Biking in Las Vegas and Hurricane, UT

I had to go to a trade show in Vegas this week with E. Martin so, of course, we took bikes. The weather has been so gross in SLC this winter that any chance I get to head out of town I find a way to take a bike. Hurricane, UT (which is about 15 mins from where my brother lives in Saint George) was in the mid 60's this week while SLC only got to about 40 and still either snowing or raining every couple days right now. While my yard still has 3 ft piles of snow on it - check out the below pics from the trails near Hurricane:

We rode a loop that consisted of Goulds, JEM and the Hurricane Rim trails. Combining these 3 make for about a 22 mile mtb ride. It took us about 2 1/2 hrs to complete but we ran into some nasty mud on Goulds near the end of it, stopped to take a few pictures, and I got a flat. You can find info on the trails we rode here: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/trails/hurr-rim.htm

The two pics below are from the Hurricane Rim trail overlooking the Virgin River.

This is E. Martin and my old mtn bike:

Here I am with the Virgin River below:

After riding we were able to go by my brother's place on the way to Vegas to clean up a bit. We were a little late for the show on that day but still made it in plenty of time - probably due to Martin's speeding ticket on the way. We had left SLC early and were on the trail by 9:30 in the morning!

Wednesday we decided to go ride in Boulder City, NV at Bootleg Canyon before the show (http://www.bootlegcanyon.org/). This is where InterBike holds their outdoor trade show demo/events. We had never been there before but it was easy to find and the trails were pretty well marked. Here we didn't have that much time to ride but we were able to sample a couple trails. We rode up East Leg to Boyscout and got to the top of the mountain from Boyscout. From here we headed back down and turned off to ride Caldera. At the end of Caldera we were pressed for time so we just took the Girlscout trail back to the car. Girlscout was actually very fun to come down as it is very fast with great, sweeping turns. East leg and Boyscout were rocky with some technical bits and a great climb to the top of the mountain on the east side of Bootleg Canyon. The pics below are of me nearing the top of Boyscout trail. Total ride distance was just under 10 miles with some decent elevation.

Saint George Riding

We finally decided we had to get out of the snow! We headed down to Saint George over the weekend to visit Keith, Stacey and the boys. The weather was perfect - mid 60's all weekend and in the southern UT desert that feels like 80. We took the road bikes as I was a bit weary of how muddy the mtn bike trails might be. On Saturday Keith and I took off from his house and went across St. George to go climb Utah Hill. We did about 30 miles that ended with a good climb of about 1700 ft. I felt pretty good for most of the ride. My new rear cassette on my road bike definitely helped with the climbing (changed from a 11/23 to a 12/27). I did not eat enough that morning and was feeling a bit shaky by the time the girls caught us in Keith's expedition to pick us up to go play. We all went to a park not far from Keith's house and let the boys go crazy and run off some steam. Camden has so much fun running around chasing his older cousins and you can tell he just wants to be one of the big kids. That night we cooked up a seafood feast (yes - seafood in UT!) Keith and I picked up a bunch of Alaskan King Crab legs and a ton of shrimp to steam up for dinner. I think everyone was good and sick that night from bloating ourselves on seafood and butter!

The next morning Amy and I hooked the trailer up to my bike for Cam and the three of us went out for an 1 1/2 hour long ride all over St. George. Sunday morning is a great time to ride in UT as all the mormons are in church and the roads are quiet - at least until church lets out and then there is a mad dash to get home and read scripture. This is when you have to watch out as a cyclist. I've had some of my scariest moments riding by a church (which is on every corner in this state) as it is letting out. I guess they figure they don't have to pay any attention to the people coming towards them on a bike because they just keep pulling out in front of me.

I didn't even get the camera out on this weekend until we were packing to go home. Take a look at the few pics I did get. You can see quite the contrast in the weather from our snowed in house near Salt Lake to my brother's just 4 1/2 hrs away!

You can tell we are a family that stays fit. Take a look at how my brother keeps his boys fit. Doesn't give them batteries for their toys - they have to take turns pushing each other!!

Cam on the slide:

So, I have the most beautiful wife but for some reason getting her to let me take her picture is like pulling teeth. This is how 90% of the pictures I have of her look. What's ironic is that she'll go through our pictures later and say: "We never have any pictures of me." (go figure!)

Too Much Snow!!

We're just getting sick of the snow!!!

