Prolytes: this stuff works

I've had issues with cramping up in the past.  Like last year on the 1,000 Warriors Race when both quads locked up so hard I nearly fell of the bike and then as recently as a several weeks ago while pre-riding the PCP2P course, both hamstrings locked up.  Anyone that has experienced severe cramping during a race can attest that they can essentially end your day once they set in.

I was in the LBS and they recommended I try Prolytes, which is a concentrated liquid solution of the electrolytes potassium, sodium, magnesium, chloride and sulfate.  The directions say to mix Prolytes with your water or sports drink and I'm sure that works fine (I need to try it out), but I was told you could also simply squirt a few drops under your tongue, which appealed to me as I would rather not be mixing, measuring, etc. more than I have to.

The real test came for me a few weekends ago when I was fatigued and struggling up the south side of the Nebo Loop with the sun beating down on me and I was sweating profusely.  I started to feel the cramping coming on.  I immediately popped out the Prolytes bottle and squirted a few drops under my tongue.  Seriously, I'm not kidding you, within a matter seconds the cramping subsided and I continued on without any further problems.  Since that ride, I've been using it routinely on my long rides and I haven't had even a hint of cramping.

So there you go.  Try it out and see for yourself.  Hopefully it works for you too.

MTB around Timp

I've been wanting to ride around Timpanogos on the dirt for a while now and Saturday I finally had my chance.  Here are the route details going clockwise starting from Provo Canyon:

• 6:15 AM start at Nunn's Park in Provo Canyon
• Union Aqueduct Road
• Dragon's Back
• Water Tank Road
• Betty to the Altar
• Lament to Dry Canyon
• Curly Springs to Battle Creek Canyon
• Mostly hike-a-bike up Battle Creek to the intersection with the Great Western Trail (GWT)
• GWT single-track around the north side of Timp
• Bailed onto the Timpooneke Road to avoid the rocky trail below Julie Andrews Meadow
• Salamander Flat
• Snow Gage / Horse Flat to summit
• Aspen Grove
• Pavement back to Nunn's Park

I finished at 11:30 AM and total ride time was about 4 hours and 15 minutes. Total vertical ft. was 5.8K. 

 

My overall impression is that this was an awesome ride with the exception of the hike-a-bike that followed this crossing of Battle Creek (just after dropping down Curly Springs*).

 

*Curly Springs was a good climb, not too many steep sections and only a couple of spots where I had to put a foot down due to loose rocks.

 

 

This hike-a-bike section of the trail (about 1 mile) mostly goes straight up the mountain and is littered with loose rocks. Even in spots where the grade levels out, the trail is narrow and deep making it easy to catch a pedal.  Not too fun.

 

The alternate route instead of Curly Springs and Battle would have been to continue climbing from the Altar, up and over the saddle of Little Baldy, traverse the head of Dry (mostly rough going) and then climb up and over the saddle of Big Baldy.  I've ridden from the Altar, around Little Baldy and about 2/3 of the way across Dry and there are definitely some rough spots that require frequent dismounts, plus the elevation gain on this route would be about 1,000 ft. more.  So either route has its pluses and minuses depending on what you prefer.

 

Here's a picture of a nice meadow I encountered just before the NW corner of Timp.  I was pretty tense crossing this as there were bees buzzing everywhere.  I thought for sure I'd get stung, but luckily they let me pass through.

 

 

My favorite part of the ride was topping out at about 8,600 ft. on the NW corner of Timp and the trail that followed, which quickly turned from sagebrush and meadows to lush forest single-track underneath a shaded canopy of aspen and old growth pine and fir.  I stopped for a break in one of these groves (while eating a giant flour tortilla) and just soaked it in.  I would have stayed longer, maybe even taken a nap but the deer flies were attacking me.**

 

**I've discovered spandex doesn't provide much cover from insect bites given the location of the many bites I received.  So, don't forget your repellent like I did if you do this ride.

