Shortened Ride

So now I'm thinking because of time and stuff, the first leg of the Three Park Ride will be only from Boulder to Escalante. As a bonus, though, I'll add in a hike to Peekaboo & Spooky Canyons.

Centuries I Have Done

Here is a list of the Century (100 miles+) rides I have done: 1993 - Rode around the Oquirrhs with my friend Dennis. The first century for both of us. 110 miles 1994 - My first ULCER ride (around Utah Lake). Dennis and Marsha rode the 70-mile route. We finished about the same time. 1995 - ULCER again. This time Marsha did the whole thing. Our friend Ashok also rode with us. 1996 - Three in a row! This time I rode the ULCER with Bob and Adam Dern. Fastest time ever -- a little over 5 hours. Earlier in the year the three of us also rode around the Oquirrhs. 1997 & 1998 - Although I didn't ride any centuries these years, I did quite a few 70 & 80 milers. 1999 - Cycle Salt Lake Century. I had done the 70 mile route a couple of times. This was my first 100 mile one. The winds on Antelope Island dried me out considerable which made the last 30 miles agony. 2000 - ULCER again. By myself. 2001 - oops! 2002 - ULCER solo one more time. 2003 - Ah! One of my favorite rides. Did a solo-solo ride from our house to Malad Idaho. 108 miles! 2004 - 2006 - Like a fool, I was playing more golf than riding. What a waste! 2007 - Back in the saddle again! My first multi-century season. Kicked off with the Tour de Cure in May, which was pretty awful, then rode the ULCER in August with Cassie -- her first (and only)! 2008 - Did my first ride from Logan to Salt lake City, while Cassie and Marsha rode Little Red Riding Hood. 2009 - Logan to SLC again. Fun ride. 2010 - Rode the Cycle Salt Lake Century with Bob, Adam & Christine. Rode the ULCER with Bob. Rode from SLC to Logan. That's right, three centuries! 2011 - Big year again. Kicked off with the Cycle Salt Lake Century, with the Derns (including Cathy), the MS 150, which actually was 100 miles first day and 75 the second, and did an unsupported century with Marsha and Suzanne Johnson in August. If you add them all up, you get 18 centuries! Funny thing is, I fell like I've missed one or two in there, especially during the lost years.

Three Parks Ride date update

The new dates for this ride are Wednesday, September 28 - Friday, September 30. For more information on this fantastic ride, scroll down.

Sunday Ride - Fairpark to Centerville

I hate this weather! I will be doing a 25 mile ride this Sunday, April 17, starting from the Utah State Fairpark, riding up to Centerville and back. Meet on 400 North at 1100 West at 9:00 AM.

Fairpark to Centerville map

This will include riding several miles on the Legacy Trail.

Update on Bike Tour

The dates for the ride will be September 7, 8 and 9.

Big Cottonwood Loop

I'm planning to ride the Big Cottonwood loop this Sunday. It should be about 25 miles with some hills. If you wish to join, meet me in the Fresh Market parking lot on 2100 S. & 2300 E. @ 9:00 AM.

Map

Three Parks Tour: Wednesday, September 7, through Friday, September 9

I am proposing doing a bike tour beginning in Capital Reef NP and finishing in Zions NP. This is probably the most scenic stretch of road anywhere in Utah. The trip will be about 200 miles, broken into three days.

First Day, Wednesday, September 7: Capital Reef Visitor's Center to Escalante, Utah (66 miles). Lunch in Boulder, Ut, break at the Kiva Koffeehause.

Second Day, Thursday, September 8: Escalante to Bryce Canyon NP (45 miles). Add an extra 36 miles if we do the scenic drive in Bryce.

Third Day, Friday, September 9: Bryce Canyon to Zions NP (87 miles). Extra if we ride Zion Canyon.

Map:
The dates for this ride will be Wednesday, September 7 through Friday, September 9. If you are interested in this adventure, please contact Mark @ m.marzolf@hotmail.com and we can work out the dates and logistics.

Biking in Provence

We have just finished our second day of biking in Provence. One more day to go!

Today was a day of many miles (including a side trip to Les Baux,intentional, and retracing 5 miles of our route twice, looking for a turn). All in all, we rode about 50 miles. Not much, you say, but we're riding big, heavy bikes with fat tires. Top speed on the flats is at most 11 mph.

Cycle Salt Lake Century

So yesterday, I rode the Cycle Salt Lake Century. All 105 miles of it! I averaged 17 mph, which is very good for me. Including breaks, it took about 7 hours.

