New Bike

I finally took the plunge and bought a high-end road bike. I've been riding an enthusiast level Trek with a triple crank for the past 2 years. It served me well but it was definitely time to upgrade. My new ride is a 56" 2009 Specialized Tarmac S-Works SL2 with SRAM Red. The wheels are Roval Fusée SL E5's (1,450 grams in case you're interested), the crank is the S-Works FACT carbon 53 x 39t and the pedals are Look Keo 2 Max Carbon. I'm a little concerned about the 11 X 26t cassette paired with the 53 X 39t crank, especially when I like to climb and I weigh 185.....okay, I lied I'm really 187 but soon I'll be 185 if I could just stop eating so much on the weekends. Fortunately, I already have a Dura Ace 7900 12 X 28t cassette that I picked up on eBay that I'll probably swap out. I'm pretty sure I'll need the extra 2 teeth about the time I'm climbing past Mutual Dell on the Alpine Loop.

This all ads up to bike weighing a mere 15.4 pounds! I know, I know, it's an expensive way to drop four pounds when I could instead pay a really good trainer to help me shed 20 pounds from my gut. I guess now with a nice bike, I have no more excuses for being slow.

I took the bike out yesterday for a long Saturday ride. This was my fourth time on the bike and by the end of the ride, I was finally becoming comfortable with the aggressive geometry of a race bike. My first ride was earlier in the week up the south side of Suncrest and on the descent I was very tentative as I wasn't used to being so low in the drops. Overall the bike has a very fast, stiff, crisp and responsive ride feel and I'm looking forward to many good rides on it this season.

Bike maintenance

Tonight after work I stopped by the LBS and bought a new chain for my road bike. I've known my bike was due for a new chain for a while but never got around to purchasing one. I hate to admit it, since it reflects my lack of attention to maintenance, but my chain probably has 3,000+ miles on it. Way past due. I also picked up a chain tool. I was surprised how easy it is to remove the chain. You simply lay the chain in the tool, tighten the threads on the driver pin and out pops the chain's connecting pin. Installing the new chain is easy too, except that I wasn't thinking about chain length (doh) until after I had the chain connected and noticed it was sagging against the rear derailleur cage like this:

I took out a few links, connected it back again and thought I was done. Not so fast. See the problem with procrastinating the maintenance on your chain is that it causes other parts to wear quickly, like the cassette. This became apparent when the new chain started hopping down to the next smaller rear chain ring whenever I back pedaled the crank as a result of the cogs worn to the point that the new chain wouldn't match up properly. So, now I'm going to have to purchase a new cassette.

This little lesson on bike maintenance reminds me of something a guy told me the other night while I was doing a church financial audit at one of the local wards. We were discussing how the church finances are simple to keep straight as long as you do the little things each month to stay on top of things. He commented how he tells his daughter that "it's much easier to keep things clean than to clean them up."

Isn't that so true with many things in life. The little things we do or don't do on a consistent basis whether it be mechanical maintenance like timely changing the oil in your car or replacing your chain on your bike or maybe physical maintenance like eating healthy or exercising daily if neglected end up resulting in big problems down the road. No, not earth shattering stuff....just common sense, but sometimes it's good to be reminded of these things. So, please, do yourself a favor and make sure you change your chain more frequently than I did.

St. George

I packed up the SUV Thursday after work and headed south to St. George for the long weekend. We had a great time as a family playing in the sun* and I was able to squeeze in some bike rides in the morning.

*We stayed at a Pelican Hills condo which I highly recommend. The condo itself was fabulous and the clubhouse/HOA facilities included a theater room with plush leather recliner chairs (very nice), an outdoor pool that was heated, a nice big deep hot tub and tennis courts.

Saturday morning I got up early and rode Barrel Roll, which is located just minutes from Santa Clara. I was planning to ride for several hours but ended up getting a hole in the side wall of my rear tire just before finishing one lap. Even though my plans were cut short, I had a blast and the weather was fabulous. If I were to ride Barrel Roll again, I'd probably park my car in Santa Clara and climb up the dirt road for a better cardio workout as there was a decent climb from the paved road to the trail head.

View from the top of the Barrel Roll loop:



There were a few tricky spots that I found challenging and fun to try until I was able to clear. I rode the loop counterclockwise. Next time I'll probably go clockwise.

On Saturday I headed out early again and did a loop on the road bike that went through Gunlock, up to Veyo (that last climb before Veyo felt good) and then descended into St. George. Along the way, I rode for a few miles with a guy named Jason who is training for the St. George Ironman Triathlon in May. I have a huge amount of respect for these people, including some of my good friends, who are training for the Ironman. I have a hard time comprehending the sacrifice and effort it takes to prepare for and finish an Ironman triathlon. Jason for example was doing a 1/2 ironman that day or 1 mile swim, 66 mile bike and 13 mile run. Hats off to them....I don't really have any desire to put myself through that much pain.

Here's the volcano near Veyo. This part of the loop is deceiving because you're thinking it's all downhill from here, but the climbing seems to continue on and on. It'll make for a challenging Ironman bike leg.


Snow Canyon:

Snowshoe Video

On Saturday I opted for the snowshoes instead of the bike. I wasn't disappointed except that next time I'll pack the Superfly 29er too and go for a post snowshoe climb up the Alpine Loop from Pine Hollow. There were lots of snowmobiles, so the road was packed pretty good.

AF Canyon - Pine Hollow Snowshoe from bjchild on Vimeo.

