Girls Ride

Tonight was the final ride of the year for "Ride Like a Girl". I have been so excited for this ride all week, so much so that today I could hardly contain myself at work, 5 o'clock didn't come quick enough.

Our ride tonight was in AF Canyon. I have had so little riding time in AF this year, and it is one of my favorite places to ride--riding up there is always a treat. At first I thought we were going to ride from Summit parking lot and do a short loop, but KC had a different plan. Instead we were going to go down what I have always gone up. At first, unfortunately, my face showed some disappointment to not going down Deer Creek South Fork, but this was actually very wise on KC's part as we could have ended up in the dark and not everyone had lights. Once I realized I had the opportunity to go down a new direction I was excited. Even more so, because I got to lead the way down.

The ride down was a blast! We hit jump, after jump, after jump......after jump!!! You could hear girls whooping and hollering all the way down the trail. Oh did I mention there were 12 of us on the ride...yes, 12 girls loving every moment of it. Eventually we got to the bottom and it was time to turn around and go back up.

As Jen took off to go up she got chain suck. We were able to get it out, and then she and I took off to catch the rest. Well of course Jen caught the rest, and then went ahead of the rest. I caught some of the rest, except for Jolene, Patty and one other gal. Good training for Sundance try to catch up to the others.

On the up we got spread out. Jen, Patty and another gal hit the Summit with Jolene and then me right after. By the time we got to the Summit Jen and the others were not there. Jolene was worried they missed the turn, so she went down Jurassic to see if they went down that trail. I stayed and waited. Eventually Jolene came back--still no Jen. After a bit KC showed up with the others. We took off down Jurassic. This is a fun trail, or at least the part I rode. We did not go far as the sun was going down and we were losing light. By this time we still had not seen Jen and the others, so KC took off to find them, and we headed back. On the way back we ran into our lost riders. They had gone onto the ridge trail thinking this was the direction we were going to ride. So it turns out they were only kind of lost.

Now the next conundrum do we go get KC and let her know their okay or do we continue to the parking lot? We continued to the parking lot, and here is why. KC is the most amazing, strong and incredibly fast rider. We knew she could go down and up in the amount of time it probably would take us to get to the parking lot, and this was almost the case. KC showed up about 5 minutes after we arrived in the parking lot, and I am sure she was very relived everyone was okay.

The ride was great, and I am really sad there will not be any more "Ride Like a Girl" rides for the year, but at least I have something to look forward to next year.

Ride Like a Girl - Ride

Went with Jolene yesterday for the monthly Ride Like a Girl Ride. We got to Mad Dog in Orem, and the only person there was KC. We visited for a bit while waiting to see if others would show up, but it turned out to be on me and Jolene this ride. After a little bit of discussion it was decided we would ride the BST over by bridal veil.

We started at the 800 North trailhead and rode up to the start of the trail. KC rode her single speed for this ride. It amazes me at what a lot of work the single speed takes, it also amazes me how KC can ride behind me on a trail and still keep going consistently even though I am not.

The first part of the trail I have been on, but it has been quite some time since I have ridden it. The second part of the trail I have not been on. KC led the way the new trail. It is a fun, quick simple trail until near the end where there are 3 tight switchbacks. Just prior to the swtichbacks KC stopped and described what we could expect from each switchback--I like it when people tell me about what to expect it makes the ride a little bit easier. The first switchback was a very steep left handed sharp turn. When I got to it, I stopped and thought no way. Luckily KC showed me and Jolene the right line, for the next time I go back. The next switchback was a right turn and I made it around with only a foot down! The final one was similar to the first but somewhat bermed. Unfortunately the bermed part did not take away my fear of spilling down the switchback, so I ended up getting off and walking...oh well, hopefully next time.

We ended the ride going to equestrian center and back to the trail head. Perfect night for a ride with the girls.

Female Bike Wrenching

KC held ride like a girl tonight. Instead of going on an actual ride we took our bikes in and changed the tires, and then learned how to fix a chain, do minor brake adjustment and lubing the chain.

I took both my girls and their bikes, and it was great. They both learned to change a tire (well Mandy did it with a little help), and then they broke a chain. Mandy liked the chain part and I ended up bringing home a part of a chain for her to make a bracelet. Anyone have some good degreaser!?! When KC was showing how to lube a chain I loved it when Mandy went "mom, you do that at home" glad she noticed.

It was great for my girls to learn this stuff and now if they get a flat or have a broken chain they will remember what they practiced and learned.

Double Treat

Today I went on two fabulous mountain bike rides. The first one started with my cute husband. We rode in AF Canyon. Since last Saturday I have been wanting to take Royce up to the look out, so he could see the same gorgeous view I had seen. So with some hesitation, but a lot of desire we set out. The hesitation and desire were both on my part since Royce is a beginning mountain bike rider and had no idea what he was getting in to. This ride is a lot of up hill 3.5 of the 4 miles is up hill (that is only one way). We started out at Salamander Flats and headed to Ridge 157. Needless to say it was not too long before Royce realized there was a lot of uphill and very little relief. I am guessing about the time he realized this is when he announced he was switching to road biking. Ooops, too much too soon. I was worried he really was not going to like the ride, but we kept riding forward.

