Big Mountain

Sunday afternoon I slapped on my BC skis and skins and headed up the road from Little Dell Reservoir to Big Mountain. I made it to the monument by Affleck Park and turned around there. Seems the snowshoers ran out of energy, or time, and stopped breaking the trail there. I thought I'd push on until I took two steps forward into the virgin powder and said, "enough." The snow was a good 18+ inches deep and any further progress was going to require more effort than I was willing to expend. Guess I'm getting lazy in my senior years. I kept the skins on on the descent to get a better workout and made the round trip in a leisurely 1:20. I kept my HR way down and barely worked up a sweat on my over clothed body. I took a few pictures with my phone but didn't know what I was doing, and it shows. It sure was fun and, a nice break from the trainer :-)

The snowshoe trail looking up canyon before snowmobile.

And after. At first I was a little honked off the pretty trail was flattened by the machine. But, maybe he went to the top of Big Mtn and my next trip up will be farther and I can ski down without the skins.

St. George Weekend

With the weather forecast for the upcoming Camp Lynda weekend looking iffy, I decided to head to Dixie with some of the MadDog Team riders for a weekend of warm, dirty riding. I left SLC at 5:30am Saturday and got back at 8:00pm Sunday. We rode about 7 hours and I couldn't be happier.
Phil, me, Bob Dawson, Joe Moffit, Chris Holley, Dan the Man and Kevin Moffit at the top of Zen Trail. Thanks for taking the picture Keith Payne.

Seems this weekend the theme centered around mechanical issues. Flat tires, broken chains, dropped chains, bent derailuer hangers, and the never ending loose brake rotor. McGuiver Sr. and Jr. put their heads together and found a solution to Chris's rotor that just did not want to stay in place. A rock and heavy hand proved to be the solution.

This is a minute or so after Dawson completed his body part inventory and found all pieces still in their intended position and condition. His rigid fork dug into the sand at the base of a sharp rock and he went ass over tea kettle. Look above his left eye and you can see where he broke his helmet.

McGuiver Jr. had to modify his chain guide in the field in order to keep his chain on. He spent quite a bit of time playing with his chain and crank! The HiFi one.

I wish I could remember everything we rode, but only these trails come to mind: Zen, Barrel Cacti, Bear Claw Poppy, Barrel Roll, the trail between BCP and Barrel Roll, Church Rocks and Prospector. Just like when I rode with Chris and KC 2 weeks ago, I rode strong and close to race-pace for the 1st 2 hours on Saturday and hung on for the remainder of the day. Seems after a short rest my motor dies and getting above zone 3 is impossible. My Sunday effort was more consistent than Saturday but my HR stayed in zone 2 and 3 in spite of a strong effort on my part. Guess I need more fitness. On the positive side, I was able to climb a long, steep uphill section on Sunday that I had to walk 2 weeks ago. Life is getting better.

We sure had fun and I'm looking forward to another adventure in a few weeks. On the bummer side, Camp Lynda V3 has been cancelled due to forecasted heavy rain and snow. Hopefully it will reconstitute in the spring and I'll be able to ride with all those great folks that show up for this most excellent event.

23-26, BYU

This is a tough one to swallow, but congratulations on the win. Oh, that hurts...

What an exciting game! I thought the freshman (Wynn, not Hall) was going to do it in the end. This game tested Jordan 10x more than TCU and will serve him well over the next 3 years. And that hit he took on the 2nd play - OUCH!!! I was impressed with BYU's defense and how well they stopped the run, and the Utah long ball. I didn't expect that. Well done. I guess the young Utes forcing overtime against a seasoned and experienced team is a moral victory, but it still shows up in the "L" column and that sucks. And so, in spite of the loss, I think the U's future looks bright.

As for Max Hall's unnecessary comments after the game, I'll leave that to Monson and Kragthorpe to more eloquently describe that one. At least Brain Logan and the Ute players interviewed after the game were able to give credit where it was due and not walk hand-in-hand with Maxine into the Lenny Nomes hall of shame. Unbelievably classless! For the sake of the BYU program he just tarnished, I'm glad he won.

And now for the familiar quote that is oh so difficult to say, "wait until next year!" Enjoy your time in the sun.

My Car was Vandalized!

Last night while enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my sister and her family, my wife's car was desecrated. As you can see, a Y sticker was prominently plastered on 2 windows, without my knowledge, and I drove the public highways as an unsuspecting victim. How could this happen? I don't pay tithing, I don't go to church, I'm not LDS - why me? I could have been injured, or worse yet, someone may believe I am a Y fan! Y would I be a Y fan? U know that would never happen.

Sadly, I called several window replacement companies today and none of them were willing to replace the damaged windows. Something about hazardous waste disposal and liability insurance premiums. My wife will not drive her own car now and my neighbors are looking at me like I'm some kind of alien. My life has been destroyed!!! Y me? Who could be so villainous?

Well, after a very short investigation I found the answer, and the perpetrators. It seems my wonderful niece Astra, and her BYU football player boyfriend, Remington Peck, were the instigators. They thought it was funny!!! I hear they were tickled pink with their "trick" after I drove off unsuspectingly. After all I've tried to do to bring CF awareness to the public, THIS is my payback! I am crushed...

Back to reality. Watch for Rem on the sidelines Saturday. He's number 50 and stands behind "Coach run-on-sentence" who says, I believe if we execute at the highest level and play position football and live up to BYU tradition and focus on what is in front of us and we play in a businesslike fashion and I'm able to maintain my LaVell Edwards stoic face and we do not get overly excited and we overtly continue on our quest for perfection and we stay mindful playing BYU football is about setting and breaking records our 12 - 25 year old+ seniors will elevate their game their children will be thankful and the heavens will open and validate our position as the supreme Utah team, and so, without 5 interceptions or mistakes that will slow our progress our lack of speed will be offset by our superior execution and we will prevail, and so, continue or unprecedented streak of 5 Las Vegas Bowls in a row and our tradition of setting and breaking records will be left intact. (Breathe...)

Don't ya just love rivalry week :-)

Cystic Fibrosis

I have a niece and nephew that are both living with Cystic Fibrosis (CF).

Astra, my niece, is 18 and a freshman at the University of Utah. As has been her protocol for years, she undergoes pulmonary treatments at least 3 times a day and has been on supplemental oxygen since last spring.



Alex is 14, limited in his activity and battles the disease more from the digestive standpoint. Both struggle to gain weight and must take enzymes with each meal and snack in order for their systems to partially digest their food. Alex has no appetite and nothing appeals to him except pizza and hot dogs, not even Thanksgiving dinner!



The reason I mention them is because CF is a little known genetic disease that children are born with, and the disease does not get the attention and headlines it should. I'm not even totally certain what it is and was pleased to see an article earlier this week in the SL Tribune describing it and what is being to to help these folks. Click here to read the article.

CF is a cruel disease, it is non discriminatory and it is fatal. During this Holiday Season would you please consider making a small donation to the Boomer Esiason Foundation and give hope to those that dearly need your help.

I've included a link to the Heros of Hope Foundation that has a audio spotlight with Astra (August 2009, Astra Waller). The interviewer, Somer Love, has CF and was the featured person in the SL Tribune article mentioned above.