That ain't dirty, is it?
Great training day yesterday. Not overly long but effective and tiring. Took Rae Dawn, my vintage 1984 Team Shaver Sport "you got a moustache and everything" Specialized Allez, out for a spin and ended up climbing two or our six major canyons. Rae Dawn is fixed, meaning she's been altered so that she spins only one gear and can't coast. She's generally used only as a commuter, so getting her into the high country is something neither of us are used to.
It wasn't a plan. I was going to go for an hour and a half spin and then switch to a mtn bike. But the weather was splendid and Rae Dawn is such a kick to ride we just kept going. After toolin' around the benches I pointed her up Emmigration canyon and soon we were on top of Little Mountain and feeling spry.
I asked a guy what time it got dark. He said six, giving us an hour and a half, so Rae and I headed off to East Canyon with no food, no money, and only a few sips of water. I decided that if I was getting dehydrated at all I'd turn back but by the time this was an issue I was 2k from the summit. The last few k were the only time I really had to labor to turn her city gearing, something I was pretty psyched about. I hadn't lost too much fitness since Moab.
It also go me wondering about the feasibility of riding all six canyons on a fixie. Has it been done? Is it possible? These are the easiest two canyons but I'm here with no plan, no food, no water. Certainly I could do three... and four. Hmmm.
At the summit I snapped a few pics w/ my phone and headed home, chasing--and losing to--the setting sun. It felt as though I were spinning a thousand RPM but the six o' clock estimate wasn't close. At least I managed to get out of the canyon while I could see the road. Once back to town, commuting in the dark was something I'm well used to. I pulled into my driveway at 6:03, only slightly hungry, a touch thirsty, and wondering how much I was going to ride my geared bike in the future.
4 comments:
when you said little and big, i thought you meant lcc and bcc; still the east canyon ride is definitely nice. my main concern on the cottonwoods has always been descents; other than that they're just straight up pain, which is always nice. still jealous, though, as i haven't ridden in a week. keep up the good work and good luck, we're all counting on you.
marc.
I can't believe you're rocking the '84 Allez, I thought those things were extinct. Back in the day only the cool kids had 'em - I was stuck with my lead based Univega and crappy Suntour components that featured index stearing and Biopace wheels.
Kudos for keeping it ol'school!
sk-HAWT
What's with the Mormons naming everything the same? How many big and littles are there in Utah? And every canyon seems to have a dog lake, white pine, red pine, desolation, etc. It's like those parchments had a list of 100 descriptive nouns that had to be used to name all things.
Oh, and aren't biopace cranks cool now since Bobby Julich won an Olympic medal with their design?
sweet riding! best of luck with your challenge.
Japhy rider
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