Planet Ultra Tour of Southern Utah- June 2007

In lieu of my original vacation plans to cycle the length of the State of Utah this summer with my wife Kim accompanying me as my support vehicle and companion, I opted to participate in Planet Ultra's Tour of Southern Utah when a change in Kim's schedule no longer permitted her to accompany me. Planet Ultra is a long distance bicycle ride and race organizing company run by Brian and Deborah Bowling. This was a week long (June 17-23) tour that included cycling 500 miles and more than 30,000 feet of elevation gain. Here is the Planet Ultra Tour of Southern Utah webpage: http://planetultra.com/Utah/index.htm I wasn't sure I could afford the cost of the trip until I noticed that they were looking for several people to work part time during the trip providing support to the other cyclists in exchange for a 50% discount. I jumped at the opportunity. Aside from the Bowlings, the other cyclists were: Randy Archuleta, Barbara Barrett, Terri Boykins, Jenny & John Carothers, Isabelle Drake, Andrew Gustafson (Andrew's wife Judith also came and drove one of the support vans), Ken Isaak, Mary Kelly, Emmy Klassen, Paul Kopit, Paul Kramer, Bart Lantz, Frank Lobre, Mel Matsuda, Mike Moseley, Dick Parker, Joe Pulliam, Arnold Schmidt, Steve Towner and Susan Tudor.

I rode up to St. George, Utah on Friday, June 15^th with Ken Isaak, another cyclist who lives near me and who I met and biked with once prior to the trip. His full size van was one of the two vans used to provide support to cyclists during the trip. Ken is an experienced cyclist who has led Santiago Cycling group rides. Ken is two inches taller than I am, so it was unusual for a change to not be the tallest person in the group. He, too, works in the computer industry. He's a programmer. He and I have a lot in common. Ken and I were roommates throughout the trip and traded off driving one of the support vans throughout the trip. We were able to establish what I hope to be a lasting friendship during this trip.

I stayed Friday night with Dave and Colleen Wilburn and their family in Hurricane. It turns out that Ken had previously met them as Dave (who is a professional bicycle painter) had once painted one of Ken's bikes following some repair work when the Wilburns still lived in Orange. After it cooled down Friday evening, Dave took me on a delightful warm-up ride to see the sights around Hurricane. The Wilburn's hospitality was very appreciated.

On Saturday, Ken and I drove up to Zions National Park and hiked part of the Virgin River Canyon Narrows. Not being familiar with “The Narrows”, at first thought I thought that we might only be walking in the water a short while, so I tried walking barefoot through the water while carrying my shoes. Ken soon persuaded me to wear my running shoes, which I had never before gotten totally wet. Even though the water was relatively low, we had to cross or walk in the river during most of the three hour hike. Even with the added protection for my feet, it was necessary to take care to not slip or trip on the rocks while walking in water that at times was as mid-thigh deep in the shallowest area. My goal was to have fun, to NOT sustain an injury that could potentially ruin the upcoming week of cycling, and to NOT get the camera wet. I managed to accomplish all three goals. The scenery was spectacular and I had a fun time with Ken.

Ken and I returned to the St. George hotel where he'd been staying in time for a Saturday evening orientation meeting with those going on the Planet Ultra Tour. On the first day, I opted to drive the support vehicle and provide SAG (Support and Gear) support for the cyclists rather than ride myself. The course for the first day was to ride from the Best Western Hotel on Bluff Street through St. George, Hurricane, La Verkin, Springdale, and into Zion. The morning temperatures were very warm until we got up into the canyon. I set up a rest stop at the top of the hill above La Verkin and then we had lunch at a roadside park just before entering Zion National Park itself. After giving the group an opportunity to ride the valley floor roads inside Zion and see some of the sites, the group proceeded up the somewhat steep switchbacks leading to the 1-mile long tunnel, through which all of the cyclists were shuttled. The ride continued uphill for a while on the other side of the tunnel, with one section in particular being very steep. After reaching the summit, the riders enjoyed the mostly downhill trip into Mount Carmel Junction, where we stayed the night at the Thunderbird Inn. This first day consisted of 80 miles of cycling with more than 5,300 feet of elevation gain. Besides providing rest stops stocked with ice, water, other drinks, energy bars, bicycle tire pumps, etc, another of the responsibilities of the support crew was to transport the rider's luggage to the next hotel, check-in at the hotel and obtain their room keys, and then sort and distribute their luggage so that it would be waiting for them in their rooms by the time they arrived. This was almost always a challenge to accomplish by the time the fast riders arrived.

On Monday morning, I took my first turn riding with the other cyclists from Mount Carmel Junction to Bryce Canyon. The scenery was beautiful. Much of it looks like Lake Powell without the lake. Upon reaching the entrance to Red Canyon where we enjoyed lunch, we followed a bike trail that paralleled the road 50-100 yards away, which was close enough to still sometimes see cars but far enough away as to usually not hear them loudly. It felt so nice to be cycling on a smooth blacktop bike trail seemingly all by myself through the middle of this beautiful alpine forest and red rock formations. The bike trail was so smooth that it almost felt like I was slowly flying through the forest at low altitude. This day of cycling consisted of a relatively short 60 miles and 3,700 feet of elevation gain. That evening, part of the group ate dinner together at Rubys Inn Restaurant while engaging in a lively political discussion.

The next morning (Tuesday), many of the cyclists, including Ken and myself, opted to ride the bonus miles from the hotel to Rainbow Point at the south end of Bryce Canyon. It was about a 40 mile round trip ride with approximately 3,000 feet of climbing, with the midpoint of the ride being the 9,100 foot elevation Rainbow Point overview of Bryce Canyon at the end of the road. This ride was one that I will long remember and cherish. Even though I've been to Bryce Canyon before, it was totally different on a bike. Rather than just driving effortlessly down the road in a car and catching a glimpse of the beautiful scenery, traveling by bicycle reminded me of John Denver's song lyrics about how a night in the forest filled up his senses. We could not only see the stunning scenery at a slower pace, but also could hear the sounds of the forest and of the air rushing by. We could smell the pine and other alpine scents in the crisp and clean morning air. We could hear the sounds of insects and stirring critters in the bushes alongside the road. We could feel the cool air and wind on our skin. Since there were very few cars going to/from Rainbow Point that time of day, we had the road mostly to ourselves and therefore got to see animals near to or crossing the roadway. We gained an appreciation for the altitude and elevation rise and descents as we labored up the hills in the thinning air and sped down the descending sections. The satisfaction at having achieved our destination under our own power made the view at Rainbow Point seem even more spectacular. Some of the wildlife I observed during the ride included rabbits, squirrels, various birds, deer, and pronghorn antelope.