I rode with Bob D., his son, Adam, and Adam's wife, Christine. I'm afraid they were all stronger riders than me, especially after my left knee pretty much gave out after 45 miles. But they were fun to ride with, and we chatted pretty much the whole way.

And the weather was perfect! Sunny, but not too hot, and the wind, what little there was, didn't pop up till late in the ride.

80 Miles Ride

Here is the proposed route for Sunday's ride:

Salt Lake to Syracuse

Give it a try!

Stupid weather! Because of rain/snow and winds on Sunday, I didn't ride. I DID go to the gym and rode the spin cycle for two hours. Ugh.

On Monday, though we rode up Emigration to "The Wall." Apparently the woman who used to live there did a lot of tile work, hand painting and setting tiles inside and outside the house. We had always wondered. There was a strong wind blowing up the canyon, so it was almost as hard going down as it was going up. I hate wind.

Sunday, I'm scheduled to do an 80-miler with some friends. We'll basically ride from home to Syracuse and back. It would be nice if the weather cooperates!

Am I getting old? I don't know, but maybe it would explain why I didn't enjoy my ride yesterday. The route we chose was starting in Magna, riding 8400 West down to Herriman and back. On paper, it looked good -- about 35.5 miles. Then I could ride home while Marsha drove.

Well, the first 14 miles is a long slow grind up a series of stepped hills. Not too steep, but steady and steeper than going up Emigration Canyon. Then after a brief downhill in Herriman, we turned North into the teeth of a frigid head wind (15 mph). And so it went for the rest of the ride. Cold, windy and uphill.

By the time we got back to the car (40 miles! 4 hours!) my legs were numb from the knees down, and my back muscles were cramping up. Needless to say, I didn't ride home.

We didn't ride this last Sunday because we were in Southern Utah, hiking in Coyote Buttes South section of the Vermillion cliffs. The Paw Hole trail head was 17 miles down the Rock House road, then 2 1/2 miles off that road. We had to park about 2 miles from the trailhead because the sand was too deep for our car. However, the ranger just happened to bbe going by and offered us a ride to the trailhead. We were the only ones there for miles around.

The scenery was fantastic! We hiked for six hours and were thoroughly exhausted by the time we got back to the car.

Did my first "real" ride of the season. 50 miles, up north. It was extremely pleasant riding up, with a strong tailwind. However, and not surprisingly, we had to ride into a 20 mph headwind the last 18 miles.

On the jerseys, which you can order up to Thursday, April 15th, they come in sizes 3XS to 4XL.

SHC Bike Jersey

This is the SHC bike jersey I designed. It is available for $60.00 in all sizes.

Tubingen, Germany to Salsbourg, France

Possible bike ride this summer?

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Mark Marzolf

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Ramblin' On

I see that we haven't posted anything of late. My excuse is that I was in Rochester, NY, sans bike all last week. Poor me. Cassie hasn't been riding very much, either. In theory, we're getting ready for the Moab Century, but I don't think we'll make it.

I tried riding up Millcreek Canyon on Tuesday after my pilates therapy. Unfortunately, it was 5 miles of hills to get to the canyon, and I was pooped by the time I got there. I only rode about 2 miles up before I gave out.

I did ride up Emigration Canyon today, all the way to Little Mountain. The way I ride this canyon is to break it down into small sections. I recite a litany as I ascend:
Ruth's
Camp K
Pueblo Amarillo
Short Cut
Love Shack
Creek House
Tyvek
Broken Bridge
Junk House
40 Mile
Powerhouse House
Big Bend
Sun and the Moon
Tile Wall
Pinecrest
S-s-s-s-s-s-s-snake
Hairpin and
Little Mountain.

As I pass each spot I recite the littany from that point. If you ride or drive up Emigration, see if you can identify the landmarks.

Tooele Loop-di-loop

Marsha Luke and I went for a nice little ride today (where the heck was Cassie????) in colorful, happenin Tooele County. The ride started in Grantsville, toured the north end of the Tooele Army Depot, past Larry Miller's Sports Park (NASCAR racetrack), and down part of the beautiful Erda Road, concluding with a circumnavigation of the amoeba-like Stanbury Park. map of Tooele Loop
We left the house at 6:30 am, much to Luke's chagrin, to beat the heat. The ehat never amounted to much today, though. As you will note from the map, the course is basically a triangle: first leg to Tooele (uphill), second leg to Stansbury Park (downhill), and the third leg back to Grantsville (flat). We averaged about 15 mph over 32 miles.