A Good, Long Day

Saturday was a great day. I got up early and rolled out with Dan and his brother, who was in town for the weekend. We rode what's become one of my favorite road rides - I ride from my house down to Locust Ave into Lindon, down to 1600 N. in Orem, around the backside of the Cascade Golf Course and to the Provo River trail. Very little traffic makes it one my favorites to do with Cindy as we can ride and talk as we go. The day started off warm at my house, but I was cold and windy until we turn up from Vivian Park up S. Fork. The ride up South Fork was awesome - the wind died and everything was bathed in the early morning golden sunlight. After we arrived home, I headed out alone for a tour of AF/Highland/Alpine. I was starting to get sick of the saddle and hadn't done the best job with nutrition, so I was a little bonky as well. In the middle of all of this, I suddenly had goose bumps and a real fear that I'd be riding through my neighborhood with diarrhea running down my legs. Desperation sat in as I began looking for some isolated spots in the middle of American Fork. And then, I spotted this little gem. I rode home, did the brick portion of my workout when Jared and Stephanie arrived. We loaded up the mountain bikes and made our way up American Fork Canyon. We started up the road and caught the Timpanooke Trail. From the Timpanooke Trail, we made our way along the Ridge Trail to Tibble Fork. As we pedaled along, I began to realize that a large number of my best ride stories over the years have involved Jared. I also thought of the great rides I've had with Dan, Jon, Racer, and Brent. One thing each of the rides had in common was a focus on the company and the experience more than the pace. That always put me at ease about my gravitational challenge. Hopefully, they remember the rides as good times as well. Anyway, this is what we saw as we climbed up Timpanooke: The descent didn't disappoint. I decided to stop midway down to check the integrity of my collarbone - I smashed it pretty good in June. I hit one of the few mud spots on the way down in a corner. I had set the line up to carve the high-side of the corner but instead slid past the line due to the mud and hit a quakie at nearly full speed. The feeling was very similar to being hit on a crackback block while playing football. With the integrity of the collarbone established, I was strangely more confident during the rest of the descent. By the time I made it to the Summer Homes/Tibble Fork turn, I was giggling involuntarily. After the ride, we gathered the little ones and headed to Red Lobster for the shrimp fest. I would have been disappointed in how little I ate in previous years, but this time I was glad I didn't give away the work of the entire day. The kids had a good time and it was a good ending to a great day.