, a new month with more opportunities to ride my bike and play in the yard. Maybe Brennen and I can finally ride our bikes to the park.

Disneyland - Part 2

2010-04-15T22:49:00.000-06:00

On the second day or our trip we dragged our tired behinds to California Adventure. At first glance I thought this park was going to be more fun. Someone in our party wasn't quite tall enough to ride the roller coasters.

He won't go in the dark but cries when he can't ride a big, fast, scary roller coaster or two... So we found the next best thing, a great big ferris wheel.

I think he had a good time. We wanted to ride Toy Story Mania, but the line was forever long with no fast pass option. Jamie offered to stand in line while Bren and I tried to find other rides. We found two with short lines and on our way back ran into Jamie. She had gotten close to the front and didn't want to "anger" the other people by letting us cut in, so she left to find us. If only we'd had a way to communicate, like walkie talkies or something?

It was warm, Brennen needed to cool off. We found It's a Bugs Life, a surprisingly good time.

Because Brennen loves knights, pirates, guys and pretty much any action figure. Jamie thought it would be fun to have dinner at Medieval Times. We ended up in the Green Knights section. He was the coolest and also the villain.

All was going great! Guys were fighting, horses were doing cool stuff, the story was entertaining, we were eating baby dragon with our fingers. Then the Green Knight got killed.

Brennen cried and cried. Mom and dad were sad, the serving wench was sad, the people next to us were sad. It was just sad seeing a little boy cry because his knight died and no one bothered to tell him that this was all pretend.

Disneyland - Part 1

2010-04-12T20:51:00.000-06:00

So Jamie convinced me to go to Disneyland, I convinced her to drive... We loaded the boy into the car and headed for Vegas, South of there just a bit. We thought about driving all night but couldn't figure what we'd do once we got there at 1 in the morning. Twenty minutes into the drive Brennen started asking if we were there yet. For some reason, only known to him, he thought we were going to the Payson swimming pool. We made it to sunny Anaheim, the weather was perfect. Unloaded at the hotel and caught the bus to the park. We don't have a bunch of Disney movies so I wondered if Brennen would recognize the characters. Didn't seem to be a problem. That or he was just excited to see all that is Disneyland.

Jamie decided our first ride was going to be Pirates. Not for selfish reasons, Brennen loves pirates and the movies.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea! The Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain and a few other "kid" rides were no goes because we scared him. Don't fret we road Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters enough to make up for it.

Shooty things, can't go wrong with that...

Brennen got to take part in a parade, actually pretty cool! They took all of the kids out a couple different times to dance the characters and do conga.

Mom and Dad were tired, we missed the fireworks.

ICUP and GB

2010-04-05T07:29:00.000-06:00

I spent Easter in southern Utah enjoying another break from the snow. ICUP #2 was the very iffy Cholla course south of Hurricane. This year I actually liked the it! That said, I still prefer the mountain courses. The race went well despite starting back row. Again the group was large, 25 I think. The start resulted in a dust cloud that brought the back row to a stop 50 feet from the line. After some catch-up just trying to get into a rhythm I hooked up with Derek from UMB, we worker really well together into the last lap catching up with the top 5. Unfortunately he dropped his chain leaving me to finish alone. I managed to come in 5th to my surprise, catching up to the front row starters. Maybe I should start on the front row?

I hooked up with the Holleys on Sunday for a post ride lap around the mesa. Though I only road with them for a short time, it was the same as always: KC setting a blistering pace, Chris bouncing off of everything along the trail and me just trying to keep them in site. I didn't get much breakfast before leaving so I was really hungry toward the end. Then it happened a little drop, someone spilled some trail mix, I wasn't paying attention, you know the rest. I somehow managed to break the valve stem off of my wheel. KC, pit chief, was on it. Her and Chris had my spare ready to go before I had broke the bead. Then Chris filled my tire while I tried to figure what damage I had done. What a way to crash!

