Killing Time

I in my office killing time waiting for Erin's flight to arrive so I can pick her up. She's coming home a little early from DC to attend an awards ceremony at USU Saturday. She's nominated for Scholar of the Year and it's a black tie formal affair. Should be fun. It will be good to have her home.

I've been thinking about epic MTB rides lately. 15 years ago when I first started riding the dirt, Glen took me on many all-day adventures. The downside of racing is you just don't have time for getting lost in the mountains. I hope to change that a little this year.

My first big, all-day ride was with Glen and Skylere Bingham. Nothing like starting out with two former Pros. Guess who was off the back all day.

We started at Glen's house in Sandy and rode up Little Cottonwood to Alta. From there it was the summer road all the way to the top of Supreme. A 5,000 + climb out of the gate. From Supreme, we headed toward Brighton and got on Great Western. We dropped off the top of world to the South and eventually ended up at the top of American Fork. I seem to remember one hike a bike in there somewhere, but I was semi-coherent at the time. From there is was about an hour of sweet single track descending to Timble Fork. Down to Apline, over Hog's Hollow to Corner Canyon and back to Sandy to finish up the day. I remember something like 6 hours total time. A hard ride, I had a great time.

I've done that loop a couple more times with Glen but Great Western off the top is now open to ATV's and the trail was super-sketcky and not much fun the last time we went. However, maybe I'll give it a go again sometime.

Before I did this big loop, I didn't think something like that was possible. It opened my eyes to the limitless loops available on the Wasatch. Now, I'm disappointed if I don't get into at least two canyons when I'm able to make it up. Once again, I'm grateful to live in this remarkable place.

The next month + is the most frustrating for me in the mountains. Since I don't backcountry ski (yet), my ski season is done. However, we're a long while away from riding the high country. I guess that's what lower elevation trails are for.