I drove the van and provided support the rest of the day while the others cycled from the hotel at Bryce to Escalante, a ride of about 50 miles with a moderate elevation gain of 1,800 feet. It was very warm in Escalante, but not as hot as it had been in St. George. Escalante is a small town. I was able to walk the length of the main street and explore the businesses and old buildings and take some photographs. An informational sign stated that the Escalante River was the last major river to be discovered in the continental United States. I'm not sure how they define “major”, but it was obvious during our ride the following day that the river had played a major role in shaping the geology of the area over the eons.

I rode my bike on Wednesday for the approximately 65 mile journey from Escalante northeast to Torrey. Early during this ride we passed a guy whose touring cycle was loaded down with gear as he was cycling solo across the country! Wow! Kinda makes our 500 mile week long trip seem rather tame. The ride to Torrey was not the longest of the trip, but it did have the largest elevation gain of 6,100 feet due to the road going up and over Boulder Mountain. The peak of the mountain is 11,317 feet high, but the main road over the mountain tops out at 9,600 feet elevation, which was plenty high. Fortunately the weather was moderate and warm, so all we had to deal with was the thin air. We enjoyed lunch and a spectacular view near the top. It was a perfect vantage point to view the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which stretches all the way to Lake Powell on the south and back to Mt. Carmel Junction to the west. Since the air was clear, we could easily see all the way to Navajo Mountain south of Lake Powell. The ride down from the top to Torrey was a rush, literally. This was the last of the large descents of the trip during which we did not have a head wind to slow us down. With a tailwind and some long, relatively steep descents, a couple of us were able to reach speeds of nearly 60 miles per hour! I was sure hoping and praying that I didn't have a blowout while going that fast. With the aid of the tailwind and our downhill momentum, by pedaling furiously we were sometimes able to maintain speeds of 30-40 mph even while cresting the top of some uphill sections. What a ride! Unforgettable!

Once we checked into the hotel in Torrey, some of us opted to ride the additional 40 or so bonus miles down into and back out of the Capitol Reef National Monument Scenic Drive. The scenery was fabulous, but much of the ride was difficult due to already being fatigued and the long uphill sections into a stiff head wind. The last few miles back up to the hotel were the most difficult miles of the entire trip for me. I was very grateful when the support van came by bringing ice and cold water to revive this weary cyclist. I got to experience first hand the powerful, reviving effect of such aid, for which assistance several of the cyclists had expressed profound appreciation.

I had anticipated not riding the approximately 106 mile leg (the longest segment of the trip) from Torrey to Panguitch on Thursday, thinking that it was Ken's turn to ride. By the time I realized that he was not planning to ride, all the other riders had already left, so I rode along with Ken in the van until we passed all the riders and reached Loa, about 16 miles into the ride. I changed my clothes in a gas station restroom, and then Ken had to rescue me when I could not open the jammed door from the inside by myself. The summary statement for this ride mentioned that this part of Utah can be windy and it sure was. We fought substantial headwinds most of the way. This made a long ride seem even longer. We were all glad to finally arrive in Panguitch in late afternoon. Even though the population is only 2,000, it was by far the largest town we'd been in since St. George. That evening the power went out about bedtime. The electricity eventually came back on during the night, enabling us to enjoy the air conditioning again.

On Friday, Ken joined the other cyclists in completing the substantial climb from Panguitch up to the 10,500 foot elevation of Cedar Breaks National Monument, where we enjoyed the red rock formations, the view, and lunch. This part of the ride contained almost all of the 5,300 feet of elevation gain of the 57 mile ride to Cedar City. Ken insisted that I ride the downhill stretch into Cedar City. It was fun, but our speeds were considerably reduced by a very strong up-canyon headwind that made it necessary to pedal hard most of the way down the canyon just to keep from slowing to a crawl. There was also considerably more traffic than we had grown accustomed to. It was also much warmer in Cedar City than it had been up at Cedar Breaks. It was only a foretaste of the next and last day of our tour. Ken and I enjoyed walking around town to see the sights. We even found and checked out a bike shop, the first one available since leaving St. George.

The 83 mile ride on Saturday from Cedar City to St. George was the second longest ride of the week. The thing that made it hard was not the relatively low elevation gain of 2,500 feet, but rather the heat once we descended down into the St. George area, where it was 106 degrees in the shade. Even though almost all of the cycling in the hot weather was downhill, the constant headwind now felt like a giant hair blower blasting hot air to impede forward progress. One of the noteworthy things that happened on this ride was that we shared the road during the early part of the ride with a bicycle road race. Some of us were able to keep up with and even pass some of the racers for a time, which boosted our egos. Some of the group got together that night to eat dinner together at a good-value Mexican restaurant. That evening, I was able to enjoy some time in the LDS St. George Temple. I'd been inside before for marriage sealings, but this was my first Endowment Session in this temple.

Susan Tudor and Barbara Barrett gratuitously offered to allow me to ride home with them, since Ken was staying an extra day to visit some friends. We left early enough Sunday morning to successfully avoid the heavy traffic returning from Vegas and enjoyed an uneventful ride home mixed with some delightful conversation that enabled us to get to know each other better.

Even though there were a few things that could have been better, overall the trip was a wonderful success and, for me, was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. Since I had anticipated riding only about ½ the time and therefore about ½ of the 500 miles, I was pleased that between taking advantage of optional bonus mile rides and Ken giving me more than my fair share of riding time, I was able to accumulate 410 miles by the end of the week. I was also pleasantly surprised that the preparation I had done for the three double centuries I rode earlier this year, combined with the extra mileage and hills I tackled in preparation for this ride, enabled me to be one of the top three or four riders in the group, even though my bike was one of the heaviest and least expensive. I wish it were possible to pursue everything which I enjoy or find interesting without sacrificing any other priorities or commitments in my life, but I know that life doesn't work this way. So for me, this was probably a zenith of my cycling career. I plan to continue to commute to work by bike and take occasional Saturday trips. Whether I will ever have the opportunity or the conditioning to take another multi-day trip of this magnitude is unknown at this time, and somewhat unlikely.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that the vast majority of the drivers we encountered during our trip were very courteous and often crossed part or all the way over to the other side of the road (when traffic permitted) to give cyclists a wide buffer when passing on mostly empty back roads. This was such a welcome change from how cyclists are often treated in California. The only vehicles that sometimes buzzed us were the large Highway Department trucks.

I have taken some photographs which will help remind me of this trip and have posted them on the Internet so that others can also view or copy them. Double click on any thumbnail image to view a larger photo. If anyone wants full size copies of any of the photos, just ask.

http://picasaweb.google.com/CameronHess/CyclingTourOfSouthernUtahJune2007

Parker Wellness Committee

I was invited to join the Parker Wellness Committee last year but procrastinated until a few months ago. We met again today and had some pictures taken during our meeting.

