"Official" Climb Start? & Checking In...

This week on the Emigration Canyon climb a funny story occurred to a new riding friend.  I had caught up with her about ½ through the canyon after making sure all of the riders of into the canyon, and she told me this story…

 About 2 miles into climbing the canyon this guy pulls up along side her on a bike and asked her where the climb starts.  She says that it depends on where you start from but she tells him she’s been climbing since she left Sugarhouse Park where the BCC ride started.  No, he says where does the “official” climb begin?  She said he was saying it with a totally straight face when I asked if he was pulling her leg. She said he was totally serious and he didn’t seem happy with her answers.  We kind of laughed about it as we climbed the rest of the canyon.

"Petals on Petals"; Watercolor on 10" x 10" Paper that I painted this last week. 
You can see more of my bike artwork click here.

 At the top of the canyon, she pointed out which guy it was.  I guess he was running a bit late to join us to start from Sugarhouse and he was visiting from back east; at least that was what I overheard as he talked to another club member at the top where the riders regroup before going down.

It was about ½ mile down as we were heading out of the canyon that I pulled up next to her and while coasting along I said,” Excuse me but where does the “official” downhill start?  Are we there yet?”  We were laughing most of the way down the canyon.

It was later after the ride as a group of us were talking with this guy us, that I found out he was visiting for a library convention for the week.  The first day he arrived with his nice bike in tow, he had climbed Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons.  Those 2 canyons, one of which has been compared similar to a section Tour de France’s climbing, are serious climbs.  AND he did both in of those in one day!?!!  After a day like that of climbing, Emigration Canyon probably seems like a hiccup.  No wonder he was wondering when the “official” climb was starting!

But now the joke between my friend and myself is… where’s the official climb start.  She says that some mornings that just getting out of bed!

Checking in…

Good news, I am down another pound!  Yahoo!  I FEEELLLL GOOOD!  I now have 7 lbs. to go till my goal weight, and I’m feeling pretty good as I'm sure you've gathered.  I did do a great deal of activities for the week and here are my stats for the week…

105 miles cycling

5.10 miles running

36 minutes on the elliptical

And 1 class of Jump board Pilates!

 Yep, I’m back to the pilates and boy am I feeling it in the abs this afternoon!  Thank you Laura!  The fabulous pilates teacher that teaches the Jump Board Pilates Class early on Friday mornings.  The pilates place had a summer special and I thought it might help to get a more full body workout to help me along.  So I bought a group special of 10 and that should take me into July just before I leave for RAGBRAI.

Arctic Brain Enemas & F- Bomb’s

Just when I think I’ve experienced my coldest moment on a bike, I get a new experience to top the list.  Yesterday, two friends and I decided to take a bike ride to the top of Little Mountain in Emigration Canyon.  Yes, I know its February but it was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the mid 40’s in the valley.  It was too gorgeous not to be out on a cycle.  So, I agreed to riding up Emigration Canyon with my friends, Diane and Lynda. 

I was covered with 3 layers almost everywhere on my body when I left to meet the gals at noon near a local bagel shop.  We slowly worked our way through some local neighborhoods on our way over to the mouth of Emigration Canyon chatting all of the way.  It was pleasurable and it seemed to be warming up.

Diane & Lynda as we near the Sun & Moon Cafe up Emigration Canyon.

 We started working our way up the canyon and stopped for a bit of a breather in front of Ruth’s Diner.  It had been awhile since any of us had done this much climbing and we weren’t in any rush.  It was wonderful out and we were just enjoying the day.  There were snow drifts on both sides of the road but it felt good to be out on the bike.  I was challenging myself by keeping in my middle chain gear as we were climbing.  We stopped again a little further up near the Sun & Moon Café.  Lynda said she was going to slow down and just take it at her own pace and see if she could manage to get to the top of Little Mountain.

Diane and I continued towards the top.  I shifted to my granny gears as went around the next curve after the Sun & Moon Café.  I stopped for a bit near the Pinecrest for a bit of another breather.  Wow!  Did I ever feeling like I was out of shape!  Diane, Miss Hardcore, continued on by me.  I eventually worked my way to catch up with her and rode with her for a bit.  Then, I started to play my usual game of not letting my speed drop below a certain amount as I was climbing.  I passed Diane and worked my way to the top.  It was a good workout.