Friday Sun

2010-02-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

I had to take advantage of the Friday weather, warm and sunny isn't something that we've had much of lately. I decided against the road bike (wonder why?) and headed for the ESBST. There isn't any snow on the East bench, so I figured the trail would be dry because of the sand and gravel. I was wrong. North of Slate Canyon there was about three inches of slush. I made it to the Y parking lot and turned around. Not defeated I went South toward Springville. No snow, the ground was firmer but plenty of large puddles. Brennen likes to jump in puddles. I try to jump over them, only I can't bunny hop that far, splash! I went up the hidden trial.

The only snow was on the trail! What's the hidden trial? It's just that, but it's a fun section of single track in the middle of nowhere. So where is it? Here's a hint..

The first ICUP race is next weekend. It's going to be interesting.

Almost Normal

2010-02-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was almost back to normal: going for a ride and hanging with Brennen. I road the Extreme South BST, as KC calls it. Most of the slush is gone and it's dry for the most part. South of Rock Canyon the snow came back along with some nasty muck. I wanted to go for at least two hours, I know big whoop, but that's longer than the upcoming race. I figure if I can ride for a couple of hours without collapsing I should be able to race for 90 minutes. Well, race the first lap then struggle for the next two. I took all of the out and backs along the trial and even made one up. Someone started a new section of trial but I lost it quickly and ended up free riding down to the BST double track.

When I made it home Bren and I went for a walk. It's nice having the river trail behind the house. We spent longer than the ride throwing rocks and playing with sticks. Even practiced subtraction. If you have three sticks (swords) and I take away one how many do you have left? He got tired of this and opted for a sword fight instead. If you look close he is in this picture.

When I finally caught up to him, he said "hurry dad...". Maybe I should remember those words and use them as a motto.

Crap...

2010-02-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

The first ICUP race is fast approaching and I'm a little nervous. I'm finally feeling better after hurting my back (again) and catching something nasty from the boy. Kids are great! No, really. Except the whole getting sick thing. Jamie and I rarely got sick until Brennen came along. Now everything he gets we get as well, only twice as bad! Back to that racing thing. Earlier I had thoughts of Sea Otter, nope. Karl and I missed the first race of the Temecula series. Now I'm starting to feel a little 'ify' about this one. I shouldn't care, just show up for the race and get some extra riding in during the weekend. Maybe head a little farther south and lose some money with Jamie. I'm still on the trainer but it's not riding. Not to mention boring as can be. I have caught up on all of the Dexter episodes I've missed over the last year. That's a plus. I've made a few attempts at the BST, what snow is left is difficult to ride and preventing the ground from drying. A teammate mentioned Rock Canyon, that was fun where the snow was frozen once I made to where the sun reaches the canyon floor I was stopped and had to turn back. I ended up doing hills on the road on my mountain bike with about 10 psi in the tires. Good times! I miss the Timp foot hills, Diamon Fork and Mt. Loafer. Can't wait for spring...

Finally Happened

2009-12-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure how I feel about the white stuff...

Does shoveling provide the same benefits as riding?

Rocks and Monsters

2009-11-29T18:51:00.003-07:00

Part 1: Rocks

A little history: Four trips to Temecula, only one without mechanical difficulties. I had to run half of lap after lacerating a tire. I had to borrow a wheel from the Holley's after bending a rim pre-race. The last time, our championship race, I had another bent rim! Now, I'm not sure if this happened on Bear Claw-Poppy, the pre-ride or the week before riding the norm at the mouth of the canyon. I know you're thinking, pump up your tires. I do have a pump, which I use before each ride. But I'm really starting to wonder if I need to start compromising traction for pressure. In my defense, for my weight, 30 psi 'should' be fine, but two rims in less than a year! Fortunately, this bend held and the race went off without too many problems. I'd say 'fine' but anyone that has done this type of race knows that would be a lie.

Part 2: Monsters

The last couple of years I've been converting the SuperFly into a SingleFly after the season. This year took a few extra weeks but I made it. Why, I don't know. I'm still trying to figure this one out.

This is what I found in my tire after a season of stand by.

The creature is about the size of a tennis ball. I don't know how it fit in the tire. I brought the thing into a stable ecosystem to see if I can get it to continue to grow (my closet has to be better that a dormant wheel). If I've truly created a monster I'll let you know.

