The Ridge Trail 157

This morning I went out and rode the Ridge Trail 157. The weather was perfect. A nice cloud cover, a light rain off and on, and only 1 horse encounter. Being Labor Day weekend made it “weekend warrior” day on the mountain. I played tour guide to a couple pretty cool guys, dropped a DHer in a motorcycle helmet, passed a guy who didn’t need help, his “wheel was just falling off” and rode through a campground full of grimy kids eating marshmellows at 9AM. It was a sweet ride.

Today was also the first time I got to spend some quality time with the new ride. This bike just cries to be ridden, and be ridden fast. After a few minutes of getting used to the hardtail feel, there was no looking back. I really don’t see myself ever missing the full squish bike. All the trails I hit today were single track. The bike handled it all amazingly. I would have done another lap or two if I hadn’t needed to rush home to witness the glorius beginning to yet another season of the “legacy” and “tradition” of BYU Football. Jeez, I hate being a fan of crappy teams. Harry had fun though. It was his first football game. I am not sure if it was the popcorn and powerade or the action on the field that he liked better.

Back to the ride….I got a chance today to climb a lot of rocky, loose grunt climbs and the bike just rolled on up them. The tight windy single track was a blast, and the frame color even looks cool with mud on it. So, yeah, overall I am very pleased with this bike after the first impressions. Monday will be more quality time together (my last effort of any length before saturday) and then it will be short spins to fine tune it for Saturday when we line it up at the 24 Hours of Soldier Hollow.

I wish I had the camera today. I had some amazing views of the North face of Mt. Timpanogos.