Check this out.

We (The Weekly Race Series) will be holding a Cyclocross style race this Thursday, October 29th on the Euclid property in Heber starting at 5:30 p.m. This is a just for fun race for training. We will have 3 categories to choose from: Category 1 - 5 laps, Category 2 - 4 laps, Category 3 - 3 laps, each category should take approx: 40 min. and will start 1 minute behind the previous category. There will be a $1 entry fee with the entire take being raffled off to 3 lucky people after the race. Bring your single speeds, mountain bikes, and cyclocross bikes and join in the fun. If you have any questions send us an email through the help tab above. For an interactive view of the course click here.

It should be a lot of fun. Cyclocross is a mix of mountain biking and road riding on a short track length course. Just bring your mountain bike and do some circles. It is very spectator friendly so bring the family.

Night Ride?

So you want a night ride, really? I can do a night ride. What time are we thinking? 6:30 or 7 pm. At Big Springs? I am so in.
And maybe in November we can do skills practice at Timp Park. You know jumping things, working on wheelies, fun stuff like that. It translates to better bike handling on the trails.

Last night Ride Like a Girl went up the canyon, way up. We started at the top of the Alpine Loop (Ridge Trail parking lot) and headed down towards Cascade Springs. I am not sure the name of the trail, but it is the one that the forest service and a lot of mountain bikers worked on improving over the summer. Then we came back up the same way. It is a nice steady climb. The temps were cool heading down but very comfortable climbing.
We had some extra time before dark and the plan was to hit the top portion of Jurassic Park or Summit Trail. There was some confusion though. And the group got split up on the climb. Some went towards the Ridge Trail unbeknown to the others. Bad information was passed and I ended up looking for them down the wrong trail. I ultimately turned around after getting the impression that they would not have gone this far. My impression was right. As I crested the parking lot they were there. I was so relieved.
There were apologies, but really deep down I was a bit proud of them after I got over the fear. They did not just get to the parking lot and just hang out. They went on. They thought that there was some time for them to get more riding in and tried to capitalize on it. That is an attitude I can respect. In fact, everyone seemed to do that. There are just quite a few options at the top.
We had a great showing--a whole gaggle of girls. It was lots of fun. Thanks to those who attended.

Thursday the plan is to meet and leave by 6:00. So get there a little bit earlier. We are heading up Provo Canyon. We will park at the trail head at the top of the Alpine Loop and hit the dirt from there. You may need some cash to get past the guard house.
Light may be an issue depending on how soon we get up there and start riding. It is pretty dark by 8:15 or 8:30 pm. So if you have small lights , you may want to have them just in case. I will bring some extras. I don't anticipate needing anything super bright barring anything catastrophic--no mechanicals. :)

September???

Who wants a Ride Like a Girl in September? Trail suggestions? Shoot me some ideas.
This just came to me...night ride? Half and half. Hmmm....

It was a small group on Thursday and I almost left before Jolene and Kendra showed up. The three of us chatted for a while and then did Bonneville South. We parked at the 8th North Park and Ride in Orem by the mouth of Provo Canyon. We took the paved trail to Bridal Veil Park and jumped on Bonneville. We went at a good pace stopping periodically to regroup and/or share trail spurs we had ridden. We descended the switch backs above Canyon Road and returned to the cars. It was a perfect night for a ride--a nice breeze.
It was too bad there were not more people there to enjoy it. The three of us did seem to have fun though.
I am planning on September. Hope to see you there.

Ride Like a Girl is Thursday at 6 pm. We are meeting at Mad Dog is Orem. I have Girl's Camp this week, but will be back Thursday afternoon. Honestly, I am not sure where we are going to ride. We will figure it out though.

Yesterday we hit South Fork (Big Springs). Even with threatening skies, we had nine of us including myself. The weather was actually really nice. It was overcast and it sprinkled just a bit every now and then. The trail was really good though. We did two loops of fun.

In case you missed it on Thursday, there is another Dirt Demo for WSD bikes on Tuesday from 3-7 pm at Lambert Park. Details can be found here. I was able to ride a Trek Top Fuel last week.

And, of course, Ride Like a Girl is on for Thursday. See post below.

I can not believe that June is almost done. It flew by. Which means July's Ride Like a Girl is just around the corner. I am set and ready to go for July 2nd (Thursday). Meet up at Mad Dog Cycles in Orem at 6 pm. We will congregate for a minute or two and then head out to South Fork or Big Springs.
This will be a great way to kick off your 4th of July weekend. Hope to see you there.

