Tragic Events

As has been typical of my Summer, I didn't go riding this weekend. I was, however, up in the mountains with my children camping out. We were actually up in American Fork Canyon--significant on this day because both the Tour of Utah and the 1000 Warriors (successor to the 300 Warriors even I rode in last year: here, here and here) were to come through the canyon later in the day.

Actually, the 1000 Warriors (amateurs, of course), were to come through pretty early on in the day. I took the time to warn all those at the campsite with me that they'd be encountering lots and lots of cyclists on their way down that morning and that they ought to yield to the cyclists because they were racing and the cars couldn't possibly keep up with the cyclists' pace.

It turns out that my warnings were almost prophetic.

As I turned on to the road to leave with my three oldest children squished together in the back seat, a cyclist quickly caught up to me. Of course, being a cyclist myself, I found a place to pull off and allow the rider to go past. I tried to keep up with him, but he quickly dropped me.

This continued as we drove down the canyon until I reached some stopped cars in the road and saw someone waving us to stop. My worst fears were realized.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7636047

After waiting in the car as cyclists coming down queued up around the area and cars stacked up behind me, they managed to get the cyclists off to a hospital and we were on our way.

Then, as we drove past the scene, I saw this:

Photo Courtesy of Dept. of Public Safety and pulled from the Gallery: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=7636047&nid=460&pid=5

For sure, that is a fast canyon to descend, but the force that was required to damage an SUV like that is shocking. My oldest child--knowing that I was in the same ride/race last year--told me she didn't want me doing it again.

As cyclists, we tend to ignore some of the dangers out there. (Otherwise, how could we ever get up the nerve to fly down a mountain pass wearing what essentially amounts to nothing--lycra doesn't count as protection.) I saw cyclists crossing over the centerline when there wasn't much visibility due to the corners up ahead. I saw cyclists following closely behind cars (which makes for great drafting, for sure).

People, we aren't pros. We can't take these kind of risks where cars are involved. The cars we're around aren't being driven by ex-cyclists used to driving through a race. These people (in the cars) don't know how to handle bikes swarming around them.

I wouldn't be surprised if the race were canceled next year, but I think the better move would be if UDOT stepped up to the plate and allowed us to close the road.

Oh, and 1 final note. There were no signs posted anywhere so no one knew there would so many cyclists coming through the canyon that morning.

Have fun out there, but please be safe.

Short Ride: Not Exactly As Planned

Tonight's ride didn't go like it should have. Frankly it was doomed right from the start. In fact, it was doomed since yesterday.

Both yesterday and today I found myself without riding partners, but needing a ride after dark. "No problem," I thought, "I ride in the dark all the time. Weekly, even. I ride in the dark more than in the daylight it seems." This is what I was thinking as I rode out. My loving, faithful, caring wife, said: "Don't let any animals get you." Or something like that.

Aside: Spouses, don't do this. I know that you mean well, but it's the wrong thought to have as one is heading into the dark alone. Thanks.

Last night was a windy night, so the forest wasn't exactly quiet. In fact, as I was slowly climbing up to a ridge, there was a pretty good crash to my right. At that point, I was no longer climbing slowly--inexplicably, my pace picked up--and I was reminding myself that the really dangerous things--like BIG cats--didn't make any noise. This didn't help.

As soon as the trail turned down, however, I lost myself in the ride and didn't have any further incidents.

Fast forward to tonight.

Again, my wife brought up cougars, bears and other forest baddies just as I was leaving. See the above aside. Please.

Since I didn't have much time, and was feeling a little tired, I decided to ride a fairly level loop.

Let me set the stage. I start the ride by climbing a gravel road. I make a left onto the upper section of the loop and make my way down to the lower section. The lower section skirts a neighborhood and eventually makes its way back to the gravel road I started on. The trail is gravelled, so it's not the quietest surface to ride on. My plan was to do two laps.

The first part of the first lap went just fine. As I was descending to the lower leg, I came across a forked horn buck and a doe. Since the trail was noisy, the doe took flight, but for some reason, the buck did not. Instead, it thought we should have a staring contest. Huh. I made noise, it took a few steps off the trail and the turned back to me. I made more noise. It took a few more steps. I shouted, it still didn't take off, but it did get far enough off the trail for me to get by.

