Rekindling An Old Flame

Before I begin this particular documentary, I would like to get one thing straight- I LOVE WINTER! It’s a splendiferous time of year that brings with it so many unique opportunities, which include, but are not by any means limited to:

Snowboarding 

Skiing 

Snowmobiling 

Sledding

Slick Roads (fun to drive one) 

Sipping hot apple cider (affectionately known as “Christmas in a Cup”) 

Sitting by the fire

Snuggling next to mentioned fire

Sleeping in

Snow Bunnies (the girlies just look so GOOD all bundled up!)

*Beginning all activities with the letter us was not intentional, but it worked out quite nicely, wouldn’t you say?

With that minuscule disclaimer as a prelude to this post, I feel we can commence this weeks 2KX Documentary. 

This past weekend an old flame was rekindled with a long lost love of mine… My bike! Unfortunately, she has yet to be named. Because of our past relationship, I have had troubles being satisfied with any one name. Depending on the day, beautiful and exotic names might come to mind, and other days might have four letter words at the tip of my tongue. So, in order to suppress these vibrant words of frustration, I just call it, “GIANT”.

Back to the story… The UVU Cycling Team took advantage of MLK weekend and migrated south to warmer climates more suitable for outdoor activity carried out in spandex. We couldn’t have asked for better weather (in January) from our host city, St. George, UT. 

Ride #1: A nice warm up lap from Hurricane, to Laverkin, to Toquerville, to Leeds, to Anderson Junction, around Quail Lake and back again (I really have no idea where these places are, I just remember glancing up and seeing those names).

Total Miles: 40-ish

Waiting for triple bypass surgery to be performed on a bike tube.

It was unsuccessful. We lost the tube- R.I.P.

On the road again. My mouth is open in attempts to catch some tasty flying insects for some mid-ride nutrition.

Me, talking to a man about a horse. It was a rather long conversation.... What?

The group at Quail Lake.

Ride #2 (Saturday): Night ride to a nearby bike shop. I was the only voice of reason in the bunch, saying it was going to get dark, and cold, and miserable, and we were all going to regret our decisions… We all went anyways. Oh, and guess what? I was right! Turns out that in January, when the sun goes down, temperature drops like 20 degrees or so. Who could have known that though, right?...

Total Miles: 20-ish

Starting to suffer the consequences of our poor choices.

Ride #3 (Sunday): The longest ride of the trip. We started in Coral Canyon and took a huge loop up Snow Canyon, down “the wall”, out around through Gunlock… (and that’s about where I lost tract of where the heck we were).

Total Miles: 70-ish

Cyclists do all they can for that extra "power" on the bike- Even if it means getting glittery, sparkly, girl tattoos at Walmart and applying them just before the ride... They worked.
                  

Not quite sure what Matt is looking for back there... But Mason's happy to be here!

Oh, hey coach!

Special thanks to the support car crew

Blown out tire. Sounded like a shotgun went off right behind me!

Hey Joe, go ahead and give us a summary of the ride in one hand motion.

The remaining Sunday hours were carried out predominantly on a bed/couch/floor and involved hot tub relaxation, turkey dinner feasts, and LOTS of Tiger Balm*.

*Don't rub your eyes after application. It burns like the fires of a thousand suns!