I just got this from Mad Dog this morning:

Tori from Trek will be at Timp park this Thursday with bikes to demo. Will you pass the word to your Ride Like a Girl group? They will have the opportunity to ride wsd (woman specific design) full suspension bikes up on the race course etc. 4:00 till dark.

I will probably try to get there just after 4 and maybe go on a quick ride. I have meeting at 6:30 that evening that I need to attend so that will cut my time short.

This is a great opportunity to try new and different bikes on trails instead of test riding in a parking lot.

Last night we all met at Lambert Park and had a ball riding the single track. By all I mean, fifteen of us. That is the biggest group yet to attend Ride Like a Girl. Thanks so much to everyone who attended. I know there were a couple that wanted to be there, but just could not make it. Next time hopefully.

the single track smiles (minus two who snuck away before the photo op)

We are meeting at Mad Dog Cycles on Thursday June 4th by 6:00 pm. From there we will figure out rides--it may make sense to carpool on this one--and head up to Alpine. We are going to Lambert Park. We will meet at the Bowery.

Directions:

Take I-15 to the Alpine/Highland exit, just south of Point-of-the-Mountain. Drive straight east 5 miles towards the mountains, turning left at the stoplight in Highland (where you see the grocery store and gas station). Drive 2 miles north into Alpine to the 4-way stop at 200 North. Turn right. At the next stop sign, turn left. You'll be on 200 East, which becomes Grove Drive. Continue northeast on Grove for two miles. The road will turn 90 degrees to the right. Pass two streets on your left, then arrive at a T in the road. Turn right, across the river. At the fork in the road, go right for the Bowery parking area. Pass the High Bench dirt road on your right. About 300 feet further up the paved road, keep straight as the main road turns right, entering a smaller road. The Bowery pavilion is on the left, 500 feet up the dirt road, with a parking lot on the right. (Toilet, pavilion, water.)

This should be really fun. Hope to see you there.

Ride Like a Girl keeps sneaking up on me this year. It must be the first week thing. My apologies, but thanks to those of you who mention it and remind me.

We are definitely on for June 4th. We will meet at 6:30 pm (correction this should have read 6:00--sorry Patty) at Mad Dog Cycles in Orem as we always do. "Where are we going?" you ask. I am getting a professional opinion on potential trail conditions, but I am leaning towards Lambert Park.

I have only ridden here a couple of times, but it has always been fun. This network of trails just flows and there is not much climbing. I have just a couple of concerns:

1. Time and distance. Lambert Park is nestled beside the mountain in Alpine which is not as close as Provo Canyon, but it does not get dark until pretty late. And this date is close to the summer solstice.
2. Dust. I am not sure how dusty these trails get in the summer. I imagine they stay pretty dry, but we may get some thundershowers early next week. Then I won't really have to worry about that. And really a little dust never hurt anyone, right?

So this is the tentative plan, but there are lots of other options if this does not work out. So what do you think? Who is with me?

We had ride like a girl on Thursday. It seems like it took place so long ago, but it has only been a couple of days. We had a good showing. We rode up Bonneville Shoreline from Bridal Veil Falls Park to Squaw Peak Road. We stopped at the switch back climb and practice going down and up. I was really impressed with how quickly everyone increased their skills. This patch of trail can be scary as it there is a drop off. These girls were fearless though.
Keep riding and see you next month.

Who is up for a ride on Thursday? The weather early this week does not look good, but Wednesday and Thursday look beautiful. Wednesday is mostly sunny with high around 75; Thursday is sunny with high around 70. It does not get much better than that. I love to see this on weather.com!

Sunny

I am still deciding what trail to hit--either something above Timp Park or possibly South Fork. Any requests...

We have some hard core riders out there. I am way impressed. So Thursday was dreary. I watched the weather pretty closely in the afternoon to see if it would start raining. It looked good until 5 pm when I left work. I got to Mad Dog early and waited and watched. The rain started coming and then it was really coming down. People started showing up asking if the ride was on.
We continued to watch and by 6 pm, it had stopped. We headed to Rock Canyon to hit Bonneville Shoreline. This trail is more rocky and/or sandy which makes it great for wet weather riding. Getting ready in the parking lot was a bit chilly. I had seven girls--Jen, Jessika, Ashlee, Monica, Suzanne, Jana and Andrea-- there and I was stoked. I must admit though that I may have failed a couple of individuals. I should have gone through the real basics, but I made assumptions and the colder weather led me to skip over these. To those individuals I apologize. I should have gone over shifting, braking, etc. I will do better next time for sure. None the less, the group did really well.
The rain came and left. It started to seem like it was going to get nice--please keep in mind this is a relative term, but we were all a little wet and chilled by the end. We only rode for about 70 minutes and worked on momentum which is always fun and sometimes a bit scary. Next time we should ride for be a bit longer though and hopefully it will be warmer.
Thanks to those who came and come again next month. And if you missed it, hope to see you next time.