Hello, Security? Would you please send someone to escort this old geezer out of here!

Mr. Flexible

The other night I thought I would show Zach that his old man is still in halfway decent shape by challenging him to a contest as to which of us can reach the furthest past our toes with our hands while seated on the floor and leaning forward with one leg extended forward. I knew that he is more flexible than me, but I thought that my long arms would help give me the advantage. Nope. He won. This photo shows why. Mind you, he is ASLEEP in this photo!

My next great adventure!

http://planetultra.com/Utah/index.htm

California Triple Crown winner!

I am very pleased to share with my extended family and friends that I have achieved my cycling goal of qualifying as a California Triple Crown (CTC) winner. Yahoo!!

http://www.caltriplecrown.com/

http://www.caltriplecrown.org/2007/2007FinishersbyName.asp?Action=Potential&Action2=All&ClubID=

http://www.caltriplecrown.org/DoublesbyName/RiderHistoryReport.asp?RiderID=7431&ClubID=

It sure seems like accomplishing this goal was a real challenge, but when I see old geezers and plump women wearing CTC jerserys (http://www.caltriplecrown.com/products.htm) on these rides, it makes me wonder. Either some of them earned their CTC some time ago, or it wasn't as difficult for them as it was for wimpy ol' me.

Never the less, I'm still happy. Yahoo!

2007 Hemet Double Century

On Saturday, April 14th, while Kim, Katie, and Kaylee were up in Utah for the blessing of Robin (Kim's brother) and Patricia's twins, I was attempting to complete the 2007 Hemet Double Century. http://www.inlandempirecycling.com/HemetDC/index.htm

I learned the hard way on my first double century last year to take advantage of the optional early bird start. I tried to get everything ready the night before and then go to bed somewhat early (yea, right!) and then woke up at 2am, made the 80 minute drive to Hemet while listening to talk radio dire warnings about disappearing bee colonies, thought I was on schedule for a 4am start only to find out that when I pumped up my tires the night before, I had exceeded the containment pressure of the patch I had used to repair an inner tube hole several days earlier. So, I started the day with a flat and began the task of replacing the tube at that dark, predawn hour only to find that 2 of the 3 replacement tubes I had bought and brought had the wrong kind of valve stem for my bike! Doh! By the time I used my only good tube to fix the flat and picked up my registration packet and got myself ready to ride, one precious hour had slipped by.



I departed the Motel 6 start/completion point around 5am with a good size group(Yes, I need glasses to read the route map, especially by the dim light of my head lamp), but tired of riding so slowly and jumped on the tail of the first faster cyclists to come along. I ended up being passed by the slower group when I stopped to help someone lacking the proper tools repair a flat tire in the dark. By the time we got underway again, it was getting light. Even so, we managed to miss a turn and padded our mileage total by several additional miles before discovering our error and backtracking.

Although the winds gradually increased throughout the morning, the weather was dry and the temperatures were mild. Darn if I didn't get another flat halfway though the morning. Someone had pity on my and stopped and gave me a spare tube. I decided to replace both the tube and my front tire (which was a bit on the thin side) with the spare I had been carrying around in my backpack for months. The donated tube was a patched one that had a slow leak. I had to stop and pump up the tire every 10-15 minutes. What a pain. Due to all the stops for flat fixin, I completed the first 100+ mile loop #1 later than when Kim and I did this ride last year.



Because I didn't push myself as hard as last year, I had no muscle spams this year at lunch, unlike last year when my calf muscles were writhing like a sock full of snakes. I was also successfull in avoiding swollen Achille's tendons this year.



After lunch, in spite of strong headwinds, I managed to complete the notorious Sage Road climb (which is as steep as 20 percent grade in places) and then battled the 20 mph headwinds on the downhill side and into the rolling countryside beyond, all the while pumping up the front tire every 10 minutes. When I reached the first rest stop of the afternoon, two very helpful volunteers gave me not one, but two new tubes and even installed one of them in my leaky front tire for me while I ate and drank to recharge the motor and took a very needed rest in one of their camping chairs. What service!! This rest stop was scheduled to close soon after I left, so I knew that I needed to make up time I had lost with all those stops to fix flats and pump up tires.



With a fully inflated tire, I now made good time and was passing other cyclists pretty regularly until arriving at Rest Stop #5 in late afternoon.

After we passed through Lake Elsinore for the 2nd time that day, the route of the 2nd loop deviated from that of the first loop and had us return via an unfamilar Bundy Canyon rather than Railroad Canyon, which had faster traffic, but a wide bike lane. Bundy Canyon was THEE worst cycling experience I think I have ever had without actually crashing. It was dark. The road was narrow, with little if any shoulder and there was heavy, Saturday night traffic in both directions. The drivers going uphill with us were NOT HAPPY about having to deal with heavy oncoming traffic plus cyclists on the edge of their lane. I lost track of how many people honked or yelled or swore venomously at us. I was upset about having been led into such a dangerous situation. I was surprised that I did not hear of any cyclists being hit in that canyon. This experience helped me decide to not do any more double centuries which require me to ride after dark (evenings are worse than mornings) on unfamiliar and sometimes dangerous roads.

I was tired when I reached the final rest stop, but knew I needed to hurry in order to complete the course before the 10pm deadline. Another rider was looking to team up with someone who was leaving sooner than the group she arrived with. She did not have a bright tail light, so I rode behind her and tried to motivate her to keep going during those very long remaining 20 or so miles. We arrived back at the Motel 6 in Hemet, with 10 minutes to spare, just as a light rain began to fall. We were both very glad to have finished, as it was the 3rd double century of the year for both of us, qualifying both of us as California Triple Crown winners.



All that was left was for me to drive myself back home. I was sleepy and struggled to stay awake.
Somebody was watching out for me because I made it home in one piece about midnight. A hot shower and soft bed sure felt good! Even though I still had 6:30am bishopric meeting the following morning, I got more sleep than I had the previous night!

BIG TIME payback

When a very Italian coworker had a birthday a few months ago, several of us covered the walls of his cubicle with pictures of famous Italian landmarks and filled his cubicle desk high with red, white, and green balloons (the colors of the Italian flag).

So, when my birthday rolled around, there was some payback to be had. I have posted below some photos of what my cubicle looked like when I came into the work the first morning following my birthday. For this decorating motif to make sense, you have to know that occasionally we lob rubber bands over the walls at each other.









What looks like a laser web from a Mission Impossible movie is actually hundreds of rubber bands connected together and hooked between every concievable mounting point in my cubicle.

