Return to the scene of the Crime

Not the Best of ideas

Saturday afternoon I had a little spare time, so I thought I'd try to get a ride in between rain showers.  I started by just getting the mountain bike back to the dirt and before you'd know it, I'm climbing up the single track at the south side, near the north side of Ogden Canyon.  Admittedly, this wasn't the best of my recent ideas.  The trail is generally quite confined with little room for error.  Still, I needed to start somewhere.

I was being careful, as I know this trail fairly well.  This particular part I've not seen for about ten weeks.  I stopped at the little spots that would be technical and walked through, which turns out wasn't smart.  I soon realized how easy I could damage my ankle again - even while walking.  After getting through the less technical side, I took more risk by going into a far more difficult section.  About halfway through, I decided to take the first trail down, which was also pretty steep.  What started off with a "charge" quickly turned into "I'll sit this one out".

All the stopping and walking gave me a chance to take in the vistas that I used to take for granted.  Plenty of indications the Rattler's have been out.  A couple more weeks of warm to hot weather and there will be enough snakes on the trail to make it not worthwhile.  Play it by ear for now.  Colder weather at the moment is a great time to go wander these trails.  Pretty spectacular.

Easy riding back to the base, I'm quickly realizing how little confidence I have in the dirt (and rocks).  Maybe next week will be a good time to get on the road.

I've developed a pattern of starting out fast and hard and slowing way down.  It's kind of like a Robin Trower piece - up-tempo and hard, slow and deliberate to the end.

Try a little Trower from a long time ago. A stitch in time.......I think I'll sit this one out.

Patience!  Ride HARD

First Post 2018

Year of the "Bent Flipper"........

Did somebody say something about April?  Okay, so I'm a little behind schedule, but some things are unpredictable - or maybe unforeseeable.  Well........... let's be honest, there are two types of bike riders; those that have crashed and those that will.  Maybe it was simply inevitable, but still - here we are anyway.

The reason I waited so long to post was simply to get back on a bike - any bike, before I officially started the season.  Before the crash, I had a pile of hours riding the foothills on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  That ended eight weeks ago, so I'm pretty much starting over.  I've been spinning for the past three-plus weeks, but only with marginal results.  The ride tonight was just a little scoot with the new mountain bike.  Enough time to know where my limits will be, so no hard single track for the next few weeks - at least.  Back on the spin bike tonight, I did have a little better attitude.

I'm really looking forward to this year, as I think we have a solid plan.  I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous, but I'll get through that eventually.  Confidence is low and I'm still hurting, but that is just an excuse.  I can choose to turn the pain off when I get over-cooked, but that goes against what I've always said.  I need to suck it up and put it behind me.  Eventually, it will pass.  No scars, at least not from this crash, just some residual swelling.  I've got to keep a focus - all around.

So..........for those that are new to "the porpoise"; stick around.  This is gonna be great!  Those returning.................thanks for keeping the faith.

Click here - Keep the Faith!

The Porpoise Rides for ALL!

Hang around, we're ride'n HARD!

Final Post of 2017

HOPE

 A link to start off with - while you read. Click here and then return to the main page to read - Every body hurts.

Couldn't sleep - again.  There's a lot on my mind, so I thought this would be a good time to clear things up.

This past weekend was a complete wrap-up for the past year - in  a sense.  Cancer has played a significant roll and it started early in the year.  Turns out, about the same time my wife's mother was taking her final breaths in this life, a family very close to us was hit with a diagnosis that would prove to be equally devastating.  Saturday morning, I sat with literally many hundred others, paying a final tribute to a little soul and her family - that brought an entire valley together to promote hope.  Hope that a precious five year old would have a fighting chance to beat a diagnosis that was terminal.  It wasn't to be.  As I sat there, trying not to tremble with the emotion that filled my body, her father spoke to the congregation and explained; "Nobody is strong enough to do this before it happens.  You become strong as you go along and learn to fight it."  From my wife's mother, to a friend, to finally this.................  I've been searching within.

Last year I decided well before the season, to ride for Huntsman again.  In fact, well before this whole series of events started I reluctantly decided to do so.  My heart wasn't really in it from the get go.  Around the first of July, I was "mailing it in", all the time thinking this was a mistake.  Rides were not easy and I wasn't sure I could do it.  At that point it was all about "having to keep a commitment".  As I rode, I started to write again.  It was kind a reminder of why I started to do this in the beginning.  Then.............that day in August.  I recently went back and read the post for August 17.  With a few months perspective, I began to see what things were really all about - kind of.  I knew what was coming and it almost became clear - in the peripheral anyway.

Sometimes we don't know the reason, but we've got to be prepared.  The purpose may not be there, nor the desire to fight, but we've got to be prepared to pick up and take action when it comes.  "It", being that thing that may seem too big to over come - so overwhelming that there may not be any hope.  That is where it takes a hero - to restore hope.  And from hope, a little faith will follow.

