Garbage Day

12/28/2011 - Day 6 - The Festive 500 - 35 miles

Today was garbage day. So the bins are all out all over the neighborhood sitting in the road by the curb. I didn't see the garbage truck come by but it did and the recycle bin is still out on the curb full so that truck didn't make it through the neighborhood today. I thought I might be tempting fate so today when I was out logging 35 miles toward the 311 needed to complete The Festive 500 I kept one eye peeled for any garbage trucks and the other one on the road in front of me.

I'm happy to report that everything turned out fine. No garbage trucks were spotted on my ride today and everything else about the ride turned out fine too. What a beautiful day. I was surprised that the temps were in the 40s and the wind was calm until it wasn't calm during the last five miles. But what a great ride. I started out feeling very strong - so much so that I thought I might be on the wrong cog. I checked and no it was the right cog. I guess I just had a little extra gas in the tank today.

I even spent some time in the drops. Probably six or seven miles total. Sure makes it a lot easier to be aware of the extra fat rolls that have accumulated this holiday season. Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas to me and my gut. I averaged 17 mph for the 35 miles and hit a top speed of 36 mph on what I thought might amount to a mostly flat route.

I was surprised to see 725 feet of elevation gain (which isn't much I know, but still) when I mapped my ride. I felt good the entire ride and had great form. On the last turn south for the home stretch the breeze had kicked up a bit and that along with fatigue conspired to slow me down a bit. Once again a beautiful sunset to enjoy during the last three miles and then a hot shower. A perfect end to garbage day.

8/18/2012 - Dream Small Ride #6 - Fairview to Huntington Round Trip

On August 18, 2012 I am going to ride my bike to the top of the world. Twice. Dream Small Ride #6 is planned and on the calendar. It will be a suffer-fest-filled round trip from Fairview to Huntington. 7664 feet of elevation gain. 3614 feet of that over the first 13 miles of this route with no warm-up before the steep grades. Coming back it's a little more manageable at (only) 3893 feet of climbing over about 34 miles. Not quite as steep.

The high point on this ride (twice) will be 9790 feet up. That's high. I'm thinking the air will feel a bit thinner up there and that will add to the challenge. This road is absolutely beautiful and it truly does feel like you are at the top of the world when you are up there. The best thing about all the climbing will be the subsequent descending on some of the smoothest curving roads in all of Utah. This ride is going to be a very fun ride half the time and a very painful hill-slug-esque wondering why I'm doing this type of ride the other half of the time.

I'm thinking that I will either be moving along at 45-60 mph or crawling along at 3-6 mph. There won't be much if any middle ground. It will be one extreme or the other and all based on topography. That's the main reason I want to ride this ride. That and the alpine lakes and the discovery of the mammoth site and the perfect scenery and did I mention the smoothest curving roads in Utah? This ride is going to be awesome. Or painful. Up or down. No in between. Fast or slow. Crawling or flying. Epic. There will be no garbage miles on this ride. This day will not be garbage day.