 

 

 

I mentioned I bypassed the trail before and after Julie Andrews Meadow.  I've ridden this section once before and wasn't in the mood to get kicked around by the rocks on the descent from the said meadow, so I opted to take the Timpooneke Road instead .

 

I finished up the dirt portion of the ride by hopping on the Snow Gage trail then Horse Flats to the summit and then dropping down Aspen Grove.  I like Snow Gage.  It had some good climbing, good scenery and not too many rocks.  It was a bit soft from the 3 or 4 horses that I encountered, but still in reasonable shape.  Aspen Grove is fun too.  It still has need of a trail crew to clear some of the loose rocks on the lower portions, but it has improved from 2 or 3 weeks ago when I rode it last.

 

So there you have it.  A sweet ride around Timp on a 29er, all before lunchtime.  Speaking of lunchtime, I think we should incorporate this into one of our lunch rides in the fall, maybe on a Friday.  I'm sure at the lunch pace, we could be done in 3 1/2 hours.  That would simply require a shooting range start time of 10:30 ("early lunch") and then we'd be back at our desk by say 2:30 (no need to shower of course).  Something to think about.  I'm getting antsy already for the fall lunch rides.

American Fork Canyon - Pole Line Pass Loop

I got an early start this morning and rode up the North Fork Road* from Tibble Fork Reservoir to Pole Line Pass.  I don't particularly enjoy climbing on double track, but often it's the best option for a long, sustained climb on the mountain bike.

*One of these times I'd like to come up the North Fork (not on a weekend**), camp and explore some of the abandoned mining sites that are in this area.  From looking on a topo map, there are lots of them.

**Early Monday morning has got to be the perfect time to ride this road.  I didn't see one ATV the entire ride.  I imagine on the weekend, it's a mess.

At the top of Pole Line (at the spot of the above photo), I hopped on the GWT (Ridge Trail 157) and headed south.  The trail was in great condition until just north of Forest Lake where I ran into some snowy patches on a north facing forested slope and had to dismount to avoid the muck.

Here's Forest Lake as seen from 157 with Mary Ellen Gulch to the left and Mineral Basin to the Right

A bit further south on the trail I ran into more snow and it was back to hike-a-biking.  I was amazed at the determination of some trail biker, who was obviously hell bent on passing through this portion of the trail despite the snow, ice and mud.  I had a hard enough time crossing carrying my 20 lb. bike and couldn't imagine trying to make it on a heavy trail bike, especially given one slip on the ice would certainly result in a 100 ft. tumble, bike and all.

Once back on the sun facing slopes, the trail was dusty dry.  On the descent below Mill Canyon Peak, the trail bikes and runoff had chewed up/left a bunch of loose melon sized rocks on the trail that made the descent tricky.  Is the trail always in that condition or just early before trail work is done?  I would think a crew spending a 1/2 day could really improve this portion of the trail by moving some of the loose rocks.  Note:  I did my part and move a bunch of loose rocks from the middle of the trail.

I finished up the dirt ride by continuing on 157 to the Alpine Loop summit parking lot and then returning back down the road to Tibble. 

Great Western Trail - Altar to Dry Canyon

A while back I read Dug's account of riding around Timp and ever since I've been dreaming of doing that same ride.  Before I do the whole loop in a day, I'd like to pre-ride portions of the loop that I haven't ridden so that I have a better idea of what to expect.

After work the other day I rode up to the Altar and then continued on the Great Western Trail (GWT), making my way up to the saddle of Little Baldy.  I've decided this is one of my favorite mountain bike rides.  If you haven't ridden it, you should.  You'll love it too.  Here's why it's awesome.  It's a long, sustained climb on single track that alternates between rocky technical terrain, including quite a few sizable tree roots, to smooth, tacky dirt that winds up the mountain under a canopy of old growth pines.  There are some steep switchbacks thrown in the mix that I enjoy trying to clean.  And near the top, before the Little Baldy saddle, your hard efforts are rewarded with this incredible view (looking south to Provo Canyon and Utah Lake):

After the Little Baldy saddle, the trail continues to gain elevation as it traverses across the head of Dry Canyon.  The level of difficulty is high on this stretch due to many tree roots and the loose, narrow trail that has some exposure.  Expect to do some hike-a-biking.