Series Champs

2009-11-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

Just got back from the California. Karl and I went down for the last race in the 12 Hours of Temecula series. We couldn't have had better race conditions, except for the drive down: average speed 60 mph at ~6 miles per gallon. Pulling a trailer in the wind is a trip...

The race organizer does an amazing job with the race and sponsors. Not to mention a pretty sweet post race raffle (bikes, lights, wheels, etc). Needless to say in four attempts I've yet to win anything in said raffle. Throughout the race along the more challenging sections the organizers hand out tickets for cash based on individual performance. I got $5 bucks for cleaning a rocky section. I'm going to count this as winning something.

Thanks Karl the quality time in the truck and racing with me. Thank you Jamie for dealing with life while I'm gone for days at time riding my bike.

Snow, Flu and Parts

2009-10-27T16:22:00.001-06:00

First of all, anyone know who left the deer parts above the race track? What kind of sicko ~~leaves~~ puts dead animal parts on a trail? I really wish they wouldn't open the gate. Enough complaining.

Moab was great! Good times with good friends. And yes, I do realize that was a couple of weeks ago... Karl and I are planning on another trip to CA for the 12 Hours of Temecula. It's a fun race, well organized and generally a good time. Aside from the drive. We usually stop in Vegas or St. George on the way home for a little ride to stretch the legs and break up the drive. Anyone else interested?

Woke up this morning after a couple days of being sick to snow in the back yard. I'm guessing that means no more Diamond Fork trips this year. Too bad, I really like that area. Great trails with plenty ups and one of the best descents around (personal opinion). Back to the flu. It's one thing when I'm sick, but it really sucks watching helplessly as Brennen suffers. He even got a flu shot. Me being sick put an extra load on Jamie, she had to pretty much take of Bren herself for two days while I laid in bed and slept. She's the best!

I hope things dry out for trick or treat...

Fall Riding

2009-10-01T19:48:00.002-06:00

What a difference a day makes. On my Tuesday ride I had sweet rolling down my glasses and my jersey was crusted in white. Sorry, kind of gross. Wednesday it rained and rained, then when I tried to sneak in a ride it rained some more. The weather man was predicting big winds, I believe blow your trampoline away is what he said. That didn't happen and this morning the sun was out. Go figure. I decided on the road bike assuming the trails would be muddy and off I went. I haven't ridden the road bike for a couple of weeks and still can't figure out why my legs start to feel it within a couple of miles. I made my way up South Fork. Quite a variety of colors, unfortunately the town folk had the same idea (damn cars). I was really surprised when I reached the top of the road and found this...

Yes it is ice and it's 1 in the afternoon.

Changing Leaves

2009-09-29T07:17:00.000-06:00

After a long week without riding I got in a good one Sunday morning. I reluctantly got out of the car to a brisk 55 degrees, sharp contrast to previous posts, and started up the road to the trail head. Diamond Fork again, there are still some trails I need to explore. I couldn't believe it the lower trail was covered with fallen leaves, I almost missed them changing. The farther up the canyon I went the better the views. I stopped at the Strawberry Ridge Road and was truly impressed, just high enough above the trees to see back on a mountain of color. The views alone made the ride worth it, but it was nice to ride again.

I noticed some new signage at the top. One, or all, of these trails is part of the Great Western. Too bad I didn't see any other signs along the way. I guess the GW comes from the Hobble Creek area? Which is where I'd like to end up one of these days. On purpose that is, I'd hate to park at DF and end up in Springville.

Hopefully we have a long fall. I'm not ready for snow and cold.