It felt good to get to the top and I started to put on an extra wind vest I had brought along and pull down my barclava to cover my face as I waited for Diane to arrive.  As Diane and I were chatting at the top, Lynda arrived.  We all started about the same time down except that Diane and I both go down a bit slower.

We had seen some icy areas on the way up and we were taking it easy.  It was on the first curve on the way down that my teeth were already chattering.  OMG!  It was COLD!  Diane was complaining about the top of her head freezing.  She said it was like an Arctic brain enema!  I laughed; loving the imagery of that phrase.  I teased her about not wanting any ice cream for awhile after this one and offered her an extra skull cap I had with me.  She said no; she would be okay.

Then while I’m still freezing and struggling to keep my speed low, I hear the F word being bombarding from Diane.  She’s trying to John Denver’s song- “Sunshine on My Shoulder’s” as we are going along.  Only about every third or fourth word is the F word!  I tell you this is very unlike Diane and we are both just freezing!  My teeth are literally chattering and I’m cracking up about her singing.  Meanwhile, I’m having issues where I loosing feeling in my fingers.  Man, its COLD!  I’m just coasting along as slow as I can because I’m not sure if I could squeeze the brakes enough to stop. 

Diane asks how I am doing and I tell her my fingers are cold.  She knows that I’m not a complainer and to have me mention this.  Well, she knows my fingers are probably really freezing!  We stop at the fire station about half way down and I pull my hands into fists in my gloves and rub my fists together.  Diane teases me about going in and hooking up with a fireman to warm me up.  “Tell him you need to get naked with him under one of those emergency blankets.  It’s part of survival course 101!”  I laugh and blow on my hands.   I’m getting some feeling back and I’m having a fantasy about a long hot shower.  I just wanted to get home and down this canyon.


We continue on and it seems a “little” warmer as we get closer to the bottom of the canyon.  At the bottom, we finally meet up with Lynda who went quite a bit more quickly than we did down the canyon.  I put my hands into fists and tuck them under my arm pits to try to warm them up again.  We rode to a Starbucks near by and I tell you, I never had a Mocha Latte that EVER tasted THAT good before!    

Cycling Away the Labor Day Weekend

I managed to get in almost 100 miles cycling in this last weekend between three different rides.  The weather was just glorious.  The sun was shining and it was a little cooler than it has been.  It was too nice NOT to be on my bicycle. But the real pretty ride this weekend was lead by a fellow Bonneville Cycling Club cyclist.  She called it Jackie's Fall Fancy and it started in Park City.  It then went by the Jordanelle Reservoir over to Kamas through some lovely little towns with landscapes of horses and red barns.  Then through another canyon and back to Park City.  What a wonderful way to spend part of a day!  Here's some pictures from the bike ride that I took...

A BIG THANKS out to Jackie for leading this wonderful ride!

A FANTASTIC Alpine Loop Bike Ride!

It was a beautiful day for riding the Alpine Loop.  The weather ended up being in the low-80's and just a few fluffy clouds that came out towards the end of the ride.  About 20 fellow cyclist came out to join me for the climb fest and it was a climb.  From the start to the summit and over to Cascade Springs and back, it ended up being about 4300 feet of climbing within 40 cycling miles.  It was a work out but the views all made it worth it~!  Here's some pictures I took along the way...

The view at the first hair pin turn about 2/3 of the way up.





About 1/4 mile before the Summit of the Alpine Loop.

 

The Summit with the elevation-- 8060 ft!

A pair of fellow cyclists almost to Summit; talk about sharing the road.  These are narrow!

The view of the road going towards Cascade Springs.

Having Lunch at the overlook point near Cascade Springs.

The AMAZING view while having lunch at the overlook point!

Still Recovering & A Rest Stop...

It's almost been four days since I've run 14.25 miles, and I'm still trying to recover.  This last Saturday I speed walked to the top of City Creek Canyon and then ran back down.  I had originally planned to do just 12 miles BUT I was feeling SO good that when the turn around for 12 miles came... Silly me, I kept on going.  The Energizer Bunny had nothing on me at this point or so I felt like.  I was going to go on for ever and ever and ever. 

(Photo: Liesa and Mary Margaret on Pre-ULCER bike ride- you could hear the ice sizzling on their helmets! Yes, that is huge ice clumps on top of their helmets and YES it was THAT HOT out there!)