2007 Spring Solvang Double Century

On Saturday, March 31st, I completed my 2nd double century of the calendar year. The course wove through the countryside surround Solvang, which is west of Santa Barbara. The weather was cold in the morning and cool throughout most of the day. There was some wind, but by the time it got strong in the afternoon we were returning back south and enjoyed mostly tailwinds. No problem with sore or swollen Achilles tendons. Here are some photos:


Hollywood Hills brushfire encountered while driving up to Solvang.



Kim in Solvang

March 11th wild fires

Some of you may remember around the middle of March the news stories about wildfires in Orange County. This fire was close enough that it blackened the sky above our home and damaged some homes within our Stake boundaries. Here are some photos.

View from Newport Blvd. chapel

Looking east on closed Villa Park road

East Orange fires

Fire view from East Orange.

Here's yer re-ward

On April 19th I, along with the captains of the other 25 teams, attended the 2007 Parker Aerospace Irvine Flight to Fitness challenge award luncheon in a side room off our cafeteria. The food was nice. This year they recognized the top ten teams from the Alton and Von Karman facilities, as opposed to last year when only the top three were recognized. This may have accounted for the decrease in value of this year's prizes. The team that I captained was awarded 1st place. We received 1/2 day paid vacation, a $55 Target gift certificate, and (get this) a 30-day trial membership to 24-Hour Fitness. (Like we need MORE exercise right now! We're still recovering from the big push during the last 2 weeks of the challenge.) Captains were also given blue ribbons for team members who achieved or exceeded their activity goals to wear on their badges. I think most of my team members were disappointed that there was no Disney California Adventure pass this year for the winning team. I was. We're not going to complain; however, as the 2nd place team received a gift certificate for some spa that did massages and dental work! (what a combo!)



Team names, captains, & prizes of top 11 FTF teams.
(click on photo to display full size version)

Was it worth all the effort and determination and hours and hours of exercise? Well, lets put it this way. I received about 1 second of applause for every 1,000 minutes of exercise. But there's a certain level of satisfaction being able, as the oldest guy on the court, to run circles around all the younger guys while playing basketball. ;) I can't jump and don't play that well anymore, but I sure can get up and down the court. ;)

2007 Parker Flight to Fitness Challenge

Even though I was still sick, I was smiling for a while on 4/3/07 when preliminary results of our company sponsored 10-week Flight to Fitness (FTF) challenge showed that the 10-person team I've captained (Parker People Patiently Practicing Pulmonary Performance to Procure Proper Physical Proportions- "P^10...or P to the Power of Ten" for short) finished in 1st place out of 26 teams in the all important "Percent of Campaign Goal Achieved" with a final score of about 158% of goal, 53,000+ team points, and more than 11,000 personal points.



"P to the Power of Ten" team photo (click on photo to view enlarged version)

They tried to equalize teams with high performers by judging on % of goal achieved rather than raw minutes. This meant that most members of competitive teams had to increase their goal minutes at least once, and sometimes several times, to keep their results within guidelines...at least for the first 8 weeks, after which they turned us loose to earn as many Life Points as we could without being artificially tethered to goals that were lower than what we were then willing to do in order to WIN! The bottom line goal was to encourage employees to be more active and develop habits that would help ensure a healthier workforce, and thus help Parker's self-insured health costs to rise less quickly. This FTF "challenge" was more successful than they intended, I believe, as it was very competitive, with the top teams leap frogging each other several times in the last few weeks. One"Life Point" was earned for each minute of qualifying physical activity (ie,vigorous house or yardwork, exercise, walking, running, cycling, hiking,etc). The FTF program also awarded "bonus" points for eating specified portions of fruits and vegetables and water, or attending company sponsored lunchtime classes like yoga, line dancing, Latin dancing, etc. We finished in 4th place for team bonus points. Combining both Life and Bonus points,our team had the leading combined score of more then 60K. I'm glad its over because the 4-5 hours/weekday of exercise was exhausting me and monopolizing my life.

The official team results will be announced at a Captains Luncheon on the 19th. Last year members of the winning team were awarded 1/2 day paid vacation, a pass to Disney California Adventure (I have not been to Disneyland since this was added), and a $20 Disney certificate. P^10 team members are anxious to see what the prize for 1st place will be this year!

Solvang Double Century- 3/30/07

Kim and I spent General Conference weekend in Solvang (northwest of Santa Barbara) for my second of three 200-mile bike rides in a calendar year needed to earn the California Triple Crown. We were fortunate to get a room in town due to a cancellation, as otherwise we would have had to settle for a hotel room in a nearby town. Needless to say, the place was PACKED with cyclists and other tourists. We drove up Friday and walked the streets and had dinner together. With the exception of a few restaurants, this tourist town shuts down between 5-6pm. She watched Conference on Saturday while I rode. Weather was perfect and the ride was the easiest on me so far. Minimal Achilles' tendon problems this time. Beautiful scenery and rolling hills that reminded me of the TV commercial about California Cheese coming from happy cows. Another scene looked identical to the Microsoft Windows desktop bitmap of rolling green grassy hills. The next day we enjoyed the Sunday morning session of Conference together at the hotel and then traveled to Clayton and Katie May's place to watch a TIVO delayed Sunday afternoon Conference session with the two of them and Zachary. If I can shake off the lung congestion flu I've been fighting, on the 14th I'm planning to repeat the Hemet Double Century I did last year for this year's Double #3.

Here is a photo of your truly during the Solvang ride, which I completed in about 13-something hours, which included about 60-90 minutes worth of breaks and rest stops.

http://redbikephoto.com/2007_solvang_double_century/image61.html
(as you can see, having the headlight's on/off/mode switch by my finger means that sometimes the light get turned on accidentally)

Solvang Double Century website
http://www.planetultra.com/solvang/index.html

California Triple Crown website
http://www.caltriplecrown.com/

2007 Butterfield Double Century

Journal Entry for February 20, 2007

On Saturday, February 17th, I again attempted to complete the Butterfield Double Century bike ride. This ride was the same 200 mile bike ride I first attempted in February of last year, but was only able to complete 3/4th the course, succumbing to leg cramps, cold temperatures, exhaustion, and the discouraging realization that even if I were to somehow pedal another 50 miles in the dark, I would not likely finish before the 10:30pm deadline. I trained harder this fall and winter by riding to/from work nearly every day and by extending my rides to include longer, hilly routes through East Orange, Tustin and Irvine the last few weeks. Replacing most of the drive train components on my bike also made a noticeably difference.