Pretty Boring Weekend

2009-09-21T22:06:00.000-06:00

Pretty boring weekend. No major plans. No races. Nothing. I wish there were more like it. Brennen and I decided to go on an adventure. He loves to go for bike rides. Which is cool, so do I. Only he likes to be pulled behind my bike. Which I don't like. I pretty much have to disconnect the rear brake. Over fifty pounds of kid and trailer doesn't stop well with only a front brake. Just a little on the scary side of life. Not to mention I have to readjust the brakes when the trailer comes off. I can't deal with squeaking brakes. Back to the adventure. I talked Brennen into riding his big wheel instead of being pulled. We were just going to go around the block, but he decided the park would be more fun. Believe it or not he made it. We had the park to ourselves. After a few minutes he decided to go to the fishy slide (the elementary school), maybe there would be some kids there. Off we went, the school is quite a ways from the park, especially for little plastic wheels. Same story at the school, no kids. We played for awhile and decided to go home. Again, he road the whole way.

I'm pretty proud of my little guy. It took us a couple of hours to complete the trip with a few play stops on the way. But he made it and I didn't have to carry the big wheel.

Another Year

2009-09-13T10:04:00.001-06:00

Another year has come and gone. I got to spend my day doing one of my favorite things, riding around in circles. Karl and I attempted the 12 Hours of Sundance as duo team. There were a few other fast teams in the category but we still managed 4th, not bad for a couple of dads. I felt pretty good during the race and feel like I rode each lap consistently. We'll see when the results get posted.

I owe it all to my prerace dinner...

Good Ride

2009-09-06T17:47:00.000-06:00

Last week Karl took me on a new trail up Payson canyon, Sheepherder Hill. It starts up the road on the left about a half mile from the cattle guard at the Winward turn out. The trail splits toward the top with the left branch heading toward Lizard Lake. I turned this into a funky lollipop, going past Lizard Lake to Jones Ranch, then back up the road to the Mt.Loafer Trail head and on to Blackhawk. Blackhawk is pretty beat up, cows! But Jones Ranch and Sheepherder Hill are in great condition.

I ran into a couple of hunters trying to fix their motorcycle. After some strange looks and uncomfortable pauses (on their part), I found out that a big cat had scared the one rider and he crashed. Apparently the cat didn't run away, it came down from the tree and started toward the lead hunter. Both of these guys were considerably bigger than me and on bigger bikes. I wonder if I had come up the trail first if you would be looking for me instead of reading about it?

The ride took me about three and a half hours, lots of ups and downs and fun single track. Besides the two hunters and the folks at Blackhawk campground I had the trails to myself.

Bad Ride

2009-08-23T20:49:00.000-06:00

We went to the basin again this last weekend. Grandma and grandpa got a new computer and our services were needed again. Lucky for me the she geek of the family was responsible this time. Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to try some new trails. After talking with the guys at Altitude and buying a map I headed to the Red Fleet area to ride Jazz/Chrome Molly, Three Amigos and Cabin Boy. Red Fleet is beautify, lots of slick rock, rolling terrain and, of course, the lake. Well the trails offered no slick rock, didn't really have any breath taking views or were all that fun. That's not completely the true, in some sections Jazz was fun. The guys at the shop said another entity was responsible for the trails in this area and they didn't want any outside help creating or maintaining the trails. "Sometimes the trail is a little obscure" is what I was told. After an hour of backtracking and searching for trail on Three Amigos I said the Hell with it and started taking dirt roads back toward the lake. Did I mention it was 100 degrees again. I had planned for a two hour ride, when finally saw the lake I was shocked. The trail head is a couple miles North and West of the lake. I was at the North East corner of the lake! Almost an hour of grinding up and down the road finally got me back to where the trail split from Chrome Molly to Three Amigos. I sucked down the last of my hot water and hopped back on the trail hoping to finish the ride with some fun single track. It wasn't fun, it was mostly a cow trail with a few ups and downs.

Because I couldn't find the trail or was pissed because my planned ride didn't work out doesn't make the other trails in the area bad, unless you compare them to those at McCoy Flats. There is a pretty cool down hill trail, Jumps and Ladders. If I wasn't completely dehydrated and had a few inches for travel I might have attempted this one. I can't decide if the it's worth giving this another shot. Linking the three together is the only way to make it a decent ride time and distance wise. The same group that built up the McCoy Flats area trails is responsible for some toward Lapoint. Maybe I'll try there next time.

