sagebrush switchbacks

As we had different plans for Sunday, we went MTBing on Saturday instead, driving back over to Round Valley once again.  We got a later start than last weekend (sucked into watching the Olympics first thing in the morning) and the skies were much clearer which made for much warmer temperatures.  I ended up drinking nearly all my water - I usually carry 1.5L - which I almost never do.  My legs felt a little fatigued and I was concerned that that, in combination with the heat, would do me in.  To my surprise, I actually had a really good ride and felt as confident on the bike as I have in a long time.

We tried to do the same ride as last time, including that ridiculously steep hill THAT H RODE ALL THE WAY UP THIS TIME.  Sorry to shout about it, but this hill is seriously steep.  I wish we had a picture of it.  He said he just couldn't stop pedaling or he would have fallen over for sure (no time to un-clip from the pedals) and by the time he got to the top, his heartrate was as high as it's ever been.  Me, I had to stop to rest while just pushing my bike up to the top of it.  After that hill climb we missed the turn to that other long hill I had walked before and instead ended up on a rolling cross-country trail that skirted the hills.  We ended up on the Rambler trail, which has a lot of switchbacks: I'm definitely getting better riding those corner, especially on the packed dirt portions, but add in some rocks and I freak right out.  Ride stats:  17.8 miles (my longest ride to date), 2 hours, 8.9 average speed, 24.5 top speed (H's top speed - I certainly didn't go that fast.


After the ride we took our cooler and went back up to Park City Mountain Resort, which is much busier on Saturday afternoons than Sunday afternoons.  We got burgers from the slowest snack shack on the planet (come on: nineteen minutes for two orders of cheeseburgers and fries?) and sipped our beers in the shade. Just another great summer day.

We should get sponsored