Busy Weeks

Had a busy week. As the temperatures warm up everyone wants their bikes fixed up. It was difficult to try and keep up with the repair work. I have been talking with companies about sponsorship, and on Friday, I took a photographer for the Daily Herald on a bike ride.

Tomorrow I have an interview with Good Morning Utah. I was thinking I would ride my fat bike from my house to the studio for my Monday morning early ride, but it would require more time than I have available. So I'll drive to the interview and have to do a shorter ride on Monday.

I'm planning on doing my 5 hour ride on Tuesday. I'll leave the house at my normal 4am, and bike to the trail head in Draper, where I'll meet up with a good friend and biking buddy and ride the Corner Canyon trails.

Jacob's Ladder

My 5 hour training rides on Monday mornings are working well. I didn't get enough sleep this last Sunday, so by the end of the day working at the store I was quite tired. Getting up at 3am riding 5 hours and then working til 7pm make for a long day, but I love being able to get that long ride in to start out the week. On Monday I rode to the real top of Jacob's Ladder in Corner Canyon. Most people turn and head down Jacob's Ladder where the single track breaks off from the dirt road, but if you continue up the dirt road another .6 miles you come to a great cliff overlooking Utah Valley.

The trail to here is loose and steep, but the fat tires give great traction, and although the bike is heavier than my mountain bike, it does a better job getting up this trail.

Yesterday was a hard day. I was building a new storage rack for the store, and fell onto the end pole of the rack and hurt myself pretty good. So I was feeling bad for myself and then I got a call from my wife. My daughter is in Serbia, and she and her companion were attacked by a man. He hit my daughter in the face a few times, but she isn't hurt bad. Her companion though was beat up pretty badly. She is having to go to Frankfurt to get surgery to fix a broken jaw and knocked in teeth. My daughter is moving back to Croatia today. Overall it sounds like things are going to be OK, but it is sad that a man would think he needed to beat up a couple of defenseless young women.

Red Fox

I saw a red fox as I was walking to church today. It ran off too quickly for me to get a picture. But I did get a picture of these flowers. They don't run as fast as foxes.

Tickville Gulch

I have been working on the Tickville Gulch trail, trying to get the entrance down the cliff more rideable. I cut a new section a couple of days ago. I was surprised to see horse tracks going down the new section. I am trying to make it so it will be safe for horses, but thought it was still a bit sketchy.

Bike Month

In the USA May is National Bike Month.

Here are some dates for your 2013 calendar:
May 13-17 -- Bike to Work Week
May 17 -- Bike to Word Day
May 8 Bike to School Day

Sunday "Training"

I started writing this blog entry last Sunday, but it is hard to type and arrange pictures on the small screen of an iPod. Anyway I finally am getting around to finishing this entry.

Scattered in this blog entry are a few pictures from the walk to church.

I ride a bike of one kind or another most every day. But I believe in having Sunday be a day of rest. So I don't work out on Sundays. However, I don't see anything wrong with getting to church. There is nowhere safe to lock a bike up at the church, and it really isn't that far so my day of rest training is walking to church.

Indian Paintbrush

Everyone in our neighborhood knows I'm the crazy guy that walks to church every sunday no matter what the weather. It use to be that I would get a lot of people that would stop and offer to give me a ride. I would politely tell them that I was walking on purpose. People have gotten so use to the connivence of driving that they can't imagine someone would walk if the didn't have to.

Wild flowers

It got to where people would only ask me when it was raining, snowing, or just really cold. If I wanted to go buy car I could ride with the rest of my family. Anyway, it is really nice that so many people would offer me a ride, I have great neighbors.

Wild flowers

They changed the location we meet for church. It use to be about 1 mile to church, which I would walk each week. Now it is about two miles by road. However, there is a "horse trail" I can take. Unfortunately it is a bit shorter, but the cool thing is that it is much more adventurous.

A new section of trail

The trail system route was created when the subdivision weas created. However the trails were never actually made. Over the years I have worked the trail from my house down Tickville Gulch. The new church is in the opposite direction. So now I'm working on fixing the trail going up the gulch.

I'm working on pulling the trail out of the bottom of the gully where the occasional runoff ruins the trail up onto the sides so that the trail can stay in better condition. It may take a few years but it will be nice when it is finished.

I saw a couple chickens last week. I think a fox must of found them also.

Bird nests in the side of the cliff

Kickstarter

Biking to the South Pole is going to be an amazing feat. However, getting everything done that will be required before we even head south is also going to be an amazing feat. I made a big step today with the launch of my Kickstarter page.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/southpoleepic/the-south-pole-epic

This is a chance for you to share in this awesome adventure, and to be a part of the historic first bike ride to the South Pole.

To give my Kickstarter project a kickstart, I am giving away an Epic Action Sports Video Camera pictured here.

I will give this to a random person that either becomes a Kickstarter backer, or follows me on Kickstarter.  So click on this link  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/southpoleepic/the-south-pole-epic and join the fun!