Not Much

2009-08-17T21:05:00.003-06:00

It's been awhile but not much has been going on. My buddies have been training for Leadville, so I've been left to ride alone. Which isn't a big deal, my bike has been out of commission since the last race. It was the last one in the ICU series. I didn't do too bad, second behind Tim, despite crashing going up hill. Yes, up hill and not just tipping over but flat on the ground, twisted bars, broken shifter and shortness of breath. During the post race cleanup I decided it was time to replace some worn out parts. Red Shield kicked in and took care of a new chain, cassette and chain rings. To top things off, I finally put tires on my Stan's wheel set.

Hopefully I can remember how to ride in the dirt and the grass has stopped growing. I really miss the trails above the race track. Or maybe I'm just sick of South Fork and Squaw Peak. Any way, I've missed riding my mountain bike and look forward to tomorrow.

Follow up: I rode my mountain bike today for the first time since the race. I missed it! It really makes me wonder why I ride my road bike, why I put up with cars?

Pioneer Day

2009-07-25T20:40:00.004-06:00

Went to Vernal for Pioneer Day to try to burn down grandma's house again. It's still there. Brennen liked the small scale production much more than the sky rockets on the 4th. I only burned myself a few times during the show so I can't complain. Brennen did try to set grandma and Jamie on fire with a sparkler. It was my job to keep the sparks flying, not to watch the boy...

I couldn't resist the opportunity to ride my mountain bike and explore the McCoy Flat area more. It's been hard to find trails that aren't overgrown around here, so the desert single track was a nice change. I decided on Retail Sale and Fire Sale. Retail Sale is fast winding up and down ride. There are no major climbs or overly technical sections. Fire Sale on the other hand is a super techy riot! This branches off of Retail Sale and twists, drops and climbs its way back onto Retail Sale. I did a lap on each and would have gone back for another but was cooked. Literally cooked. It was 103 when I left with a consistant breeze. I took my camel back, 70 ounce bladder gone in an hour and a half. I've ridden for almost five hours from the corral trail head and yet to ride all of the trails in this area.

Stop by Altitude Cycles for a map of area trails and the latest trail conditions.

Retail Sale at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail: Geotagging Community

Happy Birthday

2009-07-20T11:28:00.004-06:00

Last weekend was the big birthday bash for Brennen. Three years old! All of his little friends came over for a pirate party fully equipped with a treasure chest piñata, pin the eye patch on the pirate, dig for buried treasure and a treasure hunt. Of course there was pirate cake and ice cream too. The best part of the party, a bunch of kids having a really good time in the backyard.

Happy Birthday Brennen and Jamie!

Parade

2009-07-08T09:38:00.005-06:00

We went to Vernal for the 4th for the ususal parade and fireworks. It's fun for Brennen because he has lots of cousins to play with. It's fun for mom and dad because there aren't nearly as many people! We get a chance to relax a little and let Brennen play.

It's even more fun for me when there are new trails to ride... The McCoy Flat area west of Vernal has some seriously fun desert single track. There a number of trails heading off in all directions from the 'corral', stop by Altitude Cycles in Vernal for a map. This will at least give you an idea of which trails to ride and where to start. There are a few other areas I have yet to ride that might be a better choice given the time. That said, time to ride! I choose the more adventurous approach and just started riding from the corral with the idea of taking all of the right forks.

The first trail, to the right of my car, was Cookies. Up and down, winding packed single track. This is the theme for the area.

The first fork lead my up Jackalope. This trail bounced back and forth between ridges climbing to someplace unknown. It eventually turned into Jacks, according to the sign, climbed some more and descended back to Cookies.

Continuing on Cookies the trails became Combo which crossed over the pavement (not the highway) and headed into the red hills.

I ran into Hoes and Milk from the other direction. Hoes looked more interesting and was right so off I went. To this point I was thinking these were perfect single speed trails... Hoes has some pretty good climbs, not pukers, but long enough I ended up in granny gear. The views from the top of trail were awesome! Hoes climbed up and followed the plateaus before dropping back into valley. Don't forget to stop and sign the register, it's in the ammo can.

I finally ended up back at the corral. Not because I'd ran of trails to explore, just water. Desert single track, it was warm.

