Mountain Bikes and Pumpkin Races

This weekend I was supposed to be hiking The Subway at Zion National Park.  You know, for an awesome travel adventure in southern Utah, for this amazing famous hike that I applied for a permit in a lottery system four months ago.  Well, mother nature had other plans.  Due to 90% chance of rain and flash flood warnings, the trip had to be canceled.  So after canceling our trip last minute, we had to do some improvising. Instead of hearing about a fun trip, you are going to hear about some local fun. 

Friday night we grabbed Olive and headed into the mountains with the bikes.  After a few days in Vegas I was excited to get into the wilderness, and get some cardio.  When the work days get longer, and the daylight gets shorter, the Bonneville Shoreline is the perfect place to escape the city lights and spend some time sweating in the sunshine.  My mountain bike and I have a love hate relationship.  I love being in the mountains, but I hate pedaling it up the mountains.  With some shin splints from running and hiking, I decided that biking was going to be my new workout.  

For someone who has run 2 marathons I am familiar with endurance (and enduring pain) but mountain biking was always a form of odd torture for me.  Getting myself up a mountain is hard enough. Why am I trying to do it on a bike?  For a while I would give it a try, and when the going got tough... I got off my bike, cursed, threatened to throw it off a cliff, and instead walked it up all the hard parts.  

Well, Friday evening was a little different, I powered up every single climb, as long and challenging as they were.  I'm not saying I'm in love with mountain biking, but it felt great.  A great workout in the mountains with what I think was the happiest dog in the universe.  Yes, she has to wear these silly booties because her pads get torn up on some of the trails, but the smile on this dogs face as shes keeping up with the bikes on the trails is priceless.  It is happiness on four black lab legs. 

 Friday nights spent in these hills with good company, heavy bikes and a happy dog is the best way to start the weekend.  Tired legs and some perseverance were the start of my weekend.  And I am going to give my mountain bike another shot at this rugged love story.

After a wonderful friday in the mountains, Saturday was spent at the park.  Sugarhouse park that is.  And not just any day in the park.  I packed up Olive, my running clothes, my camera and lunch and headed to the park to watch the pumpkin races. 

Adults hollowed out their home grown pumpkins weighing about 1,000 pounds and raced them across a segment of Sugarhouse Park Pond.  Oh, and they were in costume.  If watching Captain Crunch and Johnny Appleseed kayaking a giant pumpkin across a pond isn't your idea of fall fun, then I am not sure this blog is a good match for you.  

Johnny Appleseed, hot dogs, Captain Crunch, pirates and Big Bird were all in attendance.  Yes there were different heats and a grand finale. Yes some of the people tipped their pumpkins.  It was good clean Utah family fun.  

A weekend of mountain biking and pumpkin racing.  And Sunday it was back in the mountains for a hike.  Fall is a lovely time in Utah, and this was a perfect fall weekend in my books.