We do hard things because we can - because we choose to do them.  There are those of us who have no choice and cannot.  Your own strength is of no value if you choose not to defend those that cannot defend themselves.  It is the strength of the individual that must come first, before there can be the collective muster of all.  It is that amalgamation of individual strength that will make a difference.  Simply relying on others can't do it.  At some point, we all have to face hard things and do them - because............there is no choice for somebody else.

After this weekend, I have no doubt; the purpose (the Porpoise) will continue.  I have no idea what the future has in store, but I know I have about nine months to prepare for another LOTOJA - and during that time I intend to make a difference.  My effort alone can't do it and I will need all the support I can get.  That said, I need to give it my all before I expect anyone else of giving.

Suck it up!  It's time to prepare - prepare for a fight!  Follow the link below & "tune-in" around April.

Follow this link for "Hope"

"The Porpoise" 2017

Winding Down

Going Back.......................

So................The season is getting late.  Since the last post, I've done a ton of riding on the mountain bike.  A week in Park City at the end of October provided some new trails, with the kids.  Some adventure rides for sure.  The local trails have been getting muddier with every storm.  Snow comes and melts, but then somebody thinks its smart to take horses up the greasy trails - bad combination. 

The above picture is from a little ride I had Thanksgiving afternoon.  This around a lake where I spent considerable time - 40 years ago.  The single-track was pretty greasy, but like the idiot I am, I had to keep driving.  Needless to say, I found out I'm strong enough to bend a ring on my bike.  All the same, it was a really nice get-away.  The place sure has changed in just the past five years.  It's hard to imagine what it was like 40 years ago.

40 years ago; a theme that seemed to resonate from way back early last winter.  Man, 1977 seems like last week, but it was literally a lifetime ago.  The summer before I started 9th grade.  That fall I dis-located my little finger on my left hand one week into the football season.  I couldn't play until the City championship game.  I couldn't use that finger to play guitar for nearly 20 years.  I had a great year hunting and bagged my first Swan.  I taught myself to play the tuba (Eb- base) at the request of my band teacher.  I found my first true love - skiing.  My first exposure to truth - Led Zeppelin IV.  I could go on, but it doesn't matter anymore.  Still, '77 was a pivotal year for me and it all seemed to resonate this past season.  Funny, as much as I thought I had found, I was equally lost.

There is something fundamental about riding my bikes - any of them.  For that time, everything kind of disappears out of my mind.  Because I ride alone almost all the time, my mind can clear and just enjoy the moment.  It's hard to explain, but as much as it may hurt, it still takes me to a place away from my troubles.  Looking back 40 years ago, that was just it; those troubles seem so insignificant and far away.  Life was good, regardless of the challenges.  On my bike............I can be 14 years old again.  I just have to work harder in the off-season.

If '77 was a good year, '78 was a banner.  It's hard to believe that all happened so along ago - to me.

The last post for the season will go later this week.  Time fly's..................

Ride Hard!  In my life.........Enjoy this one

Across the sky..............

Ben Lomond Peak

 This was a ride I've been wanting to do for a long time.  The first time I hiked this trail was something like 43 years ago.  Our scout leader took a group of us 11 year-old scouts, by foot, from Mantua, to the top of North Ogden Divide.  This time, I did it in reverse order - with my bike.  As much as I'd like to say "on my bike" I need to be honest; there was a fair amount of pushing.  As much as I've had my mountain bike in some pretty hairy places, it is still an older, 26" wheel, full suspension, aluminum (heavy) bike.  That said, the 26" wheels don't fair as well over the rocky terrain.  So call it a ride with extended periods of "hike-a-bike".

The first hour, or so, is spent getting off the south facing exposure.  In the summer months, this can be hot.  This time the cold winds were right out of the south.  Dropping over to the east side, it becomes a bit more scenic, with more challenges.  Tree roots and long sweeping, constant climbs, versus the loose shale and rocks on the south exposure.  A while later and you crest over to the west side, look straight down at North Ogden.  From here it kind of skirts along a narrow trail, that at times, gets a little sketchy.  A little more than half way to the peak, you are more on top, but still pushing along the front edge - that is until you get to Bailey Springs, where all three trails from the south and east meet.  The peak is only a couple miles of trail ahead, but it gets steep and rocky.  Before long, it's all pushing, trying to find a good trail through the rocks.  The last half mile is pretty much all rock and steep.  The trail passes just below the peak, by less than 100 feet.  Nobody in their right mind takes a bike to the peak - that is in their right mind.

 At the top, you can see forever in all directions.  This day was breezy and cold.  I stopped long enough to have a few fruit snacks, a drink and snap a billion pictures.  One other person on top, with having seen only two others all the way up.  Pretty quiet even for a weekday, also pretty cold.  Funny thing; no sign of any wild life - at all.  Usually there are mountain goats just off the top, but not even a distant look.  Eerily quiet.