Up highway 40 is another set of trails, Can You Moo and Upper Moo. This is where I've ridden in the past, Upper Moo is great. No one has ridden these trails since me last fall! I couldn't stay on lower trail it was so over grown and washed out. Didn't make it to the upper trail, so disappointed.

Don't bother with Moo, spend the day at McCoy Flats. Then try some of the other areas. If you bring the family, the Field Museum is pretty cool. At least Brennen thinks it is!

Not Racing

2009-06-23T18:49:00.004-06:00

So I have yet to finish a small part of my yard. I'll be doing this instead of racing for the next few weeks. The problem is I can't decide what to do. I want flowers, bushes and grass to match the other side of the house, but what happens when I need to get something 'big' in the back yard? Cement? It cracks and looks like hell. I don't really want any more than what I already have. Grass, curbing, mulch? I don't have a truck and don't want to burden my friends (thanks for all of the offers). What to do, what to do? Brennen thinks I should leave it the way it is.

Father's Day

2009-06-22T21:29:00.002-06:00

Typical Father's Day weekend, I guess... I spent the magic day driving back from Big Bear, CA with Karl, KC and Chris. Karl and I talked them into joining us for race #2 in the 12 Hours of Temecula race series. The race was a lot of fun and we actually did pretty good.

Notice anything in the picture? California, grapes and sunshine, freezing cold! It was nice during the day. When I finally made it home my family was sleeping and I was too tired to do much more than crash on the couch. I woke up to cards and coffee. Jamie ordered my favorite Kona. I'll be happily caffeinated for the next month. Brennen came home from preschool with this for me.

Father's Day might be fun again.

Carnival

2009-06-14T06:39:00.003-06:00

Saturday started out like normal, up at the ass crack of dawn and off to the races while the family is still sleeping. It's really hard to grind coffee without waking everyone up. This weekend was Deer Valley. Fun course lots of tight fast single track and switch backs. There is only one bad climb, the third time around it was really bad! This was my last ICUP race before heading back for race #2 in the Temecula series. The ICUP races are great, 2 hours of all out effort. In CA things change a bit, the race lasts for 12 hours. Six hours for me and six for Karl, assuming neither of us has an issue and the other gets to pick up the slack (that's never happened before). I've got to give a big thanks to Chad. He and traded back and forth the entire race pulling each other along, we worked together to come from mid pack to top five. Not to mention having a pretty good time along the way.

We got board sitting around in afternoon and decided to visit the carny in Springville. Brennen has never been and was amazed by all of the stuff. Needless to say he ran around like a crazy man and had a great time. We left before the fireworks, the skies were dark and I didn't want to get rained on anymore.

Backyard Fun

2009-05-31T19:52:00.002-06:00

Pre Race Ride

2009-05-08T20:55:00.005-06:00

The day before a race I like to ride, for no other reason than to make sure my bike is working. I haven't ridden the Whiting Campground trail yet this year; it's close, short and fun. I just add more stans to both tires so this would be a good test. My bike is already to race, clean, lubed and adjusted. Here we go...

There were six water crossings on the way up! Three with 'bridges', two with fast water just below hub (on a 29" wheel) and the last was just flowing over the road at the campground. Needless to say, the fun factor kicked in and I kept riding. To add insult to injury my rear wheel slipped off of one of the log bridges dropping the bike and my pretend bashguard, it taco-ed. I was forced to use a Neanderthal hammer to fix it just so I could keep riding through the river. My short ride wasn't so short. My bike is a mess. Brennen fell asleep at 7pm (for the night, we think). This is going to be fun...

Trail maintainance?

San Diego

2009-04-29T20:07:00.011-06:00

Jamie had a trade show in San Diego so Brennen and I decided to tag along. Bren really liked the flight, especially taking off. He fell asleep before take off and missed out on the ride back, not so happy about that...

Shortly after arriving in CA we went to help mom setup the booth. Bren got kicked out! I wonder if this will become a pattern? So we wandered around the hotel and marina until she was finished. California, 'Sun and Rasins', was damn cold. Swimming pool, out of the questions. I only lasted 5 minutes and I didn't get more than my feet wet. The beaches were a ton of fun, but same thing. The only reason I could stay was because of the constant laughter watching Brennen chase waves.

