Winter Riding Is Here

 I returned from Taiwan last weekend and was excited to ride my bike. The only bike available was my Rig single speed. While maybe not the optimal bike, I was still excited. After not riding for a week, I felt really strong. It was a great day to be on my single speed. It made me think maybe I should have done absolutely nothing between Mt. Ogden (100K) and Park City Point to Point. Hmmm....
Then the weather got cold. I had to ride inside and did some cross training--running.
Chris and I have some vacation days we need to burn through so we took Friday off. While we were going to go to Moab, we decided to the stay local for the day. Most of the lower stuff in Provo Canyon was in great condition. Things got wet and muddy above the altar. We ran into some lunch riders and even hooked up with Kenny and Miles for a bit. We also saw Jeff Jarvie and one of his friends. Jeff had a new Superfly 100--pretty sweet.

Chris approaching the Altar

The gully on Area 51

  On Friday evening, we left and met Keith in Moab. The plan was to ride with him on Amasa Back and then while he had an afternoon meeting, we would ride something else. Maybe Porcupine Rim.
We started up Kane Creek Blvd and were met by a road block. Some guy shot a Park Ranger near Poison Spider parking lot the night before. Maybe it was Phast Dan. He is into guns lately, but I don't think he would shoot a park ranger. They were still looking for the guy and due to the proximity--just across the river--they evacuated this area also and no one was allowed to enter.

Kane Creek Blvd Road Block

 Given the situation we decided Keith probably had enough time to fit in Porcupine Rim. So we headed to the school, our usual "trail head" for this ride.The wind was blowing pretty hard. And it felt as if we consistently had a head wind. I am not sure how that happens. We maybe caught a tail wind 10% of the ride even though we rode a loop. There was also snow at the top, but it was not that cold.

SNOW!

Keith heading down the trail

Closing the loop from Porcupine Rim

Potash Rd Road Block

 After parting ways with Keith, Chris and I headed out to Sovereign. We were both pretty spent after Porcupine given the wind. So we wimped out and started at Chuck Wagon as a trail head. We ran into a large group of trials bike riders. Chris was enchanted. He just picked one up and is excited to get it running.

A view from our turn around point on Sovereign

Chris taking some water, again.

Photos N' Such

 That is what I look like running in cycling clothes. Weird. That is the cheer leader that beat me.

On the final (parade, lunch) lap.

 Lap one

 Another of the parade lap

Lap three--the final day lap

KC & the Sunshines (Jill, Erica, Jen) atop the podium minu the KC

I don't think we ever got a full team photos. That's a bummer. Thanks again to Jen, Jill, and Erica for playing mtb racing with me in S. Utah. Good times. Fastest female lap results are here. (Erica is a punk!) And results are here. Here is the question that has been plaguing me a bit. Should I (we, Erica joined me) have gone out for the final lap? We ended up nine laps up on our closest (female) competition. Was that just mean? What would Phast Dan have done?

25 Hours of Frog Hollow

Erica and I started scheming a couple of months ago about putting together a fast team for 25 Hours of Frog Hollow. It was on and off and then on again. Within this time the team structure (i.e. category) morphed quite a bit. In the end, we put together a fast four woman team. We were super excited that Jen graciously accepted our proposal. It took some time to find the fourth, but Jen and Erica knew Jill, a recent transplant to PC. And then we were ready.
Friday was all about camp set up, meeting up with friends, and pre-riding the course.The course consisted of a long dirt road climb. It had varying grades and oscillated a bit. I never really minded it. Then we jumped on the Jem single track and let it fly. It rolled and flowed and is delightful. Another short road section spit us on the Virgin Trail head. From here we jumped on Hurricane Rim and back to the Jem. The course was crazy fun.
Both Erica and I were vying a bit for the fastest lap. I am not as conniving as Erica is though. She asked specifically not to do the first lap because she thought it would hurt her knee...and she knew that running adds time to your lap. She is a punk. I said I would not mind running because really could it be worse 24 Hours of Moab? The answer is no. In the end (and as I expected) Lynda got the fastest female lap.
So I took the first lap and I think I ran pretty well. The dirt was hard packed which made the run interesting with my choice of foot wear (cycling shoes). I was able to pass some guys on the road climb. I think I needed to let a guy or two by on the Jem. I did get beat by a cheer leader. I have some issues with that, but as was pointed out he was not likely a real cheerleader. (The event encouraged costumes.)
My first three laps were in the daylight. I was pretty consistent around 55 minutes. I had light issues on the first night lap. I had my lights all set up and went to turn them on, but nothing. My brand new (only used twice in Moab) light was not working. Jill would be back at any minute. Chris was on his way out for his lap. So thankfully Shannon, helped me do a quick switch. I was late meeting Jill by only a minute or so, but Chris let her know I was coming. My next two laps were also in the dark, but less eventful. These were a bit slower. I scrubbed some speed on the Jem for safety's sake and obviously my legs were a limiting factor on the climb.
It looked as if I would get a final lap in just before the cut off time. I was tired, my gut was upset, and there was no reason to go out. We had each done six laps a piece and we were a bit up on the competition. I did not want to leave time remaining though. When I told Erica that I was for sure going out and that it would be a parade lap, she offered to join me. So we brought cameras and snacks. We stopped for pictures and had a bite on the course. 

I can't find official results yet, but we definitely had a good showing. And Phast Dan was there racing with (Uncle) Larry, Mark and (his Dad) Kevin. It was fun to hang out and see them. Dan was a bit disappointed in my team's results. I promised him we would be better next time.