gone with the wind

The calendar pages are a-turning and soon enough the temperature is going to drop and it's going to start snowing in the mountains.  We can't wait.  But last Saturday, the lovely weather clung to northern Utah and we had another good day MTBing at Round Valley.  We decided to go on Saturday because there was supposed to be a weak storm moving into the area on Sunday.  What we didn't know was how crowded the trails might be.  We needn't have worried: there were a few more folks out riding than the prior weekend but not many by any stretch of the imagination.

It was, however, very, very windy, with gusts above 40 m.p.h.  Normally the wind is only an issue on the paved bike path portion; this day it affected us [me, really] for much of the ride.  Although I climbed My Nemesis pretty well, I was handling the bike like a bit of a spaz and ended up walking more of the Sweet Sixteen switchbacks than I have been doing, spinning out on a rock on one corner and having my front wheel bounce too much on another.

Heading out after Hammerhead Hill

H climbed Hammerhead [Pladsen] Hill no problem, however, and I did fine on the Staircase of the new-to-me section of trail.  In fact, I've decided that I really like that new-to-me section and wish I'd gotten the courage to start riding it sooner in the season.

After riding, we drove over Guardsman Pass but it was far too blustery to sit in our usual picnic spot - the swirling dust would have made it miserable.  We instead opted for beers and sandwiches in the Brighton parking lot.  Perched on a stone wall and soaking up what sunshine we could as the winds whipped the clouds overhead, we people-watched the erst-while hikers until our bums got cold from the rocks.  (Then we had to blast the heat in the truck until we got back down into the valley where it was warmer.)  When we got home, H washed our MTBs, letting them dry in the sun before moving them into the mudroom, thinking that the weather could change at anytime and this could have been our last MTB ride until spring.  If it was the last day on the MTB trails until after skiing, then it was a pretty good way to finish up.