A Quick Trip Down South.

We were able to get away this past weekend as we headed for the sun and the warmer temps.  Sadly, it seemed everyone had the same idea so it was a little crowded in St. George, but we expected this as it was President's Day weekend.

The weather was great and I was able to get some nice rides on my bike through some amazing country.  This was my first time riding in St. George and it's surrounding areas so I didn't know what to expect and I learned fairly quickly that riding in the city itself was torture unless you were on a designated running/biking trail.  The roads themselves seemed to have very little, if any, shoulder to ride on and the traffic was crazy.  I think they expect all bikes to stay off the roads and stay on the tails which I didn't like.  Once out of town the riding got much better.  I enjoyed my ride through Snow Canyon and out to the town of Hurricane.  It felt good to get some good miles in.  Jen had fun with the kids taking them to the dinosaur museum and to a movie as I rode.  We spent the afternoons exploring the area and on Sunday we spent the day in Zion's Canyon, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  We were also lucky enough to visit my sister and her family who live just outside St. George that day.  

Hiking the Red Rocks in Snow Canyon.

Playing with our shadows.

On my ride I saw some cool cinder cones from extinct volcano's.

On my ride down Snow Canyon.

Again, riding though Snow Canyon.

Enjoying Zion's

Winter Update

Despite the snow over the weekend I can feel the very subtle changes in the seasons.  The air is starting to get a little warmer with less inversion in the valley.  It's getting me antsy to ride my bike outside more.  I've been able to get out when the roads were dry a couple of times this past week.  Temps were in the upper 30's so it made it doable, though not entirely enjoyable.  Still, it is worth getting out whenever there is a chance.  This time last year we were in Maui enjoying the warm sun on the most beautiful beaches in the world and riding the Maui loop.  That was fun.  My family wishes we could go there every year at about this time.

Meanwhile, there is still great snow to be enjoyed.  I fully expect that the powder days will actually be getting better as me move to the end of Feb. and into March and April.  The storms tend to get bigger and the slopes a little less crowded.  I've always said my favorite time to ski are early spring powder days.  We still haven't even started ski school for the kids yet.  We'll be doing that the duration of March.   That will delay the start of my bike racing season but I'm not sure that will be such a bad thing as I'm trying to time my training and racing a little better for the end of the season.

I couldn't resist posting this video of my kids trying out the small terrain park on Saturday at Snowbird.  As you can see they take it pretty cautiously at first but they say they really like it.  The Boy was actually feeling pretty sick on this day but we didn't know if he was just trying to get out of skiing or not, so we made him come up anyway.  Turns out he wasn't faking.  I feel kind of bad about that now.  Still, I had fun.  I think they did too.