I elected to take the alternate early start (5:30am) this year to lessen the chance that I would run out of time before completing the course like last year. The early start time is for those who feel they might need extra time completing the course and does not include the fastest riders, who begin with the 6:15am mass start. Of the 150 or so riders who started the ride, I’d estimate 30-50 did the early start. The course begins by heading east a few miles, but then reverses course and heads west, at which time we enjoyed a strong Santa Ana tailwind. The pack of riders or peloton (actually, it was more like a double paceline) bunched up behind some old veterans who set what I thought was rather a slow pace considering the tailwind, so after having to apply my brakes going uphill in order to not run into the bikes ahead of me, I decided to take the lead and set a more moderate pace. I wanted to ride at a speed that would conserve energy for the long ride ahead, yet still take advantage of the strong tailwind while it lasted. I thought that at least some of the other riders would follow. I was very surprised that no one did. Having ridden this section of the course during several preparation rides during the previous week, I was very familiar with the course and enjoyed the dawn and sunrise while climbing up Villa Park Road and into Santiago Canyon. I kept looking back expecting to see the other riders, but never did.

I was shocked, but pleased that I was the first rider to arrive at the first checkpoint at the 37 mile mark. By this point in last year’s ride, I’d already been soaked by the rain, fixed a flat tire (in the rain) and was already experiencing calf muscle spasm due to fatigue (partially caused by the added friction of wearing rain pants). This year, I was elated to see that two of the volunteers at the rest stop were Paul and Elise Haussler (the couple in the red shirts on the photo website), who had picked me up, warmed me up, cheered me up, and made room for me in their truck when I was at the point of physical collapse during the previous year’s ride. I enjoyed talking to them again and eating some snacks before heading back onto the road just as the first of the other riders arrived at the checkpoint. One female cyclist who completed a much quicker pit stop than I did caught up with me when I stopped to apply sunscreen soon after leaving the first check point. She didn’t seem very interested in drafting behind me during the long, fast downhill over the next few miles (perhaps for safety reasons), so I soon left her behind.

I was eventually caught and passed by a group of 4 fast riders from the 6:15am start group about the time we pedaled by the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, a few miles shy of the 2nd check point/rest stop near the southern end of the San Onofre State Beach at the 69 mile mark of the course. By this time, I was starting to feel a bit of fatigue and my feet were very hot. I took off my shoes to allow my feet to cool and changed from my medium duty wool socks into my light weight cycling socks. I was disappointed that they had no ice at this rest stop, just tap water for mixing with energy drink powders, along with the usual snacks, fruits, and sandwiches.

We continued down the bike path until it arrived at Camp Pendleton, at which time we entered the southbound Interstate 5 freeway for an eight mile ride on the wide shoulder of a stretch of highway where bicycles are allowed to get around the military base there. Some bike rides I’ve been on in the past either intentionally went through Camp Pendleton or gave riders the option of riding the freeway. I actually prefer the freeway, as it is more direct and less hilly. However, due to the hot weather the asphalt was very warm and my feet again got hot and felt like they might be starting to develop blisters. Weird February weather. Last year it was cold and rainy and this year we had record heat. When I exited the freeway in Oceanside, I treated myself to a big, cold bottle of Gatorade I bought at a gas station. From Oceanside, we began a gradual climb, first along a 7 mile long dedicated bike path and then through surface streets and winding country back roads of Bonsall and Camino Del Rey until we arrived at the 3rd rest stop at the 102 mile mark where lunch was served. By this time I was beginning to feel the onset of leg cramps, but not nearly as bad as the year before. I managed to snag the only chair at the rest stop and again removed my shoes and socks to allow my feet to cool down. Fortunately ice was available to cool the beverages at this and all remaining rest stops. I didn’t arrive at this midpoint rest stop during last year’s ride until mid-late afternoon when the shadows were getting long and the volunteers were shooing riders out of the rest stop in order to hurry us along so that we had a chance of completing the course on time.

Immediately upon departing rest stop #3, the hill climbing really starts. I knew what to expect this year and took the hills at a pace I could sustain. Even so, by the time I arrived in Fallbrook, I needed several extra stops to keep myself rested enough to continue climbing more hills, some quite steep. As I had for most of the ride, I usually rode alone, only occasionally hooking up with a small group. I stopped twice to refill my water bottle with water and ice from fast food self-serve soda fountains. Eventually I arrived in Temecula where the course took us through seemingly endless hilly subdivisions, where my leg cramping became so bad that I had to stop and stretch out my legs for a while on some grass. I was worried that if the cramps didn’t subside that I might not be able to complete the ride. Paul and Elise were manning rest stop #4 at the 140 mile mark. She suggested Ibuprofen for my leg cramps. Neither the bananas nor stamina pills I had eaten at previous rest stops had prevented the problem, so I decided to give the Ibupofen a try. Last year it was getting dark as I arrived at this rest stop and I was scrambling to put on all the warm clothes I had (some of which were still wet from the earlier rain), which were still insufficient to warm me up. This year, as late afternoon arrived it was still warm enough to forego the warm clothes (which I had brought in a back pack just to be prepared) as late afternoon arrived. I didn’t even need a wind breaker until I got halfway to the next and last rest stop. Maybe it was the pills or the lack of any additional big hills, but I didn’t have much of a problem with leg cramps anymore, even though I was tired. I noted with pride when I passed the spot where I called it quits last year at the 150 mile mark.

The last 50 miles were even longer than I anticipated they would be. Riding in the dark is harder when you are tired at the end of the ride than it is when riding in the dark at the beginning of the ride. What made the last leg of the course bearable was that it was mostly downhill and with a slight tailwind. I was very surprised that I still had energy to stand to pedal up inclines near the end of the ride after having so many leg cramp problems earlier in the day and dozens of miles earlier. My finishing time was 15 hours. Considering that all my rest breaks probably added up to considerably more than an hour, I feel good about my finishing time compared with the 14 hours it took me to complete the less hilly Hemet DC last year.

After Kim picked me up around 8:30pm and took me home, I enjoyed a hot bath, some hot homemade soup, and lots of cold liquids, all of which hit the spot. I then crashed into bed and was grateful to have not been awakened by any Charlie Horses as sometimes happens after prolonged leg exertion. I was grateful to have completed this ride successfully and look forward to repeating the Hemet Double Century in April and at least one other (as yet undetermined) double century this calendar year to achieve my goal of qualifying for the California Triple Crown award, which eluded me last year. http://www.caltriplecrown.com/

Ride results and photos are available at:
http://www.planetultra.com/butterfield/index.html
http://eteamz.active.com/centuryamonth/albums/index.cfm?id=452138

Sorry, none of these photos are of me. I basically looked the same as my photos from last year’s Hemet ride.
http://redbikephoto.com/2006_hemet_dc/image38.html
http://redbikephoto.com/2006_hemet_dc/image118.html

Timpanogos trip photos-1

Double click any photo to view it full size.

