Catching Up
I’m so guilty of neglecting my blog over the past few weeks. I have plenty to blog about. My excuse is more about being tired at night. While I probably should just stick with the current stuff, I have to recap a bit of the past, because it was fun.
I went on my first long bike ride over Labor Day weekend thanks to Jen, the grand trip planner. We (myself, Jen, Brian, and Dale) met at the train station in Salt Lake. The commuter train in new to us in Salt Lake. So this more than just a mode of transportation, it was a new experience. We rode the train to Layton, a suburb to the north. Then the real ride began.
From Layton, we rode out to Antelope Island, which is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.
The ride out was easy. The terrain is fairly flat, the heat was bearable, and I had lots of energy. On the island, Jen and Brian tested their ability to float in the lake. Sure enough if you walk out far enough, there is enough salt in the lake to make you float.
Of course you have to be willing to tolerate the smell of brine shrimp. Me, I’m not so adventurous. I have no desire to be covered from head to toe with water from that lake. However, I did get my feet wet.
This is a brine shrimp or sea monkey.
They are the only thing that can live in the lake due to the high salinity level. The lake is like the Dead Sea. The lake has inlets, but no outlets.
The trip back to the train station was a lot harder. Physical and heat exhaustion started to set in. I got a quick reminder that I live in the desert (hot wind with no trees near by). To top off the experience, we rode home into a headwind. Headwinds have been the hardest thing for me to adjust to while cycling. They quickly kill my enthusiasm.
Of course no trip would be complete without a flat tire. Unfortunately, Dale was the unlucky victim. I really need to get slime liners for my tires.
By the time we got back to the Salt Lake train station. I was sick (the slurpee was really bad idea), but not sick enough to regret the trip. In total, I rode 37 miles. Not bad. Now my next hurdle is riding up hills. I live by plenty of hills. I avoid them. I just need to start working my way up so I can ride in the mountains.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
37 miles on a hot sunny day is very impressive and it looks like the scenery was beautiful.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:56 am
I loved this post. Well done on your hero ride!
September 17th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Your pictures are great, and I totally missed you taking the one of us working on the tube. I’m glad we all survived that ride. You and Dale were rock stars. That was a really long way.
I’ve been trying to figure out a ride on the Legacy Parkway bike path that isn’t 50 miles, but goes somewhere cool. I’ll keep you posted if I figure that one out.