Weird.

Not three minutes later I came around a corner and saw a nice tail in the air. A skunks tail. This was only the third skunk I've seen that wasn't flattened into a two-dimensional splat on the road. I didn't like my view. Again, I made noise and--happily for me--it moved off and let me by without any assault on my olfactory nerves. Tragedy averted.

Next up, not a minute later, as I neared the neighborhood, dogs started barking. I don't recall that happening before. Not only that, there was also some rustling in the weeds and ferns. I thought, "great, the dogs are loose."

Aside #2: One of my superpowers is making dogs crazy, to the point that I have been bitten by a dog that was still on its leash... and the leash was being held by the owner.

That was enough for me. I was done, I turned around and headed back the way I came, hoping that the forked horn was done showing off for its doe and had moved off.

As I was nearing the intersection with the upper leg of the loop, I came across another dear, a doe this time. Now deer eyes reflect orange-yellow. Behind this deer, and not very far from it, were a pair of green eyes. Cats eyes reflect green. These were near the ground. I'm pretty sure that the doe didn't know that they were there, and I didn't care to stick around and find out what was going to happen next.

If I was done before, near the dogs, I was over done after cat/deer combo. The wildlife was against me tonight.

My ride ended up being just 28 minutes, of that only 18 was off road.

Tomorrow, I'm going for a road ride. At noon. On roads with lots of traffic.

Lazy

I can be quite lazy. When you think cycling, though, and especially road biking, lazy just doesn't enter into the picture. Maybe that says something about the shape I'm in.

On Saturday, my sister-in-law's boyfriend came into town. (She came, too, but since she didn't go on a bike ride with me, I'll leave that part out.) The first words out of his mouth were, "I hear you like to mountain bike. We need to go riding today." Sure, I said. Perfect. In fact, both of my mountain bikes are set up and ready-to-ride right now.

As a side note, it's pretty rare for more than one bike of mine to be "ready-to-ride." Usually, I'll ride one bike until I get a flat or something goes out of adjustment and needs fixing. Then I switch bikes and leave that one to sulk and molder. (Is molder a word? Yes it is.)

Of course, since both bikes were ready, it only took me about 20 minutes to get them ready. Huh. That's weird. Bikes just require stuff done to them. Cyclists that don't do any maintenance on their bikes probably don't have rideable bikes very often. (Or they have better mechanics than I do. Sometimes I'm my worst enemy.)

When I got my first road bike--a Giant Cadex I bought off my oldest brother--I quickly found just how simple a bike can be. Road bikes are not only much easier to deal with than most modern mountain bikes (especially those with suspension), they also tend to stay adjusted longer. I love my road bike for that reason. Another benefit to riding on the road is the proximity to road rides. I am, literally, surrounded by roads. My house, being on a corner and all, actually butts up against two roads! However, as of yet, I haven't discovered any sweet trails in either my property or my neighbors'. (Which, I might add, is pretty disappointing.)

So, I am lazy. I ride the bikes that work. I ride the rides that are close. I know that I'm truly missing out on some great opportunities here, but I'm just lazy that way. Sure, I could point the finger to my busy schedule and fairly large family, but I know those are just excuses. I'm just lazy.

And speaking of lazy, I've found that if all I want to do is burn off the fat I consumed the day before, I don't need to pick up a bike at all. I can just strap on some running shoes and grind out a couple of miles of running around my neighborhood. (I say "grind" because that's the sound my knees make as I run. It's so much fun.) I mean, running sucks and all, but sometimes I'm just lazy that way.

PS. The ride, by the way, was great. We got out on what was probably the best weather for mountain biking of the summer. It was warm, but not hot (70s, I think). There was a slight breeze. The trail was a little dry, and the grass was super tall, but it was a blast. Additionally, my Sister-in-law's boyfriend was a lot of fun to ride with. I mean, I always like riding with people who come from lower altitudes, and this was no exception. Thanks for the ride.