Song Of The Day

I know.  I never do a song of the day.  But, today is different, very surreal.  Why?  I don't know, it just was.  I just can't get this song out of my mind and it truly is bicycle related.  I didn't ride today.  Yesterday I tried to go up Green Canyon but I got wet and nearly froze to death.  Today I hiked with the dogs in the snow and burned an entire 40# bag of wood pellets in the stove.  Surreal.

Michelle Shocked - Come A Long Way - michelleshocked.com MP3 Download

Rain Drops

I'm feeling quite lazy this morning.  I've been thinking about Idaho to Arizona, emailing the NaKeD InDiaN, watching the rain fall, sipping hot tea, and wasting time on the Internet.  Until I found this at the Tour Divide site:



I love this commercial.  I remember it well from my childhood.  I'm going to get out and ride today, even if it's pouring rain with lightning in the sky or snowing.  I've not been on the bike since Wednesday.  That's a long time.

Can't Sleep

The kid keeps having coughing fits.  The new dog had to be taken for a midnight walk because he has diarrhea.  So, I just registered for this.  I've got some big plans, let me tell you.

Comments

I tried to reply to all the comments posted here as of late, but I had no luck.  Strange.  Perhaps my google account has soured.  Anyway, thanks for all the comments, about the dog, about the South Canyon ride, and about the 52x17.  Yes, I'm a nut case.  And, yes, I do read and appreciate the comments.

The Chase

Paul V. and I showed up late for the Hyde Park ride last night.  We could see the group about four minutes up the road and we started chasing.  The harder we chased the harder the group went.  Headed west into a strong wind across Benson Marina we just could not get closer no matter how hard we tried.  It turned out they were chasing the real TNR group which turned south towards Petersboro.  Our group turned north.  With a little tail wind Paul and I finally began catching stragglers.  If anyone would have told me I would be doing a 25 km two-man time trial from Hyde Park to Cache Junction without a warm up I would have never got on the bike.

Sunday Ride

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It started not so fast, but, you know how they always turn out.  Thanks Tim and Dave.

The Adoption Is Final...Lupine Has A Brother

He's mostly black, a little white and tan, and weighs 85 pounds.

Robert Rides Logan To North Ogden Via South Canyon

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I had a great adventure this morning.  I was prepared for post-holing at the top of South Canyon, but there was no snow.  However, the lower slopes were a quagmire, in the pre-1969 original sense of the word.  About halfway up I hit gumbo.  No, not the thick stew of shellfish and okra, rather the shrink-swell clay soils I know so well from back in Florida.  After five or six pedal strokes through the gumbo there was three inches of clay around each tire.  The front wheel stopped turning and I nearly went OTBs.  So, with 20 pounds of clay on the bike I started walking.  Within a few steps there was 10 pounds of clay on my shoes.  I took off my socks and into the creek I went.  I started by just trying to get the wheels wet.  It worked pretty well.  Perhaps I got a little over exuberant because at one point the whole bike was underwater:  headset, hubs, bottom bracket, and...and the water bottles.  Creek water in your water bottles does not taste bad at all when you are really thirsty.  Next time, the socks and the bottles come off.  "Strong like bull, smart like tractor."  As the road got steeper the mud and clay disappeared, replaced by river rock, waterfalls, and, well, the creek itself.  No big deal.  The sandals without socks worked just fine for the many crossings.  And, I finally got all the clay off my feet.  Once I got over the top and down to Liberty the paved route got real steep.  I've never been over the North Ogden Pass before.  It was not easy on the 48x22.  Coming down the other side I passed two cars at 40 mph while coasting with my feet back on the hub nuts and my crank arms flailing at 190 rpm.  I wonder what would happen if I ever dig a pedal doing that.  I went past the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  I had wanted to take it all the way to Ogden, but Patty was there at the bottom of the hill to pick me up.  Next time.  The total ride time was 3.5 hours.  I was off the bike for about a half hour so next time I know I can make it to the Shoreline Trail in 3 hours.

Video Of The Day

I'm In For The 9 To 5

I just registered.  Commitment is a crazy thing.  I've already got butterflies.  I really love cyclocross, but this is the type of racing I should be doing.

http://www.knobbytireseries.com/2011-925poster.pdf

Because J.B. Needs An Update

View Hyde Park, Trenton, Clarkston, Newton, Newton Dam, Trenton, Hyde Park in a larger map

Two Days On The Couch

I rode so bad on Saturday, I just thought I needed a break.  I've been working on pictures from Montana all day.  Here is a good one, a very young mountain lion.  Mama lion never walked in front of the camera.

Another First

After six years in Cache Valley, I finally rode up Weston Canyon to I-15 and back to Weston, ID.  Tim S. made me suffer.  I was not having my best day on a bicycle.  For 44 miles I was on his wheel 98% of the time.  The other two percent I was off his wheel trying to get back on.  The scenery was fantastic.  Here are just a few images ripped from flicker.

The Real Sardine Canyon

I finally pedaled up the real Sardine Canyon yesterday.  Yes, it's on private property.  The sign on the gate says "...with permission only."  There were two men parked near the gate so I asked permission.  I said, "Hey, are you the landowners?"  They shook their heads no.  "Can I have permission to pedal up the road, I'm not going to get shot am I?"  They didn't really say no, so up I went.  Near the top there's still a good amount of asphalt from the old road, with countless cracks full of weeds and grass.  When you get to the end there is a deer fence and a cliff.  Don't go over or try to go down to 89, it's certain death.  At the high point of the road several hundred yards before the fence, head up the hill across the ridge line to Mt. Pisgah Road and then head back down to complete the loop.