Timpanogos trip photos-2

Double click any photo to view it full size.

Trio Triumphs on Timpanogos!

AUGUST 2006 TIMPANOGOS HIKE REPORT
(photos to follow)

EARLIER TRIPS
In my younger years, I attempted to hike to the top of 11,752 foot Mount Timpanogos twice. The first time was during a youth conference activity when I was in my teens. Our youth group hiked up the Aspen Grove trail in late June or early July. I was pretty spooked about going further after several youth in our party slipped while traversing icy snow fields and slid out of control down the snow field into a rock slide debris field at the bottom of the snow. Fortunately, they were not seriously injured. I was not in shape and think I turned back before even reaching Emerald Lake. I remember being amazed that some of the older youth made it all the way to the top. The second time was the summer after Kim and I were married. Some friends from our Married Student Housing ward went hiking and invited me to go with them. Even though Kim had hiked it once before in her teens, she did not come with us for reasons I cannot remember. I think there was only one couple in our group, which was Dale and Miley(sp?) Hoggard. I remember being short of breath while hiking the steep switchbacks near the top and being impressed that Miley, the only woman (and small of stature at that), made it. I remembered the hike being very pretty and the slide down the glacier being fun and a bit scary.

I’LL TAKE WHAT’S BEHIND DOOR #3
For Father's Day this year, Clayton gave me the gift of choosing from several activities we could do together when we would later come up to Utah in August for his college graduation. I don't remember what the other choices were, but when the last one was climbing Mt. Timpanogos, I jumped at the opportunity to share this experience with some of my children. We also invited other extended family members, including cousins and grandfathers, but all declined for one reason or another.

EARLY START
On Monday August 21st, 2006, after too little sleep and waking up VERY early and driving his in-laws to the SLC airport to catch an early morning flight back to Southern California, Clayton picked up Zachary and myself at the Johnson’s house where we had been staying. Clayton had been thoughtful enough to buy us all breakfast, which we ate during our drive up American Fork Canyon to the Timpooneke trailhead. The elevation at the trailhead is about 7,170 feet, so even though it was the middle of August, we were grateful to be wearing long sleeve clothing as protection against the cool morning air. I took a photo of the group as we started out and then frequently throughout the hike. We started up the trail about 1/2 hour later than I would have liked, which would have been with just enough of dawn's early light to not need a flashlight. As it was, we still hiked the first few miles in the coolness of the shadows.


WAIT FOR US
It quickly became apparent that Zachary was in better shape than I anticipated, as he was setting a brisk pace, which Clayton could not match, even though he is more accustomed to higher altitude, his home in Orem being approx. 4,500 feet higher in elevation than our home in Orange. Since I was bringing up the rear, this meant that Zachary was out in front during most of the ascent. Zachary's pace was so fast for the first mile or so that he made himself sick and almost threw up his breakfast on the trail until I got him to slow down a little by reminding him that this was a long hike and not a race.

ANYBODY WANT A BIG ICE CUBE?
We soon discovered that I had made a significant tactical error by solidly freezing most of the water we had brought with us. Since the ice was not melting at the rate I had anticipated, we had a limited supply of liquid water most of the hike, especially near the end of the return hike. To help lighten Clayton's load and help him in his efforts to keep up with Zach, I carried Clayton's back pack and water canteen after the first mile or so. Once the sun began to shine on the trail, I also gave Clayton my hat to keep the sun off his head, since he claims to not own one himself. Perhaps I should return to him the BYU hat he gave me as a present last Christmas. Even though I used sunscreen, my hiking without a hat in the thin atmosphere resulted in the pink forehead visible in our end-of-the-hike photo.

SPECTACULAR SCENERY
The scenery was beautiful and the forest fragrances were delightful as the lower trail wound through the pines and quaking aspens. We enjoyed seeing several examples of wildlife in the area, including we saw various birds, squirrels, and deer. We came across several places where large areas of grass had been matted down, apparently by groups of large animals. Throughout the middle part of the ascent, the carpet of lush, green grasses and large, colorful patches of wild flowers were stunningly beautiful throughout the meadows of Timpanogos basin. As we started to climb up out of the basin past timberline towards the mountain's backbone ridge, the old man's conditioning was evident as I gently teased the boys about needing more frequent rests as we gained elevation. These stops provided opportunity to better enjoy the view of the majestic Wasatch mountain range to the north and the steep alpine terrain all around us. Being a weekday, we encountered only a handful of other hikers along the trail, giving us the feeling of having the mountain virtually to ourselves. Upon reaching the top ridge, the view dramatically changed. Below us to the west was a panoramic view of the seemingly unbroken metropolis grids, buildings, and greenery of Utah Valley communities filling the expanse from Utah Lake to the foothills along the entire length of the valley. I do not recall any other hiking experience quite like it. For hours you are hard pressed to see another person or any evidence of the hand of man and feel like you have a majestic, untamed wilderness all to yourselves as far as the eye can see. The next moment it seems that you are flying over and looking down on a large population center 6,000 feet below.

STEEP AND ROCKY
As we hiked south along the ridgeline, the terrain is very rocky and bare, with little, if any, vegetation. A blanket of large broken rock fragments covers the steeply sloped west face of the mountain descending downward for about a mile, with precipitous cliffs to the east. We soon arrived at the steepest part of the trail, a series of switchbacks that ascends though a near vertical portion of the ridgeline. I was able to take a good picture of Clayton and Zach above me, and another hiker above them silhouetted in the indirect rays of the sun. As we labored up the trail switchbacks through the rock field within sight of the summit, I had to remind myself that even though we were above 11,000 feet and the climb was challenging, our elevation was still lower than the 12,000 foot elevation Mt. Whitney Trail Camp to which most hikers climb with full packs before tackling the 14,500 foot summit the next day with day packs like we were carrying on our Timp hike.

EUREKA, WE MADE IT!
Eventually we reached the heavily vandalized metal "shelter" at the summit in about 4 hours where we rested, took pictures, and ate lunch. Zach had a bit of a headache, probably from the altitude. I tried to call Kim and Katie, but only got their voice mail. The wind coming up from the west was strong enough to make walking around the narrow, uneven surface of the summit a bit challenging. The clear air allowed us an uninterrupted view from Lone Peak and the adjacent peaks forming the backside of Little Cottonwood Canyon to the north to Kennicott Copper Mine and the Oquirrh Mountains towards the northwest to the desert valleys of the Great Basin to the west to beyond Mt. Nebo on the South and to the Uintah Mountains on the East. Thinking back on that view, it is easy to believe a statement I afterwards read on an Internet website discussing a book about Utah hiking trails which stated that Utah has the highest average county peak elevation of any state. Got that? Identify the highest elevation point of each county in a state and then compute the mean average of all counties. Colorado is #2.