I never thought I would say those words. After all, it was the "Great Utah Powder" that got me to move here in the first place, but this year has seen the most snow I've ever witnessed in the valley. I've been in Utah now for almost 10 years and never remember there being this much snow in the valley. Typically the mountains get dumped on and we just get a light snow that disappears in just a few days. That's not the case this year. I've had piles of snow on my yard all winter and am having to clear the driveway every other day - seriously - we have gotten a considerable amount of snow every other day! I think we are all just getting sick of it. Usually a lot of snow would just mean more snow shoeing or skiing but that is sometimes hard to accomplish with a 2 year old, especially when the temps have been so cold and the sun is not shining.
We do still manage to get out of the house and play though. You've probably seen past posts of the little guy on his sled but this weekend when we got a break in the weather on Saturday we were motivated by Jill's blog from Alaska (http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/) and decided to do some winter biking (for little tikes). It was so much fun! I figured he had so much padding on and the snow was good and soft on either side of the sidewalk that I would just let him pick up his feet and go zooming down the hill. He loved it - I guess he's like his dad and has the need for speed!!




When the sun comes out after a snow, the mountains do look amazing. This is the view from our driveway looking up the street. (This is the mountain I can lay in bed and look at from our window as well).


Sunday we woke up to MORE SNOW!!!! That's how it has been. One day on, one day off. I need to get on my bike! I've transformed my old hard tail to a winter commuting bike and am going to hit the road this week no matter the weather! (Thanks for the inspiration Jill!!)



With the weather being windy, cold and snowy, we woke up this morning and played around the house in our PJ's. Amy and Cam did some coloring and we watched the snow come down sideways.



We are going to be headed to Momentum Climbing Gym in a little bit as I've started my Altitude Simulation Training and have to spend an hour a day there, five days a week. Not bad as we can also blow off some steam on the wall or a stationary bike. Later we have a Super Bowl party to go to so hopefully the snow will stop in a bit so the roads are not too bad. Here is a picture of my buddy Eric on the altitude simulator. Pretty cool concept and hopefully we can sell a few of these things to make this my full time job! Check out our website: http://www.io-usa.com/home

Camden's Birthday!!

It's hard to believe that Cam turned 2 this month. It feels like we just brought him home from the hospital. Everyone tells you to savor every moment because kids grow up so fast but you don't comprehend it until you have one. I look at pictures from when we first brought him home and how small he was - What Happened?!?!

He is so big now and so not a baby any more. He's talking, swinging a bat, kicking a soccer ball into a goal, throwing, hitting, swimming, climbing, etc, etc, etc.... it all just keeps happening so quick. Every day something new!! The past two years have been the greatest. Every year since I met Amy it seems my life just gets better and better. It's getting to the point that I can't wait for the next adventure to happen in our lives.

I know it has been a while since my last post but things have been a bit crazy for us. Starting with Cam's b-day party (more on that in a bit) than UT gets busy this time of year. The Outdoor Retailer and Sundance Film Festival both hit at the same time so there were lots of folks in town (On a side note - I ran in to the owner of the coffee shop Amy and I looked at to buy in Hood River while having sushi downtown) So, right after Cam's birthday party which included Keith and Stacey and the boys visiting for the weekend, I had meetings all week with the boys from New Zealand that I am partnering with to form the Altitude Training company some of you have heard me talk about. They are still in town and we have set up our first simulator at Momentum Climbing Gym in Sandy. We've been busy the past two weeks with putting together a business plan and figuring out the best way to structure our US based company to serve as the sales and marketing arm of our US operations. I've been busy with this and writing the contract to form another partnership with a different New Zealand company to manufacture and distribute mountain bike apparel here in North America. All of this while still maintaining a full time position with my buddy Eric at the car wash business (which is going really good as well - we have some things in the works that will be huge for that company and are really excited but hush, hush on that until announced) Well, enough with my excuses as to why I haven't been keeping up with this blog and on to the important stuff - CAM'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!

What a great time. We invited 13 of Cam's friends to The Kid Barn, which is basically a warehouse full of big bouncy castles/slides/etc. He went crazy! Every time a new buddy would show up, Cam's eyes would get so bright and would run all over so excited. He had to chase all the older boys and keep up with them over every big slide in the place. We had pizza and cupcakes for everyone but couldn't keep their attention long enough to open presents, so back to the bouncing!!! The party list included his 2 cousins - Jared and Travis (who spent the weekend with us and brought their Wii - FUN!!), John's (from my Moab team) 2 boys - Devin and Ryan, Katherine and Bret's 2 boys - Jacob and William, our neighbors boys - Brit and Grayson, our daycare provider Tracey and her 2 boys - Jordan and Justin, and Cam's (and our) newest friend from Little Gym - Noah (and his mom Ashley). At one point or another Camden took turns running around with each and every boy there to go jump or slide or climb or just run and scream!! I think I had just as much fun as he did trying to keep up with everyone. Below are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

For some reason, this picture of Camden running after his cousin Jared is my favorite from the day. He's just running along swinging his arms up in the air and singing "ya, ya, ya" He is just sooo happy that it almost makes me want to cry (I know sounds gay but seriously) Seeing him like this brings a feeling of joy that I just can't explain!

