Hobble Creek to the Right
Franz| April 28, 2010 6:08 amWe have biked Hobble Creek several times in the past but we always took the “Left Fork” at the junction up past the Hobble Creek Golf Course. We noticed that the Utah Velo has a ride schedule in a couple weeks that goes up the “Right Fork”. So we decided to check that out. Biking over to Hobble Creek from our home in Orem would be about 55 miles.
It was one of the warmest days yet during our visit in Utah, in the mid 70’s, but on the windy side. We wanted to get in a good ride today because the forecast for the next several days shows cold and rain. We made our way down to University Avenue and took that through Provo. We were moving over 20 mph due to a tail wind we figured it would be a headwind on the way back. We then followed the route the Utah Velo club uses to get over to Springville. We had taken that route before but seemed have a hard time remembering where to turn. So this time I downloaded the course on my Garmin Edge 500 and followed the track, which made it easy where to turn.
After making our way up Canyon Road, we reach the junction where we usually turn left, and instead headed up the right leg. There was a sign that showed 8 miles to some place so we thought this might be the length, which would be twice as long as the left fork. Initially the road surface was a bit rough so I was thinking this might not be so great, but soon we reached new pavement, which was smooth, the type you like to bike on. It was a nice windy road, with virtually now traffic.
When we started from our house it was mostly sunny, but by now it had turned mostly cloudy, but the temperature was very nice.
We heard some gun shots and started to wonder if there was some hunters ahead. We then came upon a couple of guys who were doing target practice against a hill, off the side of the road. Just short of 7 miles from the fork, we finally reached a point where the road was closed.
It is typical here for roads to be closed for the winter and sometimes they don’t open those as soon as the snow is gone. Last week I found that going up Squaw Peak and went ahead through the closed road and found other bikers up the hill. But we felt that might not be wise here because it was too remote and besides, those guys were shooting guns back down the road. We had now biked nearly 28 miles, so that would be over 55 miles by the time we finished, so we turned around and headed back. When we made it near Provo, we stopped for lunch. Then it was 10 miles back home. By now the wind had shifted and once again we had a tail wind on University Ave, and were moving along at 22 mph. When we arrived at home, Anne biked past the driveway for a short distance and then circled around. When I asked what she was doing, she said she wanted to reach 55.55 miles. It was a fun ride.
That evening I went to join the Utah Vello Club Tuesday evening ride. It was still warm but the forecast was for 25 mph our winds. With such a strong tail wind, I figured out it was a good chance to set a new PR going up Dry Creek. Even though I had already biked 55 miles earlier I still felt good and was able to climb the Dry Creek Hill climb, coming in 2nd place and a new PR for me. I ended up with 80 miles on the bike for the day.
Categories: Cycling
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