Fall in the Canyon

Fall is here. I could hardly wait for today to begin. I've been looking forward to this day since I plotted the ride several days ago. I heard thunder clouds late last night and I was worried the weather was going to be a rain out for the ride.

I ate breakfast at about 6:45 am. I packed all my things the night before so I could set out early. I said goodbye to my wife and started off on my journey. This time I really didn't hit the road hard to begin with. I've started to learn that making a fast first impressing won't really help me down the long road. I deviated from my original course I plotted and instead of going directly into Hyrum, I decide to take Hallow Rd. coming down from Blacksmith Fork into Nibley. Shortly after I started up Hallow Rd. prior to the mouth of the canyon I noticed a few feeding stations. For a moment I thought there was some bike race going on that I was unaware of. But as I progressed I noticed it was not a bike race but a running race and eventually I saw the sign for the Top of Utah Marathon. I was going in the opposite direction. My dad had warned me about this but I didn't realize it until he mentioned this after I had finished my course.

So the journey began. I had a goal to make it to left hand fork, which is about 11 miles from the my starting point, by 8:00. I started my journey at 7:00. This meant climbing uphill about 600 ft in 11 miles. Not a steep climb but a gradual climb with a few low spots. I started passing the runners mid way to Lefthand fork. I met up with a few paraplegics riding a modified wheelchair, prior to the encounter with the first runner. I greeted them. They all seemed very friendly.

I didn't have any water until I really started to climb on the back roads of Lefthand fork. I stopped and removed my sweats and put them in the bag and had a good drink of water.

While on my way I couldn't help but think how fortunate I have been. I have been blessed with great health and yet I have not utilized my body as a tool. I hope that in my endeavors, I might inspire others and give them hope that they too can achieve physical fitness.

I made my way to Cowley Herd Hallow Canyon Rd. which is an additional 5 miles from Lefthand fork. I was a little slower getting to the Herd Hallow. I wanted to be to Herd Hallow by 8:30 but I made it there by 8:40. As I started up the trail I had to stop and rest a bit I ate my granola bar and had some more water. It hit the spot. But I was quite exhausted and still had to push my bike for a little while until I could get a better position on the bike. Going up Herd Hallow was a bit more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I had to get off my bike a few more times in some of the steep areas. It was proving quite rough for me. I drank some more water towards the summit of herd hallow.

I noticed the fall colors were very vivid. My climb eventually peaked at 6700 ft. I saw a ranger and a few motorists at the top and greeted them. I asked if it was all down hill from here. The laughed and said yes. I replied, "That's what I'm here for!" I really started to motor down the trail. My time was really picking up. I made it to the summit at about 10:00. I made it to right hand fork at about 10:12 which means I was really booking it down the canyon trail. It was fun. But my cheap mountain bike didn't seem like it was going to hold up. A few times I thought I should get off and check to see if the wheels were going to stay on.

Eventually I made it to Logan Canyon. I hoped I could increase my time even more but I soon realized that Logan Canyon is not as steep as I thought it was. In fact there were a few times I really had push hard uphill. I stopped near third dam as I noticed the wild Oregon-grapes were ripe on their vines. I pulled them off and had several bunches. The Oregon-grape is not a true grape but is a berry. It is very tart but it seemed to be just what I needed to get a little juice into my system.

I'm sure I hit my peak speed coming down the canyon. I was keeping up with the cars at one point but eventually simmered down and started down the canyon road in Logan. I again caught up with the runners. I don't think they had any idea I was the same person at the beginning of the race going the wrong way on a bike but it gave me satisfaction knowing that I endured a marathon length race on my own bicycle. My final time was 3 hrs 59 minutes moving with a total stopping time of about 20 minutes. The average moving time was about 11 mph. I rode a total distance of 42.9 miles. It was another great feeling.