The hill side is changing colors .Royce cranking it up the hill on Salamander Flats.As we hit the meadow at mud spring flats I heard a clinking on my bike and noticed an unusual tension as I pedaled. Upon inspection of my bike I found 1 loose bolt on the small ring of my front cassette and one that was ready to pop out. I was able to tighten the loose bolt almost tight, but was not able to rethread the other bolt. This did not stop our ride, however I had to ride in my middle cog for the rest of the ride. This turned out to not be as bad as I imagined.

From the meadow we headed up to the lookout. We stayed there for a while enjoying the scenery and watching the wild life. We saw a hawk circling in the sky and we kept hearing a bull elk. Never did see the elk, so I am not sure if it was an elk or hunters, but it sure sounded real.

Royce checking out the spectacular view.

A rock wall created by mother earth. After pausing and enjoying the beauty of the canyon is was time to go back. The ride back was great. When you ride 3.5 miles up hill then you know you are going to get 3.5 miles down hill. Once we got back I think I may have actually seen a smile on my husbands face. I don't know if he has changed his mind about converting to being a roadie, but I do know that I will stick to the trails with less climbing when we got out together....at least for now.

These steps may look fun going down, but they were not as great as they look.Royce bombing downhill.War wound from the ride. I popped out of my pedals while trying to pedal over some rocks. I ended up rolling down the hill with my bike. The second ride of the day was the Ride Like a Girl group ride. Jolene and I rode our bikes up to Timpanogus park to meet the group for the ride. Once we got there we found out the ride had been changed and we were going to Big Spring Hollow. There was someone there to help us load our bikes and make sure we got up to the trail head.

For the group ride we had there was Patty and Jen (part of the Mad Dog racing Team), Jessica, Jennalyn and Tiffany and of course KC Holley helping us along the trail to improve our skills. At the trail head we met and worked on tight circles, unweighting our bike and hopping our bike. After working on these skills we headed up the trail. It was a beautiful evening for riding the temperature was perfect and the landscape showed the beauty of the changing colors of leaves on the trees.

Jessica, Jennalyn and Patty coming up the trail.
Jolene heading up the trail.
At the top of the hill I scrambled ahead to get some pictures of everyone riding. This turned out to be good because after taking pictures I ended up behind KC and got some great advice on riding my bike and now have something new to practice. Unfortunately as we were riding Jessica's chain broke. KC stayed to fix it and we rode on. However it wasn't long before KC and Jessica caught up to us. Granted Jolene and I were taking pictures, but I don't think I could fix a chain as fast as KC did.

Patty tearing up the trail.

Jessica clearing the obstacles on the trail.

Jennalyn looks like she is having a great time on the ride.

Jolene riding the trail with style and grace.
Tiffany doing a great job riding. This is one of her first mtb rides.KC showing her more serious side.

We ended the group ride in the parking lot by the trail head, but Jolene and I continued riding down the canyon and back home. I wanted to see how fast I could get my bike to go down the canyon road, but it never got over 31 mph. I tried, but that's as fast as I could get. When we got to the Provo River Trail Jolene and I got out our blinking lights and took off down the trail. Somewhere along the way mine fell off and I ended up without a light. Glad we did not have far to go on the city streets.

It got dark rather quickly and was cool riding in the dusk as it changed to dark of the night. A perfect ending to a great day of riding.

Ride Like a Girl

Tonight Jolene and I met up at Mad Dogs in Orem to participate in the Ride Like a Girl group ride. KC Holley led the group. Besides me and Jolene there were five other women who joined the group--Katrina, Patti, Kody, Noelle and Heidi. Our ride destination was a surprise until we met at Mad Dog where once gathered together we found out we were going to Sundance. Sundance is a fun place to ride and I was excited to find out this is where we would be riding.

Once we got to Sundance we completed the necessary paperwork, got our ride/lift wristbands and headed to the lifts. This was probably the worse part of the whole night. I hate ski lifts, ferris wheels and anything else that has me up high. I rode with Jolene and Katrina. Luckily for me they kept the conversation going and I could look at them and not think about how far up we were as I kept a death grip on the bars. I was very relieved once we were on ground again. Prior to going down the road to the trail KC gave us brief instruction on how to ride on the gravel. I understood what she said, but it still didn't make me like riding a gravel road. At the trail we then received instruction on how to maneuver our bikes on a downhill switchback. Downhill switchbacks are probably my least favorite thing to ride. I always get tensed up an end up going around them at granny pace. KC taught me a couple of things I had not been told before, and I immediately put them to work. I found by using less of my front brake and more of my back brake I ended up going around the switchback more easily and not with the stutter, jerk motion I tend to end up doing. I also found my speed was more consistent through the switchbacks. Sometimes this made me nervous as I am not used to staying at a consistent speed. Usually I am so slow I have to pick up my speed. Sundance has a lot of switchbacks and we got a lot of practice on them. We also got to go over a log pile(which was fun), rocks and do a little bit of climbing. By the end I actually was starting to feel a little bit more comfortable going down the switchbacks. So much so, that when everyone parted their ways, Jolene and I took off for a ride up the hill and did a short ride, with of course, more switchbacks. Here are a few pictures from the ride with some of the riders.