Yes, that's a massive margarita that Jamie and Bren shared (kidding of course)...

They had some pirate ships, part of the maritime museum, that Brennen got to sail, probably the best part of the trip for him.

Then we went to the zoo. Not much to say about that, just a bunch of animals, including mine.

More pics of our adventure Zoo, Pirates, Beach

Look Mom

2009-04-24T07:22:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I do really stupid things, this just confirms Brennen is mine...

Farmer Tan For Life

2009-04-20T21:25:00.001-06:00

When I was younger, about a decade ago, I had a great tan. I'm talking spend a week at Lake Powell in August and not get burned tan. Since then there are some parts of my body that rarely see the light of day, which is probably a good thing. On occasion I try to remedy this problem, unfortunately it always results in some serious sun burn. An afternoon in the backyard, trip to the fake bake or 10 minutes on the beach all turn out the same, extra crispy. Learning from my mistakes I don't visit the tanning salon, work topless (hmmm) or lay out at the pool (unless in vegas and forced to do so by my wife, which resulted in her chance to meet scary spice). The funny thing is I spend a descent amount of time outside, I just can't seem to fix, or even improve, my jacked up tan...

My latest baking courtesy of The Rabbit Valle Rally, 2:10:02 (9th place) of pure biking fun!?

Rain and Snow

2009-04-17T19:55:00.006-06:00

Last weekend was ify, Sunday I managed to ride the south shoreline trail. Despite raining all day Saturday the trail was dry. You've got to love sand!

In Slate Canyon someone has created 'Little Stonehenge'.

This week started out great. Karl and I had a good ride above the race course, except for the trail being a little messed up from horses and elk the weather was perfect. And then...

I sure hope Fruita is better.

2009-04-08T07:21:00.002-06:00

Finally got back on the bike after the race. Cholla, the last race, was tough. It was hard to spin or push a big gear on the flats. I felt great on the climbs and descents, but the guys at the front were too strong.

After a lunch ride up the canyon, the spillway was active. The cell-cam really doesn't do it justice, but it was pretty cool.

The foothill trails were really in bad shape. At first I thought the horses had been up in the mud. Then I started to notice the 'droppings', Elk. They've been using the same trails and really done a number on them. Dammit Elk! Sorry inside joke.

Nothing New...

2009-03-15T07:56:00.005-06:00

I just need to get rid of the snow covered fort, it's a little depressing. I finally started riding again. The month vacation really hasn't helped my racing efforts. Funny thing, after a few days on the mountain bike my back feels better. Karl missed our Saturday ride and went later, he claimed that he made it to the Alter. Of course I didn't believe him and had to find out for myself.

I decided to see how out of shape I am, so went as hard as I could from the mouth of the canyon to the dirt road above the race track. I only chose to stop the insane effort there because I was going to puke. After a little recovery spin down the road I started toward the alter. I must admit Karl was telling the truth, aside from the horse tracks the trail was in decent condition. I climbed Betty and headed down Frank, if those are the names we're using this year, toward Dragon's Back. I felt great my back wasn't bothering me (much) then, Stan's in the face! I ripped another side wall, Bontrager tires suck! That's three tires this year and I've only ridden half of the year. Any suggestions? Wait, no one reads this...

Sky Fort - Follow Up

2009-03-05T09:28:00.004-07:00

Then it snowed...

and we had to play inside.

Sky Fort - Complete

2009-03-04T08:59:00.001-07:00

Almost a weeks worth of work, several trips to the doctor (no not Karl) and countless lost pieces but it's finished! This was quite the experience. Brennen helped me almost the entire time. He was even really helpful, well sometimes. Regardless of the time or pain, watching him run through the backyard and climb all over the fort was totally worth it!

The best was me teetering on the ladder putting the roof on. Brennen was handing me the roof boards so I didn't have to climb down each time. That was pretty cool.