View Sardine-Pisgah-Baxter Hollow in a larger map

One More Picture...

...from today's Giro stage on the strade bianche.

I am going to go find more gravel roads on my ride tomorrow.  Ciao.

Strade Bianche

Strade bianche today at the Giro, the white roads of Tuscany.  Watching the last 20 km this morning gave me some inspiration.  I headed out to the northwest for a good three hour ride.  I rode as many gravel roads as I could find.

Vaarwel, Wouter

There are deep pits of sadness in the guts of most everyone who follows bicycle racing.  I just watched the last 10 km of today's neutralized Giro stage.  It was a deeply emotional thing to watch, the first time I've ever cried while watching grown men ride bicycles.  Sport is just that, sport.  But for many of the individuals involved, sport is their life, and when life is gone, there's just nothing left but empty sadness.  Vaarwel, Wouter.

Time

I'm having quite a few deep thoughts today.  Here is just one more before I take Lupine to the eye doctor.  Why is it so difficult for humans to think about (see) time scales other than their own?  Anything that takes more than 100 years to happen seems way too long for anyone to comprehend.  Geologic time?  Evolution?  The creation of mountains and floodplains?  Ecological processes?  Long term economic theory?  Nope, we just can't get our big brains around it.  Someone, please, just tell me this.  Why are there no economists out there jumping up and down shouting about the long term consequences of a fossil fuel economy that is based (70% or more) on personal consumption by its citizens?  Myopia.

Rivers Rising, Moths Flying

Some are above flood stage.  The City of Nibley is dumping truck load after truck load of old broken concrete slabs on private property along the Blacksmith Fork.  Do they have a 404?  I'd bet money they don't.  I wonder if it's the Bishop's or some other Higher-up's back yard.  I'd bet money on it.  It's the same story, retold over and over.  Keep the water within the banks on your floodplain property so others downstream get the worst of it, where they too, built in the floodplain.  Humans.  Theocracy.  Have you ever read this book?  It's one of my all time favorites.  It changed the way I think about the world.

This morning on Access Utah the host spent an hour complaining about all the insects that make his life so horrible and ruin his never ending efforts to control the natural world.  Good luck, Bryan.  Just keep on spraying your poisons.  The pesticide industry loves your work.  Here are some really interesting facts and numbers about the worlds largest pesticide firms.  Most of them also are the largest seed producing firms.  Nice.

Bicycle riding?  Isn't this blog about bicycle riding?  Yes.  I did two short rides on Saturday.  I went up the River Trail with Paul V.  You can now ride all the way to the scree slope in Spring Hollow.  In the afternoon I tried to ride with Tim S. and David C.  They dropped me on the run-in to Richmond.  I turned west and took the dirt roads home, drifting through the gravel turns on my road tires.  Those tires are coming off today along with the 52x17.  The Maxxis Raze tires are going back on along with the do anything gear of 48x22.  Well, not really do anything.  On Saturday David asked what gear I was running.  I said, "the gear that's never the right one."  We had been stopping for all the stop signs in Smithfield.  The gear was way to big.  Pedaling to Richmond at 29 mph or more, the gear was way too small.

Yesterday And Today

No ride yesterday, but I did finish a quarterly report.  So, MDOT, quick, send the check.  I also made another movie.  Enjoy.



I will get back on the bike today.  And, I think the back is ready for some basketball.

The Big Gear

52x17

I have been riding on the road quite a bit this Spring, shifting gears and coasting down the hills.  It's been way to wet and snowy for early season fixed gear mountain bike riding.  Even the canals have been muddy, so I have not done much fixed gear cyclocross riding.  Well, today things changed.  Kory at Joyride Bikes, my official sponsor, found a 17 tooth fixed gear cog for me.  In my stack of chainrings in the shop, there was, believe it or not, a new 110mm bcd 52 tooth non-ramped chainring (a rare find indeed).  Who knows where it came from.  What is so special about 52x17?  It's a magic number for a 43.5cm chainstay length.  Confused?  Just look at this wonderful site.  So, I threw in all on with a new chain and headed off for the the Hyde Park ride.  The hill up to Newton Lake was tough, but the rest of the time the fixed gear was perfect, as long as the speed was below 29 mph.  When we hit that speed at one point, I just could not spin enough to hang on.  Overall, I rode pretty strong today.  And I am really happy to be back on a fixed gear setup.

Pic Of The Day

Robert Rides?

Not so much today.  For the first time in a while, I just had to take a break.  I have saddle sores.  That means I've been riding quite a bit this Spring, and that is a good thing.  I did go with Lupine from Second damn Dam to the end of the River Trail and back again.  She used clipless pedals for the first time.  She now has no problems getting in or out.  Her other new accessory included a hydration pack with flowers on it.  Yep, flowers.  Yes, G.W., you have to keep the promises you make to your kids.

May 1, 2011 Logan, Utah Trail Report

I'm tired of winter and riding on the road.  I still have frost nip on two of my toes on my right foot.  I just had to do a long mountain bike ride today.  So I did.  Here is the trail report:

The Deer Fence is dry from Blacksmith to Dry Canyon.

The River Trail is Dry.  The Bridger Look Off trail is dry.  The Spring Hollow trail has snow and mud between the Douglas Fir stand and the scree slope.

The Shoreline Trail between first damn dam and Green Canyon is dry but a little torn up from electrical utility work.

Green Canyon is dry to the green gate (first section of single track is dry).  From there the road has patchy snow but is easily ridden to the second section of single track at Campsite #8.  From there, the trail still has a good amount of deep snow and should not be ridden.