This was our last chance to get in a bike ride this visit to Utah so we got up early. Well, I guess if you call 8 am early. It was a bit overcast but shortly after we started to bike, it became sunny. It was beautiful weather, just the right temperature as we headed up Provo Canyon bike trail with the plan of cycling up to Sundance. We stopped part way up for these photos by the Provo River.

After we turned off the highway toward Sundance it became a steeper climb, but Ann knew what to expect having done this same route last Tuesday. We really enjoy the Sundance area and spent some time up there taking pictures and eating a sandwich.

After some restful time up at Sundance we made our way back home. Since Ann had some errands to run and the 25 miles we had biked was not quite what I wanted, I headed up the canyon again, this time going up Squaw Peak. That is a 5 mile, 1600 vertical feet climb. I was disappointed that I didn’t see anyone else on the hill to race against. I stopped briefly at the Outlook Point to take a photo.

On the way down I came upon another rider headed up the hill. Good, I thought. So after going past him a bit, I turned around and chased him down. He was about 40 years old but not that great of a climber so I easily passed him. We met again at the bottom of the hill because he came down faster than I did. He asked my name and where I was from, commenting how good of condition I was in. I just said that I climb a lot of hills in California. So all together I got in about 45 miles, a good recovery day after last Saturday’s fast paced century ride.

Categories: Cycling
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Both Ann and I had a great ride today on the Tour de Cure century in Brigham City Utah. We are very grateful for all those that made contributions and helped us reach our goals. Together we raised over $1,500.

I started out on the 100 mile route (actually it was 107 miles) and moved out quick to the front of the pack from the start. I knew the fastest riders would be there and if I was not with them from the beginning, it would be too hard to ever catch them. I found myself in a peleton of about 60 riders moving at an incredible speed, ranging from 22 to as high as 30 mph. Sometimes it was 4 abreast so I found myself fully surrounded by riders. At that speed it requires intense concentration, knowing a wrong move could be disastrous for me and all those behind me. At around 45 miles, I checked our average speed and it was over 23. I don’t think I have gone that fast before for that distance. I was happy to finally see a climb on the road out to Promissory Point. I was the 4th to the summit and found myself grouping with the other 3 on the way down. I could not help to notice the other three guys looked like they were in their 20’s. The rest of the group never caught us before we reached the rest stop.

At mile 72, I reached the rest stop where I met Ann. By then she had completed 48 miles on the 100K loop. She looked like she was totally fresh, so I figure that maybe she would want to switch to the longer loop and ride with me, which she decided to do. I calculated in my head that would mean 80 miles for her. “Hey, that is only an extra 13 miles” compared with the 67 miles on her original course.

Ann said she had averaged over 16 mph so far on her ride so I was holding the pace close to that. She stayed right on my wheel and I was able to capture a few pictures while we were riding together. It was a lot of fun riding together. While in the morning I was skipping most of the rest stops, after lunch we made some brief stops at each of them. At the last stop, we took a bit of a break and told Ann it was only 10 miles to the finish. “Hey, only 10 miles to go”. I guess my calcualations was a bit off becasue when Ann hit 80 miles there was no finish in sight. I said, “it must be right around the corner”. I might have said that several times. Finally we hit 500 west and 600 north and I then could see we had only 9 blocks to ride. But the last mile is always hard. Ann did great and finished with 85 miles total.

Ann’s average speed for the 85 miles was 15.8 mph. She was riding for 5 hrs, 20 minutes with a total time of 6 hrs, 30 minutes. I was very impressed she rode this distance at that pace considering she only started road cycling in February. It was a lot of fun, especially after we finished!

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This was the first day after arriving in Utah last night. With the Tour de Cure coming up this weekend and with the weather forecast showing rain and cold tomorrow and Thursday, we decided that we should get in a bike ride while the weather is nice.

We started from our Orem condo and headed over to the Provo River trail, up to the end, then up to the end of South Fork. I knew from riding this route previous that this would only give us between 25 and 30 miles so I suggested to Ann we go further. I thought about either riding out to Utah Lake or riding up to Sundance ski resort.

We decided to head up to Sundance. After descending down South Fork we headed up the busy highway for a few miles to the turn off for Sundance. The climb up to it was a bit steep, but Ann did great.

At the resort we decided to have lunch so we bought a turkey sandwich to share. We took our lunch out to a wooden deck to enjoy the beautiful view. I asked Ann how she felt about the climb up to Sundance and she said she decided to go to Sundance because we would not get a good sandwich at Utah Lake. I started to laugh out loud. While we were eating, Greg called and asked if we wanted to go golfing. So we headed back home and got there just in time to head to the golf course for 9 holes. Ann and I didn’t exactly have a great game but were impressed by Greg’s skill and his new driver, and decided that maybe we have to get one of those.

After returning home I got ready for another bike ride with the Utah Velo club. The ride started in American Fork and since Ann wanted to be able to use the car, I decided to ride to the start, about 9 miles. The club ride was a very fast paced 35 miles and then I rode home. My average speed for the entire 45 miles was 19.3 mph. That is how fast this club rides.

All in all I had a great time today, riding and golfing with Ann and then doing a fast paced ride with the bike club. It was really a triple day at the races.

Categories: Golfing
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