I pretty much kept going until the last mile back to my car.  By then my toes nails felt as though someone was trying to pull them out through my shoes and I could have been passed by a little old lady with a walker.  This was no longer in the ball park of a run or jog.  It was putting one foot in front of the other. A slow walk and a grimace on my face with each step I took.  I can never remember being ever so happy to see my car.  It was virtually an oasis in the desert!

The amazing part was that after all that and a long hot shower I was alert enough to go out to lunch with a friend!  Then, I managed to run some errands and do some grocery shopping.  Oh boy!  Got to love those endorphins.  I was high on them but when 5PM came around I was out for the count!

(Photo: Curt getting some goodies out of the back of my car.)

Sunday came and I did my fourth annual rest stop on the west side of Utah Lake for the BCC Pre-ULCER ride.  The ULCER ride has been put on by my bike club for over 25 years.  The ULCER stands for Utah Lake Century Epic Ride.  It traditionally is the first Saturday in August, and is a very hot hot ride.  The Pre-ULCER is the ride for BCC members to check out the ride prior to the ride or to get a chance to ride it because they'll be volunteering to help with the ride.

I started doing this rest stop the year after I ended up having an accident on the ride.  That year I hit a pot hole while reaching for my water bottle.  I ended up going over my handle bars and face planting it on the road.  All I remember is putting my hands out as the pavement came towards me.  I guess I was out for a couple of minutes and woke up with quite a few fellow cyclists standing over me.  I still remember feeling my lips swelling and the taste of blood in my throat. A short time later I took my first ever ambulance ride to a hospital.  I ended up with forty stitches inside my mouth and four stitches under my nose.  No broken bones but they ended up keeping me over for observation at the hospital because I passed out in the hall as I was trying to leave with a friend that had come to pick me up.

So, I no longer bike any of the ULCER ride.  I don't want to jinx myself or worry about replacing my bike.  Oh yeah, I totalled my Trek bike during the accident.  So instead each year I camp out along the long desolate sunny hot stretch of the west side of the Utah Lake where there's nothing but scrub brush with my snacks, coolers of ice, water, and cold beverages for my fellow club members.  I feel like it's the least I can do and they really could use the help over there in that area.

(Photo: L-R front- Carter and Doug enjoying some shade. Liesa and Jane[my fellow rest stop tendor] in the background.)

It was a good thing this year because I ended up driving two cyclists to the finish.  My friend Doug who couldn't keep down even water in his stomach and another rider, Bob, who ended up experiencing cramping in his legs.  I will say it was a tight fit for my station wagon.  Two guys, myself, two bikes, two lawn chairs, and three coolers.  But we managed, and everyone made it safely through the ride to make their ways home.

I Think I CAN (BUT Maybe I Shouldn't?!)!

This last week as I’m checking out my local cycling club’s ride calendar and I see a ride that snared my attention. I’ve been in search of a riding challenge for myself during this cycling season. I think I may have found it?  But you tell me...

The name of this ride—I Think I CANyons Ride. There’s a choice of a 2 CANyons version or 4 CANyons version. All the proceeds of the ride benefit a local clinic that provides healthcare for the homeless. A wonderful cause and they are advertising water stops at the top of each canyon with a lunch after 2 CANyons or 4 CANyons—your choice. The event takes place on July 31st a mere 3 and a half weeks from today. So I need to decide which version I’m going to do.

The 2 CANyons version of the ride, I “could do in my sleep”; as Diane puts it and continues on, “Jeanne, it wouldn’t be enough of a challenge for you.” And yes, she probably is right; considering its 2 canyons with about a total of 3740 feet of climbing and 43 miles. Not to brag but this would require NO training what so ever for me.

So thus I’m playing with the idea of the 4 CANyons version. This version is climbing 4 CANyons along the Wasatch Front for a total of 12,000 climbing feet and 110 miles. Most people would consider this an INSANE challenge, and here I am playing with the idea of it. Can you say C-R-A-Z-Y?!?!



But in my defense I can say that I’ve climbed three of the four canyons. One of them of which I lead weekly bike rides up to the top of. The canyon I haven’t climbed is the steepest. In fact, it’s been compared to part of the Tour De France. It's Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It maybe be only 8.3 miles from the base but has a whopping average of 9.2% grade as you go up it. I’ve heard rumors that Dave Zabriskie, local cyclist turned world class, uses that canyon quite often for training. Quite often when I’ve driven it I’ve seen cyclists riding it; but then again all of these canyons along the Wasatch Front you'll see cyclists going up and down.

