rolling along

We hit the Round Valley trails again on Saturday.  H had been back east for work the whole week and he said he could feel the time spent at sea level as we pedaled along.  As for me, I had come down with a summertime cold starting on Thursday and was finding it difficult to focus amid all the sniffling and nose-blowing.  Summertime colds are stupid.

Coming out of Rambler's sagebrush switchbacks

Descending towards the start of the My Nemesis climb

Because we were trying to time things for an afternoon appointment, we got started a little bit on the later side, on the rail trail around 9:30 a.m.  We thought that the Park City temperatures were a little warmer than we thought they'd be but the light breeze was nice.  We didn't encounter many people on the trails for the first half of the ride; the second half was a little busier, as the local shops' tours made their way into the foothills.  I met one couple as I was straining my way up the Sweet Sixteen switchbacks; as I took a wrong line and gutted it out over the rocks, they cheered me on, "You can do it! You look strong!"  I'm pretty sure I looked anything but strong - wheezing and coughing and snuffling - but the sentiment was appreciated.

We paused for snacks at our picnic spot, watching several hawks dive-bombing the fields in search of small, furry prey.  It wasn't as clear as we like to see it - several Utah wildfires, plus the ones on the West Coast, are filling our skies with smoky haze - but it was still pleasant enough for a summer afternoon.