So who is planning on joining me next week for a ride? If we get the moisture the meteorologists are suggesting then we will probably hit Bonneville in Provo and head south towards Springville. That portion of the trail is pretty sandy and does not get muddy.
If the forecast improves, then we will plan on riding something around the mouth of the canyon. The old race course or something else equally fun.
Either way, we will meet at Mad Dog Cycles in Orem at 6 pm.

Ride Like a Girl season has started. I am really excited. I greatly enjoy being able to do these session and really appreciated Mad Dog's willingness to sponsor them. And thanks to those who show up and indulge me.

While the weather and trails were actually ridable last night, we did not spend time on the bikes. Instead we spent the evening learning some simple trail repairs and basic maitenance. Before riders can actually fix or maintain their bikes they need to ensure they have some basic tools. I always ride with the following:
1. A spare tube
2. A multi-tool that includes a chain breaker
3. Tire levers
4. A pump--I have one with a gauge to ensure that I have proper tire pressure
5. Extra links and a quick link for my chain
6. Compressed air (if I am racing)

Why both a pump and compressed air? That is a good question. While compressed air is quick and convenient, it can run out. A pump is much, MUCH slower but it can continually provide air. Running a tubeless system with a sealant (I like and run Stan's), I will alway try to just put air in the tire in hopes it will seal if I get a flat. This works but it can take a lot of air to do it. A pump ensures that I don't run out of said air.

I don't expect everyone to remember how we did everything so here are some links to websites that will remind you how to do what you did.

1. How to fix a flat
2. How to fix a chain
3. Lubing your chain

Remember before you ride or even head out to a trail, always check air pressure and your chain. This will minimize the your chances of having to do it on the trail.

Bonneville Shoreline has been pretty good. You may need to wait a day or so after a storm, but if you can get out and ride. Hope to see you next month--keep April 2nd open.

Ride Like a Girl minus the ride. On March 5th(that being the first Thursday in March) we are going to have the first Ride Like a Girl. It is going to be more of a pre-ride actually. Bring your bike and you can learn how and do some minor maintenance or "trail fixes".

It is going to be at Mad Dog in Orem at 6:00. Be there a bit early so we can actually start at 6 pm. You are going to be working on your bike, so dress appropriately and bring your bike tools that you would or should be carrying with you during rides--tire levers, multi-tool, pump, etc. Let me know if you plan on coming (leave a quick comment), so I can have a general idea number wise.

Whahoo. Last night was Ladies Night Out sponsored by Trek and hosted at Mad Dog Cycles. Trek's rep for Woman Specific Design, Tori, came and presented on product offerings and features. She is pretty entertaining. If you missed it you missed out, but you can see if there are other bike shops offering the same service. I think Salt Lake Bicycle Company is doing one tonight.

Tori presenting on WSD

A great turnout

Mad Dog hooked it up though with in store deals. The clincher for me, as usual, was the food. They had these delicious wraps, veggies, and chocolate covered strawberries. Nice.

This gets me excited for riding and hosting another season of Ride Like a Girl. A couple of minor changes though. We are going to stick with Thursdays, but due to my schedule it is going to be the first Thursday of the month instead of third.

We will most likely start in March with a maintenance night. So dust off your bike, but don't worry about much else. We (and by we I mean you) will go over changing a flat, fixing a chain, and other common trail fixes. This would be a perfect time to also leave your bike with the boys at Mad Dog for a quick pre-season tune-up for the more complicated fixes.

Just an example of the fun things you can see while on a bike

So I was at a museum in Copehagen and fell in love with this piece of art. In my mind this is our predecessor. I just felt empowered by it and thought I would share.

Ladies Night Out--so tell your husband that he has the kids. When? February 4th @ 7pm. This a Trek bikes initiative for all Women Who Ride or want to get riding. More info can be found here. All you have to do is let them know you are coming.



See you at Mad Dog Cycles!

Keep February 4th open on your calendar. Plan on something at 7:00 pm. More details are coming...be patient. And dream of rides in weather like this...

I love that blue!