Here are a couple more of just absolute glee

Here are a couple action shots from the day and some of Cam getting a boost from his cousins up to the top of the slides:

But don't think that Camden was the only one in this family to have fun on the bouncy slides - check out the smile on his mom's face as she starts down the slide:Here are a couple from the pizza party. I was really impressed how all of these boys actually sat down to eat and sing happy birthday. It was fun to watch the expression on Cams face as everyone sang to him - not sure what that was all about!?!?

Of course I had to include a couple cup cake eating pics!

Cam with all his buds!! How grown up?!?!?

Check out this great shot of John's boys - nice party favor hats!! I think it sums up the party pretty good - sweating, tired, and ready to go home. Carol said they had gone skiing in the morning and these two never stopped once during the party - I bet they were asleep in the first minute of the car ride home.

We finally made it back home and Camden got to open all his presents with his cousins to help. He made out like a bandit.

Amy Turns Thirty - the big 30!!

Yup, Amy turns 30 on the 14th. We celebrated her birthday on Sunday as that was the only day we could secure a babysitter.

Saturday Amy and Cam met up with Amy's friend Aerste and her little one at the mall because she and Cam both had some gift certificates for their birthdays (Cam's is the 18th). I took the opportunity to hook up with Doug and his friend Dan, to go climb Mt. Olympus. We took off from Wasatch Blvd right in the valley and climbed up over 3000 ft. The day had started out pretty grey in the valley but ended up beautiful. The sky was a very deep, dark blue from over 9000 ft. It was warm and no wind. The snow was deeper than I think any of us expected and the trail had little travel on it before us. We still made pretty good time and hit the saddle right below the summit in about and hour and a half. Doug and I use to run this trail a couple times a week when we worked together and could make it to this point in just about an hour! We decided not to do the last scramble to the top as we were all getting short on time. It was great to get out in the mtns again with Doug - it had been a while since we've gotten out like that and I miss it. The picture below were taken with my phone so you can't tell how blue the sky was but you get an idea of how warm it was by looking at how lightly dressed we are over 9000 feet high in January.

Sunday we woke up to light snow and cold/grey skies. We stayed in the first half of the day and played with Camden.

Our friends Eric and Nancy offered to babysit Camden for us in the afternoon so we could go out for Amy's b-day. I had planned for an afternoon of skate skiing at Solitude and then dinner but with the ugly weather (we're spoiled when it comes to playing in the snow here) we decided to take a rain check on the skiing and go see a movie. I know what your thinking - "why waste time on a movie for a b-day date?" but when you have not been to a movie in 2 years because of how rare it is that we have a babysitter - it was kind of a big deal for us. We ended up going to see Atonement and eating at Bambara down town. Very good but very depressing movie and a great dinner. Even though Monday is Amy's real birthday, I was able to talk her in to opening her presents when we got home with Camden that night. Here are a couple pics of Amy and Cam with her presents. Notice naked Cam - we were getting ready to get him in his pajamas when we decided to have Amy open her presents.Check out Amy modeling the new boots I got her. She was surprised that I would have gotten her boots like this and I love to see her face lighten up when she opens something from me that she would never expect! Considering most of the time I get her something like biking clothes, ski coat, or like the other b-day gift this year - waterproof trail running shoes, something like these boots are unexpected.

Sir Edmund Hillary

It is a very sad day in the world. Sir Hillary was known for his achievement of being the first to conquer Everest with Tenzing Norgay but he was much more than that. He is the last of the true great adventurers and did so much for the people of Nepal. If you've never read High Adventure than you need to put it at the top of your list. Thanks to my friend Chris I have a signed copy of the book - something I will treasure forever.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22597658/?GT1=10755

A great man has left our world!

Snorkeling in Maui

Amy reminded me that we had some photos from the underwater disposable we got for our snorkeling trip in Maui. These are some pictures from "Turtle Town"

This spot is rightfully named as you will see from the pics below:

Here is the poor turtle I chased around until my lungs began to burn just to get a few pics. I figure the boats come here every day so he's probably use to annoying tourists chasing him for a picture!

Here's a shot of "Scuba Dan" and our boat in the background. He was having problems with water getting into his mask - most likely through his mustache. You would think that with all the years I spent scuba diving that I would have remembered to tell him to bring a little Vaseline for that:

Here is a shot of Amy checking out the sights and turtles! I tried to get a picture like this of Amy and her sister, but sorry Serena - all you can see in that pic is the bubbles I had just exhaled.Here I am testing the lungs and ear drums. It had been a while for me since I'd been diving but it's like riding a bike. I love the feeling of flying you get when swimming through clear warm waters. It's so peaceful and serene!

Some more shots from the reef:

I was able to find Dory from the movie Nemo for Camden - but she didn't remember being in the movie