Two weeks passes rather quickly when you are having a good time. I'm sad to say that this was our last day in Utah and now it's time to go home. We had time for breakfast with Gma and Gpa one last time before saying so long. With a 24-hour drive ahead you would think we would be anxious to get moving, but we weren't. There was still time for one last ride in the mountains before we would have to drive away for good. At least Park City happened to be on the way home...
Shannon and I drove up to the Empire Lodge in Deer Valley for one last shred on the trail. I wanted to let Shannon ride up Bald Mountain. So far this trip, she had only walked it. And I was sure that I had found some tame trails that she would enjoy descending on. We took Mid Mountain over to Silver Lake and then began to climb the 3 miles to the top of Bald Mountain. Mid Mountain runs close to the main road at one point and we could hear a bunch of honking. We looked down to see a giant moose and two baby moose wandering across in traffic. They were huge creatures! It was sort of majestic to watch them slumbering along. It was our first ever moose sighting.
Shannon hates climbing, but you would never know it by watching her ride. She can climb very well for someone who has not been riding bikes for very long and comes from the flatter side of Tennessee. She just needs some encouragement every now and then. We picked our way up through Ontario Canyon along the Homeward Bound trail and Ontario Canyon Road. Once up at the top, we peered off the overlook into Heber Valley for a few minutes before I took a few more runs on the pair of big tabletop jumps on Homeward Bound that I fell in love with the first day we came to Park City last week. I also examined how they built some of the wooden features so that I have the knowledge for future reference on our home trail.
We took our time descending back down the mountain to Silver Lake, stopping several times along the way to ride stuff again, take pictures and shoot video. It was a good time. Shannon got to ride some really nice mountain trail for the first time ever. I even caught her railing a few berms on the way down.
After we took Mid Mountain back to the car, we still had a few minutes left before time to hit the road, so I convinced Shannon to drive me to the top of the mountain so I could do one full descent from the top of Bald Mountain all the way down to Snow Park. That's kind of how I ended yesterday, but now I knew which trails to link together to get in the most stunts and fun.
After she shuttled me up to the top, I still had a few miles of gradual climbing to get me to the open space atop Bald Mountain. Then, it was on! I bombed down Super G, Homeward Bound, Lila's Liar and Dog Pound before I hit Silver Lake and had to do a little climbing. Then it was downhill again on Devo as I was again challenged with some rocks and the nice big drop off the concrete pad. I missed a turn at the bottom of Devo that caused me to have to climb for another 3 minutes, but then I got a fast rip through the forest next to Snow Park on Finns before reaching the bottom and meeting back up with Shannon. Top to bottom was an awesome 21 minutes. That's a long ways when you are attacking the trail. You couldn't have wiped the smile off my face.
We loaded up and hit the road, but still not in the direction of home just yet. First, we had to make one more slight detour to Heber City for one more stop at Granny's Drive-In for another thick milkshake. We were very disappointed to get there and find a "Closed For the Season" sign on the door. We were a day too late it seemed. But the Dairy Keen next door was open and we still scored a burger, fries and milkshake. The Dairy Keen's food was really good too, though I still prefer Granny's. There's a train inside Dairy Keen that drives around the ceiling while you eat. Our detour added 45 minutes to the trip, but we didn't mind as we still left Heber City with happy bellies.
The drive home went well. I drove the entire state of Wyoming, usually going at a rather high rate of speed. The higher speed limit on I-80 combined with Shannon's smooth car and the will to get home faster influenced my lead foot more so than normal. We were out of Wyoming and into Nebraska by dark. Shannon pulled a late shift at the wheel in Nebraska before giving me back the reigns. I carried us through the night all the way back through Kansas City where we just squeaked through before rush hour. I was destroyed the rest of the trip, but Shannon came through and took us all the way from Columbia, MO to home, even driving through some tough traffic in St. Louis, which I no she didn't like. It was a straight 24-hour drive.
We were back home by lunch and too tired to sleep. I felt too tired to even rest. So we wandered for a few minutes after unloading the car, talking about how we could change our home trail based on some of the things we learned from the layout of the trails in Park City. Next thing you know, we are on our way to the trail and ended up spending the whole afternoon doing trail work. I know, we are not right in the head. But hey, you have to take advantage of all your days off work right?!!
It was a great trip and I am so very grateful to have been able to go. I have to thank everyone that made it possible. First, Shannon for giving me the idea, supporting my training for XTERRA USA, helping me qualify for XTERRA USA and then for letting me ride to my heart's content the two weeks we were there. Next, I want to thank Gma and Gpa for letting us eat their food and stay at their house, and Amber for driving us around a few days, giving up her room for us to have a place to sleep and for coming to support me at XTERRA USA. This trip would not have been possible without all of you so I thank you guys very much. Hope you are as willing and ready next year...because we are definitely coming back!