After getting the "money shot" I carefully got the bike down onto the trail and on the way north.  Still pretty rocky and dangerous, I had to push past a lot of rocks.  Eventually able to get on the bike, it was a pretty quick hop over to the Black Mountain, where I ran into a couple other hikers coming over from Inspiration Point.  The picture below is from the north side of Ben Lomond, at the west side of the Black Mountain, looking toward Ben Lomond with Mt. Ogden in the distance.

The vistas are spectacular from here - anytime.  But this day was particularly gorgeous.   The colors were already fading, but still full.  At this point it was time to get home - or at least to Mantua, about 16 miles away,

Around Willard Peak, the trail is narrow and rocky enough, that I didn't have the confidence to ride it.  Being tired and a little beat-up, didn't make it any better.  Not too long and I was back on the bike, but I decided to cut-off and drop directly into Willard Basin.  Maybe another 3/4 mile and I could hop on the service road at Inspiration Point.  Cutting directly down to the basin would shave about a mile off, but at a cost.  Snow on the single track made for an icy path - more pushing.  Down into the lower area, it was "hucking" the bike over felled trees.  Eventually I got back on the service road and started pedaling up and out.  Between the exertion and the altitude, I was pretty wasted.

Finally out of Willard Basin, I was on some steep roads, with long cross grades.  Not too far down, I caught an area of ice and went down - hard!  Pretty good road rash with a bruise to my ego.  From that point on, it was hard on the breaks the rest of the way down.  The road was loose and rocky, with the bike wanting to take off - but still no confidence.  Stopping for a quick phone call at Perry reservoir for a planned pickup, it was quite a view down toward home.  The rest of the way down was just holding the bike back, never really getting comfortable.  What seemed to be forever finally got me into town.

As much as I'd like to call it a ride across the sky, I'll have to settle for just "Across the Sky".  After all, it is literally the western skyline as seen from my house - and I rode it. It was harder than I had expected and I'm pretty beat-up as a result - but it is in the books. 

Snow is coming .................

The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond

A hard ride .......................

Autumn Riding

........and it couldn't be better.

A series of storms this past week brought snow to about 7,000 feet.  Most everything has burned off by now, but has definitely set the feel of the season.  Cool and maybe brisk at times, but worth the effort to make it out.

The trails are pretty good at the moment.  Pretty soft from all the precip, but not muddy - for the most part.  I followed some horse tracks up and over this evening, but didn't really see anything but the obvious signs and destruction left behind.  They are bad enough in dry conditions, but conditions this soft, they just rip everything apart - literally.  It is amazing to see the damage, not to mention the frustration of having to dodge the frequent wedding cake sized piles of................  Still beats a good day at work.

The leaves will be going fast now, so I'll try to make the most of the time.  As the days get shorter, I have to get out earlier and earlier.  The climbs are pretty good, but the overall ride is kind of short, thus I need to make up time on the indoor spin bike.  Still worth it all though.

I think I'll get the road bike out for one more spin before the conditions get too bad.  I'll have to take an afternoon off to make it happen, so we'll see ho it goes.

Here's to a little cool riding.....enjoy this cool tidbit.

Ride Hard!

Back on a bike after more than a week

Mountain Biking

So..........after getting home from the race, I had a million things to accomplish before leaving on a stressful business trip.  The trip was scheduled to run over the weekend, with about two weeks of work in four days.  Needless to say, it lived up to the billing.  Getting back late to the hotel made it hard (not impossible) to go for a quick run in the fitness room.  I really wanted to get on my mountain bike Sunday afternoon, then Monday night, but neither happened.  After some pretty good rain today, I did manage to get out with just enough time to beat the darkness.

Again, up to the old reliable; Mules Ear, on the mountain bike (X2).  I really didn't feel the need to hit it hard, but rather sat back and enjoyed the ride.  Into the single track, it seemed to just kind of flow.  By the time I got into the lower switchbacks, it was feeling pretty easy - little if any strain.  At the upper switchbacks, I was still out of my bailout gear and moving at a pretty solid rate.  Out around the face and I was confident I would make it over the top without stalling - provided I could get over the last two rock ledges.  Before I knew it, I was over the top and around to the east overlook.  Needless to say, the balance and leg strength felt better than expected going up.  The little routines I've been doing to fill the gaps since the race seem to be holding things together pretty well.

The descent was a little too dark.  Add to that, it was pretty cold and the fingers gripping the brake levers were numb.  It's been a little too long and my balance and confidence weren't what they need to be getting down.  I need a little more time on the mountain bike before I try to ride my last big dirt ride for the season - in maybe a week or two.

Overall, it was nice to feel the bite of the Autumn air, see my breathe in the air and have the mountain to myself.  This is truly the pay-off for the entire summer of training.  I just hope the season holds out long enough to to enjoy it more.

Riding the X2 - X-Ray Specs.....................

Ride Hard!