Does it hurt?

Yes. Today I was able to help out a friend of mine who is doing a study for cycling and I got to put myself through an intense hour on the bike followed up a few hours later with a 20 minute all out effort. Riding on a trainer indoors is a real mind game. You constantly have to be thinking about continuing to pedal in the same spot... without going anywhere.

During the twenty minute time trial, I found myself pretending the chair in front of me was another cyclist from France. I couldn't let the french guy win. It was a matter of national pride... I did an all out puke your face off sprint at the end, but he still came in ahead of me. I really hate that guy. It is funny what you find yourself doing to stay motivated. Round two is next week and it will be interesting to find out how I did.

Where I Get to Live

Sometimes I find myself in utter amazement of the great fortune I have to live here. Today I was out on a team ride and as we descended South Fork up Provo Canyon I had to stop and pull out my phone to snap some pictures. They really don't do it justice but it was a gorgeous evening to be out riding. I even happened upon a moose and her calf, I know they are super dangerous but I couldn't help but stop and snap a picture... I think I could win in a sprint though... Maybe...




A moose and her calf. The light was low so the camera was having a hard time. They were a lot closer than they look here.

Good Morning

Do you ever have those morning where you wake up frustrated for no real reason? This morning I awoke this way and headed down stairs to try to make sense of a messy kitchen. After throwing all I could fit into the dishwasher I realized I needed to get out on my bike. I snapped a couple pictures with my phone and after a short ride came back feeling ready and focused for the day. I love my bike.

Fall Colors

A Day on the Wall

Squaw Struck is a new climb that is in the process of being finished. So far it is 8 pitches and this photo is above the second. I somehow managed to delete the photos we took from my memory card so this is all I have.

The climb was amazing and, being new, had a large amount of loose rock. After finishing our ascent we started the rappel back down. We linked a couple pitches together by tying two 70 meter ropes together. I was the first to go down and about three quarters of the way down when I felt the rope shift slightly. As I casually looked up to check it out I saw a rock slightly larger than my head plummeting toward my face. I lunged into the wall narrowly missing the rock as it continued it's free fall. I am pretty glad I decided to look up.

CAPRI!

Breaking from my normal subject of outdoors and adventures I would like to introduce everyone to Capri Jolley. Paul and Alicia just had her last night at around 2 a.m. and she is the closest I am going to get to a niece for a long time so I am super pumped to welcome this little human to the world. Congratulations Paul and Alicia!

Where Misery and Fun Meet

There is a place within everything where fun and misery meet each other. On occasion they will stick together and hang out, other times it is more like a high five when they run past each other in opposite directions. Today I was able to hang out with each of them on my ride in a cold pouring rain.

It is an interesting phenomenon being able to be around them both at the same time because they seem to compliment one another, but as soon as one of them leaves the whole situation has a different feel. When ever you can get these two together they bring a sense of adventure to whatever you are doing. As the rain pelted my face and dripped off my nose they were right there with me. It seems as though every time I ride my bike they show up.

Final Rappel

Well This was my attempt at filming the last rappel in Pine Creek.... It didn't exactly work out so well but I figured I would throw it up anyway. Doing a rappel one handed is harder than I thought, and this one was fast.

Pine Creek Round 2

It is amazing how hard it actually is to get people to come out to do this sort of thing. Excuses not to do things like this never seem adequate after the fact but I seem to have the intrinsic problem of making excuses to go do things like this instead of being "responsible" and getting other things done. Sometimes life's metronome gets set by the tasks and worries we put in our own path, when we are the only ones that can set the tempo. On occasion we make choices and let others decide where our time goes and how fast we march from task to task. In an effort to keep my tempo from getting to out of control I searched out a party to accompany me in an escape to Zion. One day starting at 4:30 a.m. with no set agenda, other than to do a slot canyon named Pine Creek.

I started off the day with a Red Bull mixed with orange juice which I now feel is a bad combination. Eric Montandon, TJ, and I met up with Eric Ellis and Brooklyn down in Cedar City where we made our way into Zion. After grabbing the permit and heading up to the trail head we squeezed into our circa 1992 wet suits and geared up for a cold few hours deep inside the slot canyons. I don't think I will ever tire of taking people places and helping them to experience something like this.

Feeling as though you have descended into another world you walk through cold sand and look hundreds of feet up where the walls almost meet over your head. Driftwood is lodged 50-60 feet overhead having been deposited there by flash floods. Slinking into a pool of frigid stagnant water that was left there by the last flood that came through you loose your breath and swim to meet your friends on the bank. Tourists from all over the world come to admire the beauty of this place but few venture deep into the more amazing parts.

The trip was fun. One day there and back. Some may say spending hours in a car and spending the money on gas isn't worth it. "If you go, stay longer" they might say. It's closer than you think so just go.

The final rappel.

One giant boulder hanging overhead.

God's carvings.

The Crew; Eric, Brooklyn, Eric, and Tj

5 a.m...... yeah it felt pretty early.

"Sand People... They will be back in greater numbers"

Deep within Zion's underbelly I came across some strange beings. Yeah.... I didn't know they were around the corner. They got me good eh?