In the past, I’ve done rides where there was 9,700 feet of climbing but that was two years ago. And outside of climbing the one canyon I haven’t really been doing that much climbing this year. Three years ago I did another ride called the Mount Nebo Loop (Wasatch Mountain's highest peak at 11, 870 feet) where there are 37 miles of 6% or higher grade of climbing. I did the whole 70 mile ride in about 5 hours and 20 minutes which is respectable considering the amount of climbing involved. I sent an email to one of the guys that put this I Think I CANyons ride on the cycling ride calendar and asked if I was in the ball park for attempting this. He said that if I could manage ¾ of the distance that in his experience I could pull it off the full thing on the day of the ride.



So the main question is… Am I CRAZY enough to do the 4 CANyons version? I would need to add a MASSIVE amount of climbing to my cycling training schedule in the next 3 weeks to be ready for the event. That on top of the training I’m all ready doing for a half marathon that takes place in August 20th in Park City. Realistically is it possible for me to do ALL this?



Hmmmm… maybe I’ll sign up for the 4 CANyon version and see what happens? It’s only a $10 difference, and then if I find myself not ready I can always do the 2 CANyon. BUT is that giving myself to easy of a way out?  

(Editor's Note: All of the above photos are from a recent ride I took up Emigration Canyon-- which is the last canyon on the I Think I CANyon Ride. Beautiful, isn't it?)

A Riddle...a Porcupine, a Maraca, and a Danish flag?

What do these have in common?

Well, this last Saturday they were all part of the Porcupine Hill Race. It's a bicycle race that races from the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Brighton Ski Resort at the top. It can be a grueling climb to ride to the top (as I can attest from experience), and the idea of racing to the top is a HUGE test of strength, endurance, and ability. The individuals that do this are amazing athletes in my book. This is the second time that I've joined Bee to cheer on Peter and other BCC racing members to the top.

I was a little leery of the race going on when I woke up and saw the clouds but they seemed to clear a little and did provide a nice cover for the racers as the day went on. I met up with Bee, Peter's brother, and Sister-in-law. The four of us gather in one car to follow Peter up the canyon and cheer him on, and other BCC (Bonneville Cycling Club) racers. I, of course, not having a cow bell, grabbed my maraca to make a little noise. Though, in hind sight I wonder if it made the racers think that a rattle snake was following them up the canyon. Maybe, I need to rethink what I bring next year. (Photo: Our Look Out Man on top of the rock.)
(Photo below: Bee and Peter before the Race.)

We went up to the "rock" a point where Peter knew we would be to cheer him on. We met other friends, and even had a "look out". As soon as Peter started coming up by us we started to cheer and Peter's brother got out the Danish flag and chased Peter along. Then we all jumped in the car to follow, pass the group he was riding in and pulled off to the side to cheer them on some more. We also cheered on Liam, and Adam too; fellow BCC racers that were close to Peter. (Photos: Peter in the middle of the pack, Peter close up during the Race.)

One other rider in the group with Peter yelled that he wish he had a "Fan Club". Peter later told us that he told the guy that he had to pay a princely sum for his "Fan Club". Breakfast for all afterwards at Sliver Fork Lodge. Later, I told Peter I would prefer to be called a "Groupie". (Photos: Adam during the Race, Liam during the Race)

We continued following Peter and his group all the way to the finish line. Liam who had been in front of Peter had his chain get stuck as he was within yards of the finish line, and ended up walking his bike across the finish line. I'm sure it was a disappointment for him, but I thought it said a great deal about his character that he continued to the finish line regardless of the obstacle. A group of fellow BCC cyclists helped him work on repairing his bicycle so he could ride down the canyon. Adam came across the finish line shortly after Peter. (Photos: Peter crossing the finish line, Bee and Peter after the race, Fixing Liam's bike)

Peter had beat his time from last year, and last I heard he had finished third for his age category(Master's 55+). Way to go Peter! But really congrats to all of the BCC racers that finished the ride!!

(Photos: Peter and Adam after the Race, Adam after the Race)

And I had a REALLY good breakfast at Sliver Fork Lodge. THANKS Peter!! It was a good day!

P.S. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this little boy on his bike. He was just too cute! What do you think, future racer material?