I must admit, I'm afraid to mow the lawn. All of thew screws, washers and bolts that magically disappeared while putting the fort together may turn into flying projectiles. Most of them went down the slide, some got hauled away in the dump truck and I'm sure some will show up in the washing machine, not from me of course.

The first ICUP race is this weekend in St. George, I'm not going to attempt it. It would be really embarrassing to DNF the first race. Hopefully my back will cooperate and I can start riding hard, well as hard as I ride, again. I'm a little frustrated reading about my friends' riding experiences. I really feel left out. Not that I wasn't invited, but that I just can't ride like I want to. The weather is great, the roads and most of the BST are dry (enough), I just can't seem to get this thing to go away.

Sky Fort - Phase 3

2009-02-23T13:16:00.007-07:00

The fort made it to the back yard. It doesn't look like much has changed since the last post but trust me, it took a lot of work to get this part done.

Luckily the ground was frozen when I moved the base from the garage to the backyard, dragging that through the mud would have been real fun. After digging up my lawn to level the ground and a few hundred pounds of cement for spot footings it's time for some fun, I can't play in the fort all day.

This actually took place over two days, the footings needed to dry before we could climb on the fort. Sunday morning Brennen and I started early. I put the floors on while Brennen terrorized the cats with his tractor. Because it was warm the trail behind the house was busy, all of the neighbors just stared as the wandered past. They're jealous, my kid has the coolest backyard.

The slide isn't supposed to go on until last but Brennen was such a good helper he needed to have some fun too. I know it doesn't appear to be completely safe, but where's the fun in that? Maybe that's why everyone was so concerned about what we were doing?

I'm done, my back is killing me! I can barely walk! I need to consult with my doctor. Don't know when the next phase is going to happen.

A little update. My lower back is [utah valley fix]'d up! It's been great weather and I can't ride my bike or work on the Sky Fort. I can barely walk. I can't sit in a chair for longer than 5 minutes. I damn near passed out changing my boy! This sucks to say the least... Maybe I should quit trying to be the best damn-all-around-do-it-yourselfer?

Sky Fort - Phase 2

2009-02-23T12:58:00.009-07:00

A few boxes, big slide, table full of hardware and hundred pages of instructions, this will be fun...

It took about three hours to unpack the boxes and organize the pieces. The nice thing is each piece is labeled and the instructions refer to them. Cool! Let's get a jump on things and put a few parts together.

My helper is getting excited...

Eight hours later I've got a good start and only had take the base apart a couple of times. The instructions suck! I can't believe I used to do this every day. I hope the boy likes it.

Dinosaurs

2009-02-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

The weather sucks! Some sunshine would be nice. Jamie and Brennen have cabin fever, we need to do something. On many a trip to Moab I've passed a billboard for the CEU dinosaur museum, 'Introduce your monsters to ours'

Brennen loves the dinosaurs, but every time we visit he runs through entire place. Mom and dad, sometimes grandma and grandpa, end up missing it all in an effort to keep up the boy.

We decided on the golden arches for lunch, not the Price has much more to offer, but they have a play place. I think Brennen had more fun there than the museum.

Sky Fort - Phase 1

2009-02-09T12:25:00.001-07:00

Mom and dad have been looking at play houses for last year or so without much luck, either they've been priced to high or dad thought they would fall apart. Then one day, a Saturday I believe, dad stumbled upon exactly what he wanted. The Sky Fort and it's available at Sam's Club. Long story short, off to the store for a first-hand look see, yep. Done four boxes and a slide. Now how to get it home? Uncle Matt to the rescue (again). Get to work dad!

Racing?

2009-02-09T08:00:00.001-07:00

My first season racing 'Expert' was definitely a learning experience. Some races were better than others. Sometimes I even did good, at least in my eyes. The year ended on a high note, first and second places at the 'nationals'. Now if I could race that well with the locals...

Karl and I drove the party bus to Tecemula. This was one of those bad races last season. I really needed to do better this time. Despite a major blow out (flat tire), Karl and I did all right. Thanks to the guys from Racer's for saving me and giving us someone to chase, at least for a few laps.