I was hoping to have enough time that evening to complete a loop by dropping down Dry, but I was running out of daylight and wasn't sure how much further I had until the turnoff.  I ended up playing it safely and turned around just prior to where the GWT crosses over this wash* that empties into Dry.



*I later realized from reviewing my GPS track that after crossing this wash I would have had one more gully to cross and a bit more climbing before reaching the meadow where the Dry Canyon trail intersects with the GWT.  Next time I'll keep going and try dropping down Dry.  I've heard the upper Dry descent is sketchy in places, but I don't mind dismounting and walking the bike down in places if I need to.  If anyone has come down this recently, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Going back down the mountain on the same trail I ascended was still really fun.  I was glad that most all of the hike-a-bike sections were rideable with the help of gravity.

Now, I'm even more excited about riding around Timp after experiencing this taste of the trail.

Oh, and here's a nice meadow that sits just below the GWT at the top of Dry.

Take a left instead...

This morning I wanted to try a new route, so I started at the Indian Hills trail head and rode on the dirt until I could hop onto Squaw Peak Road and then rather than staying right to go to the lookout, I went left and continued on the dirt until I had to turn around, a couple of miles past the Rock Canyon Campground where the road started to get messy from the melting snow.

Here are some pictures.  I can't think of many better ways to spend an early June morning.  Our mountains here along the Wasatch are simply incredible.

Guns, Bikes and Pain

Last night was the Soldier Hollow Biathlon.  It was fun to get out and try something new.   

The course started on the pavement for a short climb, followed by another short climb on some grassy double track before turning into mostly downhill single track for the rest of the lap.  At the end of each lap (we did 5 laps), you'd shoot five targets with the pellet gun in a prone position.  If you didn't miss any targets, you would then ride straight to the next lap, but for every target missed, you'd have to ride a penalty lap.  Typically I would miss one of the 5 targets but I think on one lap I missed two.

I have no idea how I finished as the race was fairly chaotic, but I certainly wasn't near the front.  I was still feeling sluggish and sore from the Monday ICUP race and multiple crashes (check out this video of my second one) and didn't feel like sprinting too hard off the line.  Plus, read on and you'll see my other excuse for not wanting to kill myself.

Here's the trophy* that each of the category winners received:

*isn't that a road bike? 

I got skunked on the raffle this time, although they had some great prizes they gave away including an ipod, a set of Crank Brothers pedals and a nice wooden/stainless steel floor pump to name a few.

Group Ride up AF Canyon

I won't go into much detail, but I will say it was a great morning for me on the Alpine Loop.  I rode with the fast guys and was able to hang with them until just after the Tibble Fork turnoff when Rick attacked and I was quickly dropped as we started climbing the steep grades up to Pine Hollow.  As the group pulled away, I just kept a good steady tempo right at my threshold.  I wasn't really paying attention to my time until at the last hairpin turn, I noticed I was in good shape for a PR.  I ended up at 58:04, six minutes faster than my previous best.

You'll have to check out the entertaining write-ups that Rick, Mark and Adam wrote on their respective blogs.

Here's the group at the top:

Video of my crash at Draper ICUP

With more and more bikers using cameras while they ride, there was a good chance my crash on Saturday would be captured on film.  Sure enough, it's up on youtube. 




Couple of observations on the video.  I mentioned the first rider came around on my left, but the video clearly shows he came on the right.  Don't know if it would have made a difference, but I remember him calling "on your left" so I was maybe moving right.  It doesn't look like either of us ran into the other, it just looks like we got too close and something (I believe it was our bars) got tangled up.  Also, luckily I don't believe the other guy was hurt and I'm glad the riders behind me were quick to react and dodge me or it could have been a big pile-up.