Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Corner Canyon Therapy



Work has been super stressful this week. How bad can it be you ask? Well, to give you an idea my boss called my cell phone this morning at 7:14 AM to make sure I'd seen the email from our London office detailing an issue a key customer was experiencing. Luckily I'd been awake since 7:11 and, in the previous 3 minutes, being the dedicated company man that I am, had just read the email to which he referred. You see, I sleep with my iPhone on the floor, just under the bed, so when I wake up I can easily check email (and Facebook and the local blogs).

So anyway, work has been stressful. There's a lot going on and I'm feeling a fair amount of pressure. All things considered, this is a good thing. It's great to be employed, even better to be in a position to contribute, and I really enjoy my coworkers. Let's just say it's an awesome place to work. But stress, well, nobody likes that. And you know what makes it 100 times harder to deal with? Not being able to ride. Monday and Tuesday I couldn't get out and let's just say that I wasn't a joy to be around when I got home in the evening.

But today was different. Why? I was able to ride. Given how the day started I had my doubts that I'd be able to pull it off, but thankfully things went well and I was able to leave at a reasonable hour. Kris met me at the Draper Equestrian Center a little after 6 and we headed out for what turned out to be 1 hour and 39 minutes of much needed therapy.

We rode a bunch of trails, some old, others brand new (that's what's so cool about Corner Canyon - there seems to always be something new or improved to ride). All were fun, with the out-and-back we did on the BST through the scrub oak charred by the fire of 2007 my favorite of the night. Hopefully Kris' pictures turned out 'cause I want to steal one for this post. There are a ton of bright yellow sunflowers blooming up on the hillside which contrast dramatically against the bare, black branches of the burned scrub oak. We also had a tailwind - seemingly in both directions, how does that happen? - which made it fast and fun.

Other trails we rode included Gas Line, Lower Ghost Falls, Steps, Clarks and Canyon Hollow (also referred to as Brocks Point). We also rode the new, machined section of what I'm guessing is Jamie's trail as well as the new connector from the top of Clarks to Canyon Hollow.

Clarks is in great shape for a time trial. As smooth as I've seen it this season and hard, hard packed. If you haven't done the tt yet now's the time to do it!

1 comment:

Brad said...

You know how to have fun :-) Glad you were able to put the world behind you for a couple of hours. I've gotta get down there and ride these wonderful trails you guys talk about.