Autumn Panic

When the days get shorter, the air gets cooler and the leaves start changing color I panic a little. Even though Fall is a great time to ride, I get nervous it won't last long enough for me to get in all the riding I want to do before the snow flies. The only remedy I know is to take every opportunity to ride.

This means pulling a night shift in Corner Canyon on Thursday. A good ride with a good crew. I rode Clarks, Ghost Falls, Canyon Hollow, and the upper part of Jamie's trail. I ended my shift a little early and headed home at 11:30, but as I loaded up the bike I could see an undulating string of lights moving across the mountain side as they rode out on the BST - in the words of my son, it looked freakin' awesome. Rick wonders if the locals call in UFO sightings on Thursdays, after seeing it myself it looks like an alien invasion.

Saturday morning I joined a big crew to work on Jamie's trail. The trail dozer had cut a few more miles of trail and we were there to add the finish work. I spent a lot of time kneeling in the dirt cutting out roots (aka derailleur destroyers). When I rode back up the trail I was amazed at the transformation. This trail is good and only getting better. Jamie joked that one possible name for the trail is Divorce since Jamie has spent 5 weekends in it. My vote is for Pogostick. But maybe the right name will come once the trail is complete and we get a feel for it.

Just a little dirty from the trail work.


After the trail work Jolene and I met up with Andy and Rhonda for an outstanding Park City ride. Not a good start when I realized I forgot my shoes. Luckily we had just purchased some new MTB shoes for Jolene in Heber on the way up. I bought some cleats at Cole Sport, squeezed my feet into her new shoes and we were off. (Yes, my big toe hurt the whole ride, but it was so worth it.)

The Crest loop was one option on the table, but in the end we went with a fantastic route Andy put together. Up Crescent Mine Grade, down Thayne's Road, up Powerline, around the Shadow Lake Loop, down Keystone, down Apex, down Steps, across Riser, down Empire Link, up Tour de Suds, then return on Mid Mountain and finish off down Spiro and back to the cars on Silver Spur.

The ladies cranking up Crescent Mine Grade.


Jolene and I on Apex.


I was on the full suspension 26er Prophet today. The headset of the 29er X-Caliber is worn out (I should have it fixed this week). It was weird to be back on "small" wheels and full suspension again. I was riding like a spaz at first, but settled in after a few miles. I had to keep reminding myself to stay in the saddle. The cush of the rear suspension was nice. The new, full-coverage shift cable worked great all day with no shifting problems that weren't operator error.

Jolene all smiles on Empire Link.


All the trails were good, but the highlight for me was ripping down Empire Link. The trail flows through a thick forest and is loaded with humps for catching air.

There were definite signs of Fall with the leaves changing color. I recommend you get up there this week or next to check it out.

The Autumn colors are in the air.






We ended the ride with a long downhill run. Spiro was sweet. 25 miles and around 4000 feet of climbing.

After the ride we were all hungry. We ate 3 buffalo burgers and a turkey sandwich at Squatters. After dinner we said good-bye to Andy and Rhonda and drove home. A most excellent Saturday.