SELLING THE DESCENT ROUTE
During our ascent, Clayton and Zachary had expressed concern several times about descending the glacier/permanent snowfield. I reminded Clayton of the time I descended the large snow field just below Trail Crest on the Whitney Portal trail to save time and avoid the knee wear and tear while descending the trail of 100 switchbacks above Trail Camp. Because the slope was too steep and the snow was too slippery to descend safely under control, I walked down by allowing my boots to sink into the very slushy snow and made deep footsteps for the boys to follow. Judd and Clayton followed me a short way, and then because of one’s heel blister discomfort and the other’s lack of long pants, the two decided to cut across the steep mountainside right above some cliffs in an effort to reconnect with the trail. I was very worried that one or both of them might encounter an area of loose rock that might cause them to loose their footing and be swept over the cliff in a rockslide. Because I took the shortcut, I arrived at the trail intersection just above Trail Camp 25 minutes before they had both arrived at the same point by descending the switchbacks. I told Clayton and Zachary that I would not lead them anywhere that was unsafe and that if we arrived at the glacier and decided it was unsafe, we would double back and descend via the trail. From a location just north of the peak shelter, I was able to see the snowfield and was able to use my binoculars to watch a group of hikers carefully select a descent path and safely slide down the snowfield. If they could do it, then we could, too. I shared this information with the boys and we got ready and started our descent.

THE SNOWFIELD (otherwise known as The Glacier)
It wasn’t long before we had traversed the ridge trail southward from the peak to the snowfield located in a concave U-shaped glacial canyon on the eastern side of the ridge. It appeared from the snow thickness at the top of the snow field where the sun and warm westerly winds had melted the snow field back from the crest of the ridge that the northern part of the snow field was at least 15-20 feet thick and sloped approximately 75 degrees for a short section at the very top of the northern edge. This slope was too steep for us to want to slide down, so we did what I had seen the other hikers do, which was to hike a little further to the southern most part of the snow field and hike down around the edge of the show field on the rocks until we were below the relatively short steepest section (about 60 degree slope on this side) to where the slope was "only" about 30-45 degrees. I then made holes in the bottom sides of the trash bag I had brought with me, put my legs through the holes and pulled the bag up to my body trunk, put on the old ski gloves I had brought with me, and firmly grasped in each hand the short, stiff tree branches I had gathered and shortened to the right length during the ascent. The purpose of the garbage bag is not to decrease friction, but rather to keep your butt and back somewhat dry. I had paid the price during the ascent of hiking in relatively heavy, long legged jeans and hiking boots. Now I was about to enjoy the benefit of having done so. Clayton and Zachary were only wearing short pants and running shoes, but they too had garbage bags and gloves. Zach thought he had brought long pants, but they turned out to be another item of clothing. Clayton changed back into the too tight pair of shoes he had started the hike in. He tied the other pair to the outside of his backpack rather than putting them inside. This would prove to be a mistake. Both Zach and Clayton had also gathered sticks to dig into the snow with their hands, but I think Clayton left his behind during a rest stop. With Clayton and Zachary watching, I carefully slid down a shallow chute in the snow made by previous hikers using outward and downward pressure from my hiking boots on the insides of the chute and using the sticks in my hands to dig into the snow to keep my sliding speed under control. After I had slid down about 100 yards, I turned around and gave verbal instructions to Zachary and Clayton on what to do to keep their speeds under control. For some reason, Zachary went next. Having never done anything like this before, he was not as successful in maintaining orientation and speed control while sliding down the snow chute. He started sliding too fast, got turned around backwards, may have flipped once (I can’t remember for certain), lost his sticks, and only came to a stop with a panicked look of terror on his face after I repeatedly shouted for him to dig his feet into the snow to slow himself and I placed myself in his path and braced myself to stop his slide. After seeing Zachary’s acrobatic display and the low style points I awarded him, Clayton took great care to come down slowly and under control. Zach complained that his hands were so cold that he could not feel them, nor could he continue. My hands were also very cold, even with the gloves, but since I had ski gloves and Zach only had heavy duty work gloves (that were now completely drenched), I traded gloves with him and we slid another hundred yards or so in stop-and-go fashion in a two person train configuration with me providing the braking force for the both of us. It took several successful stops before Zachary was satisfied that I could actually stop both of us and his level of anxiety subsided somewhat. Both Clayton and Zach got wetter and colder than I did while sliding down. Clayton’s spare pair of shoes were packed with slushy snow by the time we got to the bottom of sliding portion of the snow field. We walked a short ways down to the beginning of a large boulder field in the middle of the gently sloped, bottom portion of the snowfield, where the snowfield continues around either side of the boulder field. After we removed the mangled trash bags and the snow from our clothing and took stock of our condition, I was all for continuing to walk on the snow around the boulder field, but Clayton and Zachary did not want to travel on any more snow than was absolutely necessary. So, we slowly picked our way through the quarter-mile long boulder field until we reached Emerald Lake. Our slow and careful descent down the snowfield, followed by the even slower descent through the boulder field, neutralized the time advantage I had hoped to achieve via this route. But hey, we were all still in one piece and were quickly drying out. Clayton was especially happy to be back on a trail and was willing to follow it wherever it went, even if it lead to the Aspen Grove Trail. We quickly got reoriented and headed in the right direction, passing the crude hut by the lake along the way.

WHERES ROCKY THE FLYING SQUIRREL WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
The one notable event that occurred during the hike back down the trail was our encounter with a bull moose in Timpanogos basin. We spotted the moose up ahead of us walking on a course that crossed our trail at an angle. So we slowed down and waited for him to cross the trail. To our surprise, he turned and began to follow the trail in the same direction we were going. Because we were upwind from him, he could smell us and kept looking back to see us apparently following him. I wanted to make certain that we did not give him any reason to think us a threat, so we stayed at least 100 yards behind him. After he went over a rise, we couldn’t see him anymore, so we approached the same rise slowly, with caution. As we crested the hill, we found the moose about 50 yards ahead of eating tall grasses where the trail traverses a lush hill. To make matter worse, there were two hikers on the trail on the far side of the hill who were observing the moose. Not wanting the moose to feel that it was trapped or surrounded, I lead our group down the grassy hill and around the moose, giving it plenty of clearance. While doing so, we came across another spot where the foliage had been matted down by large animals. Since our group was the larger of the two and was the only ones moving, and perhaps because the other group of hikers was downwind of the moose, the moose seemed more concerned with our movements and kept turning his head to look back at us as we walked around and away from him. I figured as long as he felt comfortable enough to keep grazing with his back to us, he was probably not thinking us to be a threat, which was just exactly what I was hoping for.

