Two Good Days

I rarely line up two good days in a row, so this week goes down as a winner for me.

Wednesday night was the Slingshot Biathlon.    The race was simple. Three  short laps from the Bowery, up Spring to where it crosses the gravel maintenance road.  Here’s where the shooting started.  Racers selected a slingshot, and took aim at cans about ten yards away.  You got two shots per lap.  If you hit a can, you could take the shortcut up the maintenance road to the top of Rodeo, cutting out the top part of Spring.

Ready, Aim,....

As expected, nobody was a crack shot with a slingshot, and as a result, there were a lot of people taking the penalty loop.  In truth, Jolene was the only one who legitimately hit a can, though several people opted for the shorter loop to try and catch Kris.  Kris, didn’t really need to hit a can, as he mopped up the floor with the competition.  You’d think the guy would take it easy since he was racing his wife.  Sheesh.  As the laps ticked off, Kris’ lead grew and I don’t believe he even tried to shoot on the final lap.  In the end, it was Kris by a mile.

Kris's first attempts led him to the conclusion that future attempts would be unnecessary.

For his efforts, Kris walked away with one of the new shop Jersey’s(Available now for a limited time at the bargain price of $45)  Lizard Skins also ponied up and  most everybody that stuck around for the Weenie roast went home with a new pair of gloves.

You heard me, weenie roast.

Hey Paul, do you work out?

The “after party” was really more of a fellowshipping exercise.  I myself brought my non-member family to try and make them feel welcome at The Church of The Big Ring®.  Although the first discussion kept getting interrupted by the giant marshmallows going to flame.  My son Gavin met his doppelganger Cade, and My son Owen acted aloof around Cade’s older sister.   Good times.

Which brings us to good day #2 Thursday.  Rumors of the trails in American Fork Canyon turned out to be true, and a Code Blue Emergency Ride was called on the UtahMountainBiking forum.  Code Blue ends up to be three dudes, but whatever.  Jake, Steve and I met up and rode from the “Nukey” campground, to Ridge Trail proper, up to the four way, down LDCSF, up from Mexican flat,  back onto Ridge Trail, and back down to Timpanooeke.  How was it?

Incredible, thanks for asking.

The Forest Service’s decision to close the trails until they were ready was a brilliant decision.  The trails were buffed out by the weight of the winter snow, and very little damage has been done by those who chose not to see the Closed Signs.  Things were 96.5% perfect, just a couple of muddy spots on the climb up from Mexican flat.

There is something about riding a bike that you love on your favorite trails in the world.  It’s like you walked into a room with two hot chicks wrestling and they look up and ask  you if you want to join.  Yes, Please!

We got the mountain biking equivalent of first tracks on a powder day.  Buff, untracked, tacky trails that hadn’t seen pressure since last fall.  Even though my legs were burning from trying to keep up with faster riders, I was drawn forward by an unseen force.  If  pressed, I would have agreed to a second lap(Thank God I wasn’t pressed).

Although the weather since then has not been conducive to trail quality, it’s good to know that they’ll be ready again soon.

What are you doing next Wednesday?