Sweet Potatoes and Snow Biking

Sweet Potato

In an effort to improve my cycling performance, I've been watching my diet pretty closely, at least during the day at work when I can closely control what I eat. When I get home, it goes downhill as the cupboard is stocked with the likes of Oreos, Dark Chocolate Pomegranate* Toblerone, etc. So, I've been frequently eating at lunch one of the best foods you can eat: sweet potatoes. I used to hate sweet potatoes but now I love them. Here's the deal. This is the number one vegetable you can eat. Why? Here's why:

• It's packed with vitamins and minerals. Vitamin A or beta carotene (tons of it...4X the daily recommended allowance). Vitamin A is great for proper eye health. Vitamin C equal to 42% of the daily recommended allowance. Vitamin E and B6 too. The sweet potato also is a good source of manganese, copper, potassium and iron.


• Low on the glycemic index making it a "good carb".


• Lots of fiber. Be sure to eat the skin and it has more than oatmeal.


• No fat


• 26 grams of carbs, including only 5 grams of sugars. As a cyclist, carbs are the fuel you need. In fact I may test these on a long ride.


• Even some protein (2 grams)

The sweet potato is easy to prepare too. You just poke some holes in it with a fork and toss it in the microwave for 6-8 minutes. I like mine with brown sugar and a little butter. If you don't want butter, it's still tasty with just salt and pepper. Be creative and try it with different toppings. You'll be surprised at how good they taste and how they will satisfy your hunger for longer than normal.

*You've gotta try these. If you love dark chocolate, you'll get addicted. Costco has it.

Snow Biking

Now.....changing topics. If you were to look at the forecast this week, you'd plan on riding the trainer every day. As it turns out, the weather has been quite nice. At least down in Orem, the snow has been falling at night or in the morning and then during the day, or at least at lunch time, the weather has cleared up and it's beautiful. Not too cold either. I've been taking advantage of the light 2-3 inches of daily new snow in the Timp Foothills. Yesterday I was doing laps up the water tank road until my chain broke. I was disappointed as I had one more climb in me. Today, Jonathan from work joined me and we road up the water tank road to the top of Dragon's Back and then dropped down the Alta Aqueduct Road to Timpanogos Park and back to our cars at the shooting range via the Parkway trail and through the streets of Orem.

I'm discovering it's a ton of fun riding in the snow. A whole new experience. I thought I'd get bored, but I actually really enjoyed riding the flats of the water tank road from above the race course to the top of Dragon's Back. The snow gets deeper the further you go, which provides some resistance and makes it a more challenging ride than if there were no snow. The descents are fun too, although you have pay attention and watch out for ice underneath (make sure your tires have low pressure for traction....I think I'm running around 20 psi tubeless).

I should mention I attempted the singletrack last week (Betty) but it wasn't that fun. The snow is too deep and hikers' tracks make the ground too uneven, although maybe with some practice and more tires smoothing out the trails, it may work. So, get up there and ride! It's a good time.

Here's Jonathan descending the Alta Aqueduct Road:

Also, I saw another Bald Eagle today soaring above us while we were on the water tank road. Here's a picture (I know, crappy picture from my Blackberry):

Alta Aqueduct Road

Yesterday at lunchtime, I went exploring. I started at the bottom of Provo Canyon on the Provo River Parkway then turned off onto the gravel road at Mt. Timpanogos Park and started climbing. The Parkway trail was a slushy, miserable, wet mess, but once I was on the double track it was nice as there was about 2-4 inches of new snow covering the packed snow and ice underneath. I didn't know where the road I was on would lead me and just kept climbing. As it turned out, it ended up at the gate at the top of Dragon's Back. I later discovered this road I was on is called the Alta Aqueduct Road. Not a bad choice if you don't have enough time to climb Squaw Peak.

Looking down across Provo Canyon towards Squaw Peak:

Here's a map with the GPS:

Watch out when in Provo

Saturday I rode for about 3 1/2 hours along the route in red:

As I made my way south on 9th East in Provo, I stepped up the level of alertness about 5 notches. You see, I lived in Provo for about 4 years and I know what type of drivers roam there. It's a good thing I was on heightened alert because seconds later a little Honda Civic buzzed by me with only a foot or two to spare. It wasn't 20 seconds later as I was approaching 820N that another student waiting to turn left on 820 N while on 9th E cut right in front of me. Again, lucky me that I was anticipating such a move and I braked hard to slow down enough to avoid a potential collision. I'm not sayin' all drivers in Provo are like these two, but there are certainly enough to warrant paying extra attention if you have to cross through this area on your bike.

I really enjoy riding the roads on the southeast side of Provo Lake (very few cars and long stretches of country roads where you can maintain long consistent efforts), but to get there from northern Utah County you don't have many options that don't involve navigating through lots of busy roads and stop lights. In the past, I've hopped onto Geneva Rd. from Vineyard to 600 S Provo, but Geneva Rd. has too many trucks, the shoulders are narrow and speeds are high. This time I took 400 S from Vineyard all the way east to Canyon Road and then south connecting to 9th East. It's actually a good route with the exception of the 9th East section that runs by the BYU campus (where I almost got ran over....). I think next time, I'll detour the 9th East section by going up behind the Provo temple along the bench on 1450 E.

Also, Miles has again made some awesome video of the lunch rides, this time on snow. Here's the link. And yes.......that's me who turfs it at the top of Squaw Peak. Thanks Miles!