Yuck

Got a sore throat. Holding off on the exercise. Got a lifting session in yesterday..

Spring in the Wasatch

It's a cold snowy week. This is keeping me off my bike. I can't bring myself to spin so I waste away..

Cathedral Valley Loop

I got a wild hair Thursday and loaded up the RV with some friends to head south to Capital Reef. The intent was to ride the Cathedral Valley Loop Friday. Todd, Phil, Jon and Travis agreed to come along. Everybody but Travis came down with me in the RV. Travis came along a bit later in my Jeep - which we intended to use as a Sag Wagon on the ride.

Unfortunately, something went really wrong with the Jeep and the engine seized up about 30 miles before he got to Torrey. He ended up hitch hiking and riding into town in the back of a truck trying not to freeze in his Mummy bag. He had the good sense to bring his bike and gear so we could ride even though our support rig was toast.

We spent some time Friday morning getting the Jeep towed to the dealer in Richfield and hitting up a local outfitter for a shuttle so we wouldn't have to connect the ride start and end points via the road. After all the hoopla, we didn't get started on the ride until about 11 am.

The ride itself was pretty awesome. There are some long stretches through some pretty desolate country. On the Hartnet road before you get to the Bentonite hills you pass through this flat bleak area with clay that looks like it would sink a car to the axels if it was wet. In fact there is an old truck out there in that very condition. For some reason the cows love to poop like there is no tomorrow out there as well.

The Hartnet road is actually a consistent climb out to what seemed to be the base of the Fish Lake Mountain. The campsite is located right at the top of the pass before you drop into the upper Cathedral Valley. It's a very remote campsite at around 7000' elevation so it transitions into the juniper high desert at that point.

The road drops really quickly continuing clockwise into the Upper Valley. It was getting to be late afternoon / early evening at that point and we were hoping to make up time. After shooting quickly through the upper valley we came to a crossroads that indicated a dirt road on the left up to I-70. I'll have to explore that sometime.

We headed right down the Cainville Wash road back towards 24. Phil and Jon took the 2 mile spur out to the sink hole but Todd, Travis and myself decided to keep plugging as the sign indicated it was still ~20 more miles to the road and the comfort of the RV. As things turned out it was a pretty consistent downhill grade the for those advertised 20 miles with frequent sandy spots. The sand was worse than I anticipated. Down right irritating at times.

At the end of what would have been the last 20 miles from the junction we ran out of water on account of not having the support rig. As we reached the lower valley, we also found out there was at least 7 more miles to go than we had anticipated with 3-4 miles of that being hills. Seems like there is always a little fun surprise like that on these things. Todd, Travis and I shared the last 3 oz of water we had and pressed on. It was a bit of a grunt to finish but we made it just as the sun went below the horizon. We clocked about 56 miles and about 3500' elevation gain over 6 hours of seat time with the shuttle helping us out on the road and river crossing piece.

We hydrated, showered and motored into Torrey for a burger. The local cafe there stayed open late for us and treated us right with salads, nachos, quesadillas and burgers. I managed to stay awake long enough to traverse 24 to 50 and go just past Scipio before we pulled over at Yuba for the night. I was hoping to make it home but by 1 am I was too bushed to keep driving.

All and all a great training trip. I still can't see how I am going to go 100 miles in one day at LV with 14k elevation but I guess I need to consider it's still early in the season.

I need to get back to Capital Reef and the Fish Lake area for more exploration. I'm thinking about heading back that direction in May with the family for memorial day weekend. Should be good times!

catching up

Just a few notes to capture some work. Got a great workout in on Wednesday with weights in the am and a solid ride in Lambert in the afternoon. Probably 8 miles with 2 hill sets. Did upper corkscrew with the mine.

Allergies

It seems I've picked up some sort of spring allergic reaction. I've never had that before and I don't know why it's starting now. The meds help the symptoms but they keep me up at night and I don't like the way I feel on them. Yuck.

Corner Canyon

Got a ride in in CC in Draper today. Had to stick to the North (South facing) since its dry. The South side is really muddy. First time on those single track trails. A fun little spot. I rode from the office so it was probably 5-6 out then back. Maybe 11-12 miles. The kids lost my bike computer so I don't know for sure. I tried to use the iPhone Path app but it doesn't work very well.

Ty got a flat tire after we peddled the 3 road miles to the TH. Bummer.

Training Ride

Tom Freeman took me on a good training ride today. 3 hills starting in Lambert. About 15 miles, 2000' ascent and 1400 cals.

On the first hill pushing hard up the steep the ticker got into the high 160's and I think I had an arrhythmia as the ticker jumped to 230 then bounced all over the map for 30 seconds. I backed off a bit and things settled back down to the low 160's. I kept the HR in that range on the next 2 large hills and things seemed fine.

It was great to learn that I can get a decent ride in this time of year on the mountain bike. In years past I have waited until the snow melted off in the Wasatch before attempting big rides. Combining a little street and trails gives you the option of getting more miles down.

Carisa wants to ride with me. Today's ride would have been perfect for her. I will take her next week.