What to expect
No need to get into all the crap that's been going on for the past few months, but aside from that, there are a lot of things on which to get caught-up. LOTOJA is still a go for this year, but given how fast things have been known to change, anything can happen. Huntsman has called off , or modified several events this year. At the moment, Huntsman Heroes is still going, but at a far diminished force. Bummer!: That's how it's going to be.
Riding Conditions
As of this writing, the road bike hasn't seen any action. It is still hanging in the garage from last years race. Since then, it has been all MTB. The image above is from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, looking back toward Allen Peak. This is good early season riding, albeit a tad technical. I really don't care to ride it after it gets warm, as the Rattlers tend to sun themselves across the trail. I grew up on this mountain and know it well. I've dispatched more than my fair share of that vermin, but I hate stumbling onto them while riding. It's generally not good for either side. Still, riding early in the morning tends avoid such problems.
Riding the local favorite. You know; the one that makes me work my guts out. The image from above is the Cole Canyon Water Fall as seen from the overlook (the top). A week ago the trail was pretty darn dusty for this time of year. Several small storms have made the trail ideal. Saturday morning, the snow level dropped to about 6,000 feet - just below the look-out. That evening the conditions were superb.
During the warmest days of the year, I find this trail to be a great evening workout, when I don't have time to be on the road for 3+ hours. If I can catch it just after the sun drops behind Willard Peak, I can sprint (climb hard) for about an hour. Occasionally you'll see a snake on the trail, but usually they're trying to get out of the way. Occasionally there will be a Rattler stretched across a trail or road as well., but not often enough to worry about. At the moment, I have to deal with the occasional horse, rider or hiker, but nothing too serious. The fact that I can ride excellent trails right out of my garage is awesome. I see dozens of cars and trucks dragging bikes up here to ride what is literally outside my door.
This past winter
A lot has happened since last fall. You'll catch more of the details as the summer progresses. For now, there is a ton of ground to recapture.
Brothers'...........
Last December some old friends of mine got together in town. I had other commitments, so I couldn't make the event. Still, they sent a few group pictures of the gang. I'm not sure if I found the correct image, but I think it is the one shown below (they all look alike). I talk to a couple of these guys on occasion and we compare notes. Sometime talk about old times, but generally just get caught up on what has happened over the years. I ran into one particular chap (he calls himself the "angry black-man"), a darn good guy. I've known him since little league baseball. We played football together all through school - on the line together most of the time. We are employed (if you can call it that) by the same company. When I ran into him the other day, he was like everyone else - a little less sure of things. Later that day I heard a song radio that reminded me of riding the bus back from a long road game (that we won). The radio on the bus was blaring and things had turned into a casual sing along - for lack of a better description. As bad as things were then, we really didn't care. We were all living in the moment. Life was good......I mean it was great. Somewhere I have a picture of our O-line, with both tight-ends, "the angry black-man" in a leg cast and our position coach. When I think of that moment, I truly believe we all thought we could do anything. One of these days I'll find that picture............
Maybe not all beer drinkers, but certainly hell raisers.......
Ride HARD!
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