A quick night ride up in the foothills tonight. Up the Water Tank road, up Betty, went up past the Altar 20 yards then took a left on the new, roughed-in trail that goes west and generally follows Lament (very fun ride!), up Crank then took 051 (Lament) west/north, down Dry Canyon then back on BST. I had sunlight until Betty then turned on the bike lights. Dry Canyon in the dark looks scarier - over the edges it appears bottomless due to the ink-black shadows.
(Hey Sham-wow, why do I forget you live so close to me? We need to get together for some night rides, unless my slowness would drive you nuts.)
OK, on to the new stuff (sorry, no new bike stuff).
Last week I watched a 5 minute presentation about remote control flight on the cheap (presentation slides). I got so pumped I ordered the parts the next day. I picked up the airplane kit locally and built it Sunday (while I stayed home with my son who was acutely constipated, but I won't go there). I'm waiting for the radio, motor, batteries, servos and other bits to be shipped from a discount hobby store in Hong Kong.
The airplane I bought is a GWS Slow Stick. It's a cheap beginner plane that flies slow and steady. Years ago I flew R/C gliders at The Point. This plane is powered by an electric motor and it's docile and quiet enough I can fly it at the local park. I'll let the kids fly it too.
It was pretty easy to build - most of the parts are ready to go, just needed some assembly. I put the stickers only on the right side so when it's far away you can tell which way it's facing (trust me, it can be hard to tell from the ground sometimes).
CD in photo to show scale
Here's a Slow Stick (outfitted with pontoons) taking off from Lake Powell with a camera attached to show the bird's-eye-view:
Once I get comfortable flying this plane I'd be happy to let people take it for a spin. Let me know if you're interested.
If I would have known it was going to rain Saturday afternoon I would have gone for a ride in the morning. But work first so I bought new tires for my car and got it (and the van) inspected and registered. Oh, joy.
We were planning to attend the Bike Peddler season-end ride and BBQ. The rain nixed the ride for us and most of the others, except these two die-hards:
When they rolled in they were both so cold they could hardly talk and were shivering uncontrollably.
It rained off and on (and even a bit of hail), but the burgers were good and the fire was warm.
Josh (photo below far right) ran a little point series and the frozen mud man (photo above right) took the glorious trophy (next to Josh below).
But tomorrow looks OK and I'm going to try a mountain bike ride. I hope Corner Canyon isn't muddy.
Rode Corner Canyon again tonight - this time with Mark. Still good conditions.
A little different route: from equestrian center up Creekview, up Clarks, down Mistress, up Canyon Hollow and Brocks, down Brocks then up the upper part of Canyon Hollow, down the dirt road, down Ghost Falls (amazingly fast and fun), down Stairs and down Canyon Hollow.
The photos are from Mistress (Jamie, you better name that trail before Mistress sticks). The trail is settling in nicely. Still a bit rough, but that will smooth out. A few turns are wicked tight, maybe just need some tweaking. Already flows nice and will only get better.
Chatted with Brad in the parking lot. He was rolling a secret weapon cross bike that he'll unleash Saturday. And Brad's facial hair is full in - it would be rad if it were part of his Halloween costume.
Changed clothes and left work at 5 to ride Corner Canyon.
The low 50s and blustery wind had a little sting to it.
Rode from the equestrian center up Corner Canyon, BST, Pipeline, South Ghost Falls, Canyon Hollow, Brock's Point.
Then up the old double-tracks to Jacob's Ladder.
It has been months since I last did Jacob's. Unfortunately the trail has taken a beating. Way more washboards (especially before the turns) and a few deep grooves. Hey, sKids, knock it off! It was still fun, just not as sweet.
I continued down Ghost Falls - wow!
Last week Jolene rode it with the girls and most of the leaves were still on the trees. Now most of the leaves are fallen, but the leaf carpet is fantastic. I think I slipped into a psychedelic trance a few times as I watched the technocolor trail. The trail was perfectly hard and tacky.
Ran into a UMB buddy, Jake, on the way down and we finished off with a run down Creekside.
Some good color in the sunset as the finale.
Saw a few PsychoCross guys doing laps - getting ready for the Draper race this Saturday. No way I would have traded my ride for that. I did the race last year on my mountain bike - felt pretty much like an ICup race, meh. The cross addicts tell me the bike makes a difference so perhaps I'll finagle a real cross bike and try again. I dunno, hard for me to give up the trails while they're still not snowed in.
Mark and I rode the Glenwild / Flying Dog loop Saturday afternoon. Comfortable temperature and sunny under a bright blue sky.
We rode clockwise (first time going this direction for me) and I liked it. The climb from Sagebrush up into the Aspens of Flying Dog was just the right effort I was hoping for. I enjoyed rolling down the switchbacks on the east side.
The trail was in good shape (except for a few wet spots). Plenty of people out riding, but spread out enough it didn't feel crowded. A sweet 2 hours of Fall riding with the musty smell of fallen leaves in the air.
I'm not into celebrities. There are a few people I admire and think it would be cool to meet, and I take note of the news enough that if a name comes up in conversation I will sometimes know who it is, but that's about it.
(Tangent: Asking for an autograph seems lame to me. And don't get me started on kids at Disneyland hounding "characters" [aka teenagers in costume] for autographs.)
But yesterday I found a reason to like Andy Hampsten. A lot. In fact, he's a hero to me. Why? Because of this photo I saw on FatCyclist:
Those are Andy Hampsten's legs in the foreground left. And you see why I got excited, right? No, not his socks or shoes.
Andy's legs have hair!
That's right, a pro cycling icon is not shaving his legs! Finally, a big name in cycling is taking a stand against the vain and emasculating practice of leg shaving.
I can feel it, this is a milestone in cycling history similar to when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat. With Andy's bold stand the winds of cycling fashion are about to change in favor of au natural. Free from the bondage of the razor!
Thanks to Andy, when some girly-legged cyclists makes a snide comment about my leg hair I will just tell them cycling legend Andy Hampsten doesn't shave, and if leg hair is OK with him, it's OK with me and should be OK for every cyclist.
Stand tall, Andy! The hairy-legged cyclists of the world stand with you.
This blog is mostly about cycling, but I have other interests I'll mix in.
I started mountain biking in 1990 and picked up road biking in 2005. While other interests have come and gone, I can't recall a year I didn't ride. The last few years I've been riding more than ever.
I live in Orem, Utah close to lots of great trails and roads. My wife also rides. We have 4 children.
