Well, it's been a long time coming but at least I know the engine starts now! That's one big step I don't have to worry about anymore. I can't believe it started up so easily after 5 1/2 years of sitting!
A few weeks ago my friend suggested doing one more long ride for the season. We planned it for the 16th and with the weather being as good as it was on Friday and me being on Fall Break from school, I couldn't resist. I rode down to American Fork Canyon and we rode the Alpine Loop and Cascade Springs before heading home. It couldn't have been a better day, temps were in the high 60's for most of the ride and I was taking my birthday present out for their maiden voyage. Boy were they good! Thanks G
Stats:
Distance: 191.77 km (119.2 mi)
Elevation Gain: 2,136 m (7,008 ft)
Link to interactive map
Gina surprised me good for my birthday this year. I had really been wanting a set of carbon wheels for some time but I'd written them off thinking that I would just get a pair of nice all-around wheels instead. Gina totally faked me out and, with a bit of help from my family, surprised me with these! I took them out for their first ride on Friday and boy were they good. Thanks for a great birthday Gina and fam, you guys are the best.
I haven't been taking too many pictures lately but Gina has been a bit busy.
Red vs. Blue Hill Climb (might have some pics at some point, results here)
Lotoja 2009 (results)
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A few of us from the U of U Cycling Team volunteered to be mobile course marshals for the "Felt Tour de Park City" back on August 1. We had a great time riding the course after all the other groups had passed through (essentially sweeping the course). The idea was that we could help patch tires, tend to crashes (if any), and help riders with mechanical problems... the irony of it all is that we didn't fix anybody's tires except our own. To be more specific, between just two of us (out of 4 of us total), we ended up with 7 flats during the 170 mile ride! I normally average 1 flat per year, go figure.
We still had a great time throughout the whole thing and I was super-impressed with how well the race/ride was organized. The organizers and sponsors did a great job with great aid station food, good support staff and vehicles, and a well-organized start/finish area. Looking forward to next year... maybe I'll race it next year :-)
Stats:
7 flat tires (4 for me, or was it 3...? hmm)
277 km (172 miles)
2,344 m (7,690 ft) elevation gain
Park City > Coalville > Evanston > Mirror Lake Highway > Kamas > Park City
(Click for larger map)For some reason back in May I had a funny urge to go to some website called www.lotojaclassic.com and register. Knowing full well that I'd, of course, never get in via the lottery as a category 4 racer in America's longest single-day road race, I was signed up within minutes of going to the website. The reality sank in while sitting at a friend's house idly checking my email on my phone and low and behold an email from Lotoja Classic came in telling me I was in. So here I am just a bit more than a month away from the race and I'm just trying to squeeze in as many miles in the saddle as I can.
Luckily, a friend from high school said that he and some other friends were going on a good solid ride on Saturday wondering if I wanted to come. Having been only 1 week away from lounging on a sailboat for 10 days, I gladly said YES! (was I thinking?) At the end of the ride I ended up with the following...
Stats:
Distance: 138 km (85 mi)
Vertical feet gained: 1,813 m (5948 ft)
# of riders: 6
Map:
Elevation Profile:
To find out why I've been MIA, check out Gina Bina's blog
Here, Here, and Here
Here's a preview...
See my bike routes post by clicking the link or look over to the left at the top of the column to access it. Each link on that page will take you to an interactive map of the route.
The Tour of Park City route is linked under the "Summit County" section on that page.
First time up Big Mountain (in Emigration Canyon) for the year. This has to be one of the best rides in the SLC area.
View from the top (sorry for the crappy iPhone pic, I need a new Point and Shoot camera):
Elevation profile:
Map:
Apparently the video in my last post did not come through for those of you using Google Reader. If you're using Reader and you want to watch that video, please visit the blog outside of Reader.
This was another one from film so I don't remember the camera settings. Lens was probably 50mm f/1.8 at about f/11 and about 15 sec exposure.Couldn't help but pass this one along. Salt Lake City deserves a big pat on the back for being nominated and chosen as the U.S.'s healthiest city! Ahh, such pride :-)
Men's Healthiest Cities
Women's Healthiest Cities
I just have to do a bit of bragging about my wife and her new publication! Well, OK, it's not a full book, but it is a photo in a book. We have a few photos on iStockphoto.com to help us earn credits so that we'll buy other images there. (I know, it's a vicious cycle) We've sold a handful here and there to non-descript downloaders and maybe one day I'll spot one somewhere, but the photo below drew a bit more of a personalized crowd. We received a message saying that Greg Witt was including it in his book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Salt Lake City". We were pretty excited. Way to go GinaBina!
Ahhh, the good ol' days of film
Besides the party that we had for New Year's (I'm sure GinaBina will post about that...), we celebrated the new year and the new snow with snowshoeing up by Mountain Dell Reservoir.
Here's the view we woke up to yesterday...
