(Jen climbing Rose Canyon)

It's been a while since I've been on the road bike outside but today looked promising because of the decent weather and the relative lack of road salt. It was a fun ride with Jen and I've been going crazy riding the rollers so it was so nice to get out. Though it's only been cold for a couple of months I can already tell that I am losing my climbing legs. Riding the rollers simply doesn't give you the same kind of work that climbing a mountain gives you. I guess the rollers are better than nothing.

I'm still waiting for snow. It's almost January and we haven't had 1 powder day.

Christmas Weekend

It was a fun Christmas this year. I should say that it's fun every year but this year we all managed to stay healthy which is big for us. We tend to always have colds during Christmas time but not this year. We have a tradition to ski on Christmas Eve and then eat dinner up there at the Tramcar Restaurant. After dinner when it's dark Snowbird does a torchlight parade down the mountain that we watch from the plaza deck as they serve free hot chocolate around bonfires. After the parade they do fireworks as Santa comes down on the tram and repels to the ground to give out candy canes. It's a fun atmosphere for Christmas Eve. We then come back down to the valley for family Christmas parties at around 7:00pm.

I got everything I wanted for Christmas. A couple of carbon water bottle cages and a wireless bike computer as well as some needed clothes. Santa was good to me.

I hate the smog in the valley. It's very depressing. It's been smoggy for the past week and it's again smoggy today but when it's like this down here it usually means beautiful weather up the canyons. That's been the case the past 2 weekends. Though it means it's too cold and icy to ride the bike it's really been gorgeous skiing. The snow is still way too scarce but it's plenty when taking the kids. I'm still waiting patiently for the big storms.

While at Snowbird Saturday Hendrix invented a new way to get across the flats. It made me laugh.

It was a busy weekend. I guess it's just that time of year. I biked up Suncrest on Friday. The ride was good and though I struggle up to the top, it felt good to be outside. My one complaint was the amount of salt that was on the road. I never thought about the road salt in the winter but my bike was caked with the stuff by the end of the ride. If there is one thing that I'm sure isn't good for a road bike it's salt. I gave it a good cleaning when I got home but I'll have to more careful in upcoming rides.

Saturday we had 2 Christmas parties. One in the morning and one in the evening. In between those events we hurried up the canyon and skied with the kids. The sun was out, the air was clear and warm and it was just a beautiful day up there. The snow was not the best, a little icy but it's been a while since we've had a good storm so you just take it for what it is.

If you look close you can see the Tram going up in the distance.

December 6th and still riding. It was actually quite nice. Though it was only 28 degrees I dressed warm and road only a short distance and I was comfortable the whole time. It looks like the rest of the week will be more of the same as far as weather goes, so I plan to continue with a couple more lunchtime rides outside.

We sold Jen's Giant road bike yesterday.

It was with mixed feelings that we did this. It was a great entry level bike for her and she really enjoyed it. Plus, we had it for such a short amount of time but we figured with the way bikes depreciate we'd better sell it while we still could. At first I thought we'd use it for a winter bike but I soon realized that our new bikes were too much fun and I didn't see us going back to the older bikes at all.

My Giant is for sale too. I don't expect it to take to long before it goes. At least someone else might get to enjoy it and maybe it will start the cycling addiction for them?

Riding in December

I can't believe it's already December. Time is really going by fast. I've been wondering how late into the season I'd be able to ride my bike outside. So far, December looks feasible. I'm still waiting for the big snow storms to come and I'm getting a little impatient. I do hope they come soon. But at least I was able to ride today during lunch. It wasn't too cold, low 40's which is not bad. I rode hard too. As fast as I could up Rose Canyon. The winds were swirling which made it tricky but I was able to best my personal record by 33 seconds so I am satisfied.

Thanksgiving Fun!

What a fun weekend! On Wednesday Jen and I took our kids up to Snowbird to spend the night at the Cliff Lodge as part of a free deal they give season pass holders. We got up there late in the afternoon and skied for a little over an hour before we were able to check in. We had fun with the kids that night and skied again with them in the morning. It was hard to get the kids out on the mountain that morning. The only thing they seemed to want to do was hang out in the hotel and watch t.v. but it was worth the hassle of begging them to come out in the end. At one point Jen and I questioned bringing the kids at all. I kept thinking how lucky they were to be there and as a kid I would have killed to be up in the mountains on thanksgiving but yet they didn't seem to appreciate that we were there at all. It seems to go that way lot and we've learned that if we can just push through the rough parts of getting their gear on and ignoring their complaints and just get on the mountain they always, without fail, have fun. This time was no different.
By the end of the morning there was a lot of laughing and smiling and we had to drag them off the hill to get to Grandma's for thanksgiving dinner.

Friday and Saturday turned out to be great weather for biking. Jen and I thoroughly enjoyed our morning rides. I rode Rose Canyon hard on Saturday in my attempt at placing well in the KOM competition using the cycling app "Strava". I placed 5th on that climb which gave me a small sense of accomplishment.

Sunday night Jen and I went up to Snowbird again to stay at the Cliff Lodge (again free) but this time we left the kids with Grandma & Grandpa. Skied in the morning. It was warm and sunny and the snow wasn't that bad. On days like these we often compare it to going to the beach. Relaxing and warm, getting fresh air, it really reminds us of the beach. I like our beach-skiing days but I still prefer our frantic powder skiing days.

Jen at the top of the tram.