Salt Lake Century 2009, Etc.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. The camera I usually have with me for riding photos is lost. Hopefully it'll turn up soon. If you want more pictures, check out my report of last year's Salt Lake Century.



Yesterday I rode the Cycle Salt Lake Century for the 4th time (consecutively). It's a tradition with the people I used to ride with at Linux Networx (a company that is no more) - this year Dave, Kevin, Jason L., and Kepler were there. Joining Jason L. were his brother and some friends and co-workers.

My back was tight and sore Friday, but Saturday morning I felt OK so I decided to give it a try. My back felt OK the whole day.

The weather was excellent with cool but warm temperature, no real wind and sunny skies. A beautiful Spring day.

I won't bore with the travelogue, but just mention a few highlights.

Going out across the causeway to Antelope Island we were on the back of a nice paceline, but I got tired of the yo-yoing so I moved to the side and cruised at a pace I liked (20.? mph). As the pack's speed varied I slowly moved up until I was at the front. A few of my friends tailed me and I think the other paceline latched on, or maybe just some jumped ship. It probably wasn't smart to push that hard, but the pace felt good so I kept it in the 20s until we hit the island. Just before the marina a few riders came around and thanked me for the pull - I appreciated the comments and thoughtfulness. I like the comraderier amoung cyclists.

After the last rest stop I followed some of Jason L.'s friends. Strong riders, they were riding at 23 mph. It was fun to go fast. I stayed in the pack until the end where I took one pull then the traffic lights broke us up. I went pretty hard at the end even though I had twinges of cramps. I felt like burning up as much energy as I could - why not?

I enjoyed talking with everyone. For a lot of these guys I only see them once a year for this ride. Fun to catch up and hear what's new.

After the ride we had the traditional burgers at Squatters. Just Dave, Kevein and myself, but we had a good time reminiscing and talking about all sorts of things.

Another good Salt Lake Cenutury in the books.

Draper Race Course
Tuesday I brought my mountain bike so I could ride after work. I read about the Draper ICup race course on Rick's blog and had some concerns about the route, but dug and Rick assured it was good. So I decided to ride it and see. I bypassed the construction and the closed lower Corner Canyon trail by taking the Creekview trail. I made a half-hearted attempt to time-trial Clark's (had to pass 5 other riders, ended up with 15:12). I rode down Ghost Falls better than last week were I felt off. The course had been marked and it went differently than I assumed - turns out I'd misread the map in a few places. I retracted my erroneous objections, but still feel the course may be not-so-fun to race with hundreds of racers on it. Regardless I had a good time riding that route and plan to ride it a few more times - just for fun.

Lambert Park
Thursday I met Mark for a ride at Lambert Park. We could have joined the Bike Peddler's scavenger hunt, but we just felt like riding. 2.5 laps on Rodeo, 3 down Ruin, 2 up Spring, 1 down Wildcat and bunch of other trails. We had a good time.

Soldier Hollow Race
While I was riding 100 miles on the road, Jolene was racing on dirt at the Soldier Hollow race. She was happy to make all the climbs and come in 3rd. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love that my wife likes bikes. This photo does it for me.