Trail Maintenance

So today I spent four hours doing trail maintenance up behind Red Butte Garden. That is some tough work, and I am a bit tired and sore. It was mostly organized by a local bike shop (Revolution Cycle), and there was about 16 people plus the park service “Guide”. We were able to cleanup and widen about 3 miles of trail that was rutted, rocky, and overgrown. I look forward to going out and riding it now that it has been cleaned up. If you ever get the chance to go volunteer to do trail maintenance you should do it. I think that as mountain-bikers we need to do everything we can to show that we are responsible for the trails too so they aren’t taken away from us like they have been in California. Not only did I make some new “biker” friends, I also earned 30 points in the intermountain cup. If you take the DNF out and each rider’s worst finish that puts me solidly back into first place in the fat ass class. I’m stoked. As long as I don’t have another mechanical, and assuming none of the other riders in my class have done maintenance then I should stand a really good chance of winning the cup!

On another note, my youngest sister Lenna is in the hospital getting ready to have her first baby. She has been there since yesterday afternoon, and is finally starting to make progress to getting the baby out. For a while they were talking about a c-section, but hopefully all will go well and I will have a new nice tonight…

Bike Bits

The last three weeks have been hell on my mountain bike. One of the things I have learned about having an expensive bike is that it is expensive to maintain and repair when it breaks. I'm OK with the disposables like tires, brakes, cables, and chains. They are supposed to wear out the more you ride, and so one would expect to go through a chain, a set of brake pads, a cable, and a tire in 500 miles of riding so far this year. The last three weeks however are above and beyond... In the last three weeks I have ruined one tire, two sets of brake pads, two derailleur hangers, two XTR derailleurs, two rear derailleur cables, several spokes, and two chains! Basically all of this happened in two instances two weeks apart. The first was during a race at Deer Valley, and was likely the result of the mud bath I took as I went over the handlebars, a short time later my derailleur lay in pieces. The latest was Saturday as we were out on one of my favorite trails (the Mormon Pioneer trail). Brian and I were riding both the front and back sides of this great ride and were on the last climb before the long descent when a tree branch got caught in my spokes and decided my derailleur didn't need to be attached to my bike, braking my new hanger, derailleur, chain, and spokes in one fell swoop. It was a long walk back to the car. Now I get the joy of reassembling it. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be back up and riding, until then I get to ride my singlespeed...

I did have one highlight this weekend. Brian and I went to the NORBA national race up at Deer Valley and watched the downhillers. They are absolutely insane. If you have never been to an event like this I highly suggest spending a couple of days doing so. The downhill riders will ride things that will baffle your mind, and at breakneck speeds. Fun, Fun, Fun.