ARE WE THERE, YET?
Because we were tired and running low on liquid water and the trail was now hot and dusty, the trip back down seemed longer than the hike up, even though we hiked quickly on the way down and took few breaks. Our drinkable water was still frozen and only thawing enough to provide a sip of water every half-hour or so. Clayton and I used a small water bottle to scoop up some stream water and pour it over our heads and necks to help cool us off, but Zachary declined our invitation to join us and did not seem interested in allowing us to catch him and douse him anyway. We think he still had a headache, as he was uncharacteristically quiet . We were very grateful to finally reach the parking lot again where we could fill our water bottles with liquid water, change into some comfortable shoes, and rest our weary bodies on soft car seats during the drive home. Unless I miscalculated, the trip down actually took us 1/2 hour longer than the hike up! How could that be?!

COULD ANYTHING ELSE POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
During our drive back, we had to decide where Clayton should drop off Zach and I. Our family had planned to move camp and stay the night at the Dunn home after sharing dinner and FHE with them, but Kim and Heidi and Katie were gone and not answering their cell phones. I phoned the Johnsons and asked Taylor whether Kim had left behind any suitcases. He reported not seeing any. Worried that the Dunns already had dinner ready and were fending off hungry kids while waiting for us to arrive, I called the Dunns to see whether Kim and Katie had already driven down there, but got the Dunn’s answering machine. I called Holly’s cell phone and found that she was just leaving a BYU Education Week class and was heading home. Not wanting Clayton (who was already in a bit of a hurry to return home) to have to drive us clear down to Salem, I asked Holly if we could rendezvous at the Nibleys and then have Zach and I ride the rest of the way with her. She agreed. Because it was not far out of the way, I had Clayton swing by the Johnsons to double check that nothing had been left behind. That’s when I discovered that Kaylee was there! Taylor had made not mention of her during our phone conversation, and I hadn’t asked. Oh-oh. Change of plans. This meant that Katie and Kim were planning on eventually coming back to the Johnsons. I was beginning to feel stressed. So, I thought that I would help out by loading up Kaylee and a few odds and ends I found of ours and take her with us to the Nibleys. I called and left messages on both Katie’s and Kim’s cell phone telling them about my plans to save them from having to return to the Johnsons. I saw what appeared to be Kaylee's car seat by the front door, so I installed it in Clayton’s car, loaded up Kaylee, and off we went. We got several miles down the road before Zachary (I think) said something about the car seat not being Kaylee’s, since it did not have a high back. I am now feeling even more stressed! I ask Clayton to drive us back to the Johnsons and just drop us off since I needed to return the Johnson’s car seat and since he is already behind schedule. I try several times to call Holly’s cell phone to inform her of the change of plans and release her to just go on home and not delay serving her family dinner on account of our tardiness. All I get is her voice mail. I try calling Heather’s cell phone and her home phone and also get voice mail. I am REALLY feeling stressed and wondering what else could go wrong with this comedy of errors, which seems intent on sabotaging every helpful choice I try to make. When we arrive back at the Johnsons, we empty all our gear onto the shady front yard grass and send Clayton on his way. I called Katie’s and Kim’s cell phones again and asked them to disregard all previous messages. Good grief! Where is the hidden Candid Camera?! I then decide to unwind by just lying on my back on the grass and relaxing. It finally dawned on me that despite my good intentions and efforts to try to save Kim and Katie a drive back up to the Johnsons, they were probably going to have to come back anyway to drop off Heidi, since Heidi probably rode with them since Heidi’s car was still in the garage. DOH! I finally got through to Heather, who had been ignoring her ringing phone because she was enjoying talking to Holly. I notified Holly of the delay and the uncertainty regarding when we would be arriving at her home. She was her usual gracious self and told me not to worry about it.

THE END
To keep an already too long story from being too much longer, the girls eventually returned home from having enjoyed a picnic at Sundance and watching a movie together. Kim, Katie, Kaylee, Zach, and myself eventually found our way to the Dunns home after only calling for directions 3 or 4 times, and we enjoyed a very nice dinner and Family Home Evening with the Dunns. A nice ending to a long, but memorable day. Thanks for the wonderful birthday present, Clayton!

Gredtel Lynn Hess

Gredtel with Mom, Dad, & Grandma

Bountiful 30th Ward Reunion

At the end of April 2006, my wife Kim and I took advantage of a business trip I took to northern Utah for us to both go and see our newest granddaughter Gretel Hess and for me to attend a reunion of my old Bountiful, Utah 30th ward reunion. It was good to see some old friends and acquaintences. Here are some photos.


This is a blurry image of a poster of photos of some of the missionaries who have served from the Bountiful 30th ward.


Bishop Norman & Nelda Miller family portrait


Bonnie Theuer Howard, Cameron Hess, Valerie Frome, Mark Stanger


Irv & Norma Hansen with Anne Haney


George & Winifred Merritt portrait (former bishop)


Evan & Deonn Stott Family members


Garn Nelson (my former ScoutMaster)

the morning after

The cycling photos are from my first completed 200 mile bike ride- The Hemet 2006 Double Century. This is my first attempt at posting photos on the internet for others to view. Obviously, I haven't quite got it all figured out, yet. The photos are out of order. There are no captions, unless you right click and select SAVE AS and view the default name.

The leg photo shows my swollen Achilles tendon and lower calf muscle on my right leg. I'm still nursing it weeks later. In addition to these photos, there are two professional photos of me at the URLs shown below. I'm pretty sure most of the smiles you see of cyclists on these long rides are fake. Mine were. (take the picture, already!)By the time the photos are taken- somewhere in the 125-190 mile range- nobody is smiling. I'm pedaling uphill or bucking a head wind and fighting to breath in order to catch up with the guy ahead of me and draft so that HE can push the air out of the way rather than my having to do it.
http://redbikephoto.com/Hemet.htm index
http://redbikephoto.com/2006_hemet_dc/image38.html me
http://redbikephoto.com/2006_hemet_dc/image118.html me, again 

more photos from Hemet Double Century bike ride

This is not me! Just a fellow cyclist who did not want to wait his turn in line to use the porta-poty.

Optimistic spirits, highly visible and warm clothing, and a new bright headlight help me during the early morning start.
















This photo was so staged. After finishing and getting ready to put the bike in the car, I remembered that I needed an "after" photo to go with my "before" photo. This was a forced smile, as I was very tired and sore. This motel was the start, mid-point, and finish line.