Back-to-back lunch rides to start the week. Yesterday I chased Mark A. and Jon S. up E Street to 11 Ave to Dry Creek and along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail to City Creek. Actually, I wouldn't even call it a chase as most of the time I couldn't see them, they were so far ahead of me. I knew I was in trouble when, as we began the climb up E Street, Jon kept it in the big ring. As he and Mark A. chatted, I hung on for dear life. At Popperton Park I politely excused myself from the group and watched them ride away. Occasionally they would stop to enjoy the view from scenic locations along the trail and I would catch up, if only for a minute or so.
There were tons of people out on the trail, all of whom were quite friendly, with one notable exception being a surly trail runner who knocked Jon off his bike and then polluted the air with a barage of expletives. Not cool, but I've encountered some angry, reckless bikers too so I'm not going to get down on trail runners. Luckily everybody rode and ran away without injury.
Today I rode solo up to the mouth of City Creek where I jumped on the BST heading west, climbing up to the overlook where I hiked last week (see the post below). For some reason the last couple of times I've done this section of trail I haven't felt like continuing up to the radio towers, nor have I been inclined to descend the same trail that I just finished climbing. This time I decided to explore, dropping down a rather loose, steep connector trail that eventually intersected the main Ensign Peak trail. I descended the last few hundred yards on the main trail (which was composed of a nearly continuous sequence of water bars) to the park, and then dropped through the neighborhood, past the Capitol to the bike/pedestrian lane that took me back to the mouth of City Creek and then back to the Avenues. A quick bomb down E Street and I was back to work.
On a different, but related subject, I'm not a huge fan of lycra and hairy legs. Unfortunately, my cycling drawer is currently full of the former, and my legs are quickly becoming the latter. The question I'm faced with is whether it's worth one final, late-season shave in order to fully enjoy the 2-3 remaining lunch rides this week? Normally I wear leg or knee warmers this time of year so the hair on my legs is hidden. This unseasonably warm weather pattern we're currently enjoying is throwing a wrench into my plans to have hair on my legs for the start of ski season.
