After sleeping off the pie hangover, I went back over to Butterfield Canyon. I gave Big Cottonwood Canyon a second try, so it was time to go back and attack Butterfield. Again, no sightseeing, just hammering and suffering. It was a warmer day, but clouds still surrounded the tops of the mountains, which were white-capped from the previous day's snow.
I started the 6.7-mile climb with no warm-up. The lower slopes are fairly gradual so I was able to ease myself into the effort without giving up too much time. I caught another rider as I reached the steep section. I blew his doors off as I went by, running on the adrenaline of actually catching someone on a climb at altitude. But adrenaline only takes you so far before your heart tries to explode. I blew up big time before the end of the steep section. I was afraid to look back as I struggled along. I just knew that guy would catch back up to me. I looked back when I reached the switchback that marks the top of the steep part. He was not in sight. He must have turned around right after I passed him.
I had to back off for a few more minutes, then I was able to jam the rest of the way to the top. Some of the top sections were full of fresh gravel that had come off the hillside during the past few days of rain and snow. There was also some ice in the road around the last few corners. The last half-mile I really turned it on with everything I had left, setting a new KOM time on that section on Strava. I was 27th for the whole climb and fastest for the top section. I have officially left my mark on Utah now!
More snow at the top today.
Descending in the afternoon shade.
Snow in the trees with the cut-out of the road ahead in the distance.
I filmed the crazy descent on the way back down. I had the GoPro on the chest mount as I dodged ice patches, rocks and gravel washes on the way down the mountain.I even dodged a few cars that drove around the barricades at the bottom of the hill. The top of the descent and the steep section are very dangerous so there is no Strava for them. The Strava section covers only the last 3.9 miles, which flatten out in a few spots and really favor the power riders. I pushed it in the corners and managed to make up for my lack of power enough to give me the 4th best time.
The Wasatch Mountains across the valley still glowing in the remaining afternoon sun.
View from the bottom of Butterfield Canyon at dusk
Video: Descending Butterfield Canyon
The weather cost me a few days. Even though I had some new places I wanted to go ride, I still hadn't explored Park City enough to get my fill. So, the next day I went to Park City again, this time for an all-day trail session. I rode some of the more remote trails, finding bigger roots and tighter trails. When Shannon and I rode Webster last week, I almost made a KOM on Strava and I didn't even push it. So I went back today, hitting it twice at full speed. Both runs broke the previous KOM by quite a bit. Webster is my favorite trail in Utah, so it made me happy to get the KOM there.
Scenic view from Guardsman Pass
A different view from the other side of Guardsman pass
Apex trail
Lots of videos posted below, starting with my descent down the upper portion of the Apex trail, followed by my KOM run down Webster, and then a video of me climbing Webster in the other direction.
Apex trail video
Video: Strava KOM run on Webster
Video: Climbing Webster
I rode 5 1/2 hours this time, climbing the mountain three times to 10,000 ft elevation. I climbed it the first time to reach the Empire Extreme Downhill trail. I wanted to see if it lived up to its "Extreme" name. It did. There were several sections that I dismounted for. The drops were just too ridiculous. There was also one big jump over a ditch I wanted to do so bad, but backed out in the end. I rode up to it seven or eight times, but talked myself out of it because there was nobody in that area. I figured no one would find my body if I came up short on the ditch, so I eventually gave up on it. I'm mad about it though. I wanted to do that jump! I finished off the ride with a few runs down the new Mojave flow trail. It was very fast and fun, with multiple tall berms that you could really push it on.
Mountain pasture
Mid Mountain
Looking toward Deer Valley from Mid Mountain
Singletrack
Sunset from high above Park City
And here are more videos to feast your eyes upon. The first is a chest cam video of the Fat Lip trail. Next up is video of the Dead Tree trail. Third comes footage of the Mojave flow trail.
Fat Lip video
Dead Tree video
Mojave video
The following day was another long one on the mountain bike, this time with Shannon. We started at Mid Mountain and rolled along the ridge over to Deer Valley, where we then climbed up Bald Mountain to the open pastures that line the top of the mountain. I've always liked the woods more than the fields, but there are something about the fields on top of Bald Mountain that really intrigue me. Maybe it's the openness. Maybe it's the spectacular views. Maybe it's the chance of looking down on a moose grazing in the pastures.
Right as we reached the top, Shannon's bike developed some horrible brake noises. We stopped to investigate and found brake pads that were completely worn to the back plate. The pistons of the brakes were fully extended and could no longer retract enough to clear the rotor. I pushed the pistons in and we resumed our ride. I told Shannon to try to use mostly front brake. I think the thought of going down a mountain with only one brake freaked her out a little. But she managed.
We played the whole way down the mountain. Riding all the freeride features including log rides, wooden berms and see-saws. I even nabbed one more KOM on a trail called Little Bow, a little-known extension of the remote Bow Hunter trail. Little Bow is all rocks with spectacular views all around. A video of my KOM run on Little Bow is posted below, followed by pictures from Homeward Bound
Video: Strava KOM run on Little Bow
Teeter-totter
Riding the stumps on Homeward Bound
We ended our day with some filming and picture-taking on Payroll. It was a fun way to end another wonderful day of mountain biking.
Riding a berm on Payroll
Here's the full video of our day of fun:
Video: Deer Valley riding
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