Shannon and I drove up to the Empire Lodge in Deer Valley for one last shred on the trail. I wanted to let Shannon ride up Bald Mountain. So far this trip, she had only walked it. And I was sure that I had found some tame trails that she would enjoy descending on. We took Mid Mountain over to Silver Lake and then began to climb the 3 miles to the top of Bald Mountain. Mid Mountain runs close to the main road at one point and we could hear a bunch of honking. We looked down to see a giant moose and two baby moose wandering across in traffic. They were huge creatures! It was sort of majestic to watch them slumbering along. It was our first ever moose sighting.
Shannon hates climbing, but you would never know it by watching her ride. She can climb very well for someone who has not been riding bikes for very long and comes from the flatter side of Tennessee. She just needs some encouragement every now and then. We picked our way up through Ontario Canyon along the Homeward Bound trail and Ontario Canyon Road. Once up at the top, we peered off the overlook into Heber Valley for a few minutes before I took a few more runs on the pair of big tabletop jumps on Homeward Bound that I fell in love with the first day we came to Park City last week. I also examined how they built some of the wooden features so that I have the knowledge for future reference on our home trail.
We took our time descending back down the mountain to Silver Lake, stopping several times along the way to ride stuff again, take pictures and shoot video. It was a good time. Shannon got to ride some really nice mountain trail for the first time ever. I even caught her railing a few berms on the way down.
Shannon riding G.S. Trees
Me on Bermy
GPS map of our ride
After we took Mid Mountain back to the car, we still had a few minutes left before time to hit the road, so I convinced Shannon to drive me to the top of the mountain so I could do one full descent from the top of Bald Mountain all the way down to Snow Park. That's kind of how I ended yesterday, but now I knew which trails to link together to get in the most stunts and fun.
Video highlights of my ride with Shannon.
After she shuttled me up to the top, I still had a few miles of gradual climbing to get me to the open space atop Bald Mountain. Then, it was on! I bombed down Super G, Homeward Bound, Lila's Liar and Dog Pound before I hit Silver Lake and had to do a little climbing. Then it was downhill again on Devo as I was again challenged with some rocks and the nice big drop off the concrete pad. I missed a turn at the bottom of Devo that caused me to have to climb for another 3 minutes, but then I got a fast rip through the forest next to Snow Park on Finns before reaching the bottom and meeting back up with Shannon. Top to bottom was an awesome 21 minutes. That's a long ways when you are attacking the trail. You couldn't have wiped the smile off my face.
My final descent of Bald Mountain mapped out on Google Earth
Video of my final run from top to bottom on Bald Mountain
We loaded up and hit the road, but still not in the direction of home just yet. First, we had to make one more slight detour to Heber City for one more stop at Granny's Drive-In for another thick milkshake. We were very disappointed to get there and find a "Closed For the Season" sign on the door. We were a day too late it seemed. But the Dairy Keen next door was open and we still scored a burger, fries and milkshake. The Dairy Keen's food was really good too, though I still prefer Granny's. There's a train inside Dairy Keen that drives around the ceiling while you eat. Our detour added 45 minutes to the trip, but we didn't mind as we still left Heber City with happy bellies.
The drive home went well. I drove the entire state of Wyoming, usually going at a rather high rate of speed. The higher speed limit on I-80 combined with Shannon's smooth car and the will to get home faster influenced my lead foot more so than normal. We were out of Wyoming and into Nebraska by dark. Shannon pulled a late shift at the wheel in Nebraska before giving me back the reigns. I carried us through the night all the way back through Kansas City where we just squeaked through before rush hour. I was destroyed the rest of the trip, but Shannon came through and took us all the way from Columbia, MO to home, even driving through some tough traffic in St. Louis, which I no she didn't like. It was a straight 24-hour drive.
Colors at dusk in Wyoming
We were back home by lunch and too tired to sleep. I felt too tired to even rest. So we wandered for a few minutes after unloading the car, talking about how we could change our home trail based on some of the things we learned from the layout of the trails in Park City. Next thing you know, we are on our way to the trail and ended up spending the whole afternoon doing trail work. I know, we are not right in the head. But hey, you have to take advantage of all your days off work right?!!
It was a great trip and I am so very grateful to have been able to go. I have to thank everyone that made it possible. First, Shannon for giving me the idea, supporting my training for XTERRA USA, helping me qualify for XTERRA USA and then for letting me ride to my heart's content the two weeks we were there. Next, I want to thank Gma and Gpa for letting us eat their food and stay at their house, and Amber for driving us around a few days, giving up her room for us to have a place to sleep and for coming to support me at XTERRA USA. This trip would not have been possible without all of you so I thank you guys very much. Hope you are as willing and ready next year...because we are definitely coming back!
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