Archive for the ‘Mountain Biking’ Category

By Bill Messick

This was the first time this year I have done this ride and it was a great ride to do. I got my wife to dump my butt off at the gravel road at the end of the Timpooneke Campground up American Fork Canyon. From there I followed the road for the next two hours around the front of Mount Timpanogos and down the rough road to the single track at Grove Creek. From there I dropped down the 3-4 miles past the falls to the park at the top of 500 north. This ride is an advanced ride and takes you around narrow cliff exposed trails, so walk it if you have to on this on.

The video has music by Blackdog Mems and Resin and at the end there is a really cool bird of prey named Sundance, for more videos check out my Video Blog.

I know that is a big statement to make but it is simply the truth! I have been peddling a MTB bike for over 20 years now and have been through my share of chain and bike oil, from greasy gunk to wax I have tried them all. If you have bought some lately you know that it is getting pricey and the bottle is getting smaller every year. I use to by a 12 oz bottle of the wax for about $4.50 now it is up around $20.00 or more. So about a year ago I had ran out of wax on a ride with a buddy and the next day was Sunday and my chain was screaming at me for some love so I started searching on Google for a cheaper and hopefully a better solution to the problem.

Eco-Friendly & Good To Eat

If you have ever done a search for chain lube you have seen the mass of things people have tried, one such thing was transmission fluid. It is cheep to buy and you get a big bottle for less than $2.00 at Wal-Mart, so I picked some up and the next day gave it a try. It did work very well but quickly I saw it’s down falls. It started gumming things up after only a few rides and the smell was not a good thing not to mention the toxicity of it! It was at that point I realized I was looking for an oil that was also eco-friendly, and also editable that would not only make it safe for the environment but safe to eat! Let’s face it I ride in some of the most pristine places on this earth and I want to keep them that way and dragging around petroleum by products on the trails is just a bad idea. I believe that each and every one of us that use the trails are responsible for the time we spend on them and if we don’t care who will?

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Yesterday I had attempted to take a ride up Clark’s Trail but the weather had a different plan, about 25 min up the sky broke open and dumped on me. I tried to push on but as soon as the mud started sticking to my tires I knew it was only a matter of time before my bike would take on 100 pounds of mud so I turned back and dropped out of the ride and went back. Today with the blue sky showing a different story I returned for a do over, the trail was dry and packed from the rain that had chased me off the day before.

I have been having some trouble with my front brake making noise when I roll so I took a few minutes to spread the pads apart and clean them out seemed to work good.

Check out the video of this ride and for more try my Video Blog.

Useless Fact: There are 33 steps or zig-zags up the new Mill Canyon Trail in American Fork Canyon Utah.

It rained hard today, something like 1.2 inches in 2.5 hours that is like 2 months worth of rain in a few hours but as soon as the rain was done the sun came out and changed it all. Yesterday I went out to Big Springs and ran the 8k loop in about 63 minutes, not bad time.

So today I thought I would head over to Lambert Park and see if I could find a dry place to take a spin on the bike. It was nice up there the sun had dried things out good and me and Sam rolled around the trails for about 2 hours or so before the sun stated pushing us back toward the car.

Check out the video from todays ride and for more try my Video Blog.

Bike Peddler Ride Club had a group ride that sounded like a good climb, so I grabbed Sam and headed on up to the Alpine Summit to join the group. Judging by the time 6:20 we only had 2.5 hours left of good light on a 3 hour ride so I made sure to pack up my light. The group headed on down the Ridge Trail like they were on fire and I did not see them again, I think I passed one of them about 1 hour in around the bottom of the Mud Springs drop. Looked like he was messing with his seat, not sure.

On the way up the new Mill trail I ran into a group of slow moving MTB riders strung out on a few of the zig zags going up but most the climb was pretty peaceful. I know this trail pretty good but had never climbed up the new addition to it. I have to say it is a very decent climb with a lot of cool switchbacks that are fun to get around. I did not see a sole when I hit the top of Mill and headed on up the double track to the Ridge Trail. The ride down to the 4 way was pretty fast and by the time I got to the Cascade Springs road it was getting dark so I stopped and put my light on and feed Sam and myself and headed on up the 25 min climb to the car at the top.

I did get a little video on the top so check it out and for more try my Video blog.

Yesterday I did get out to Big Springs for a trail run and did a 16k double loop and surprised myself with a 130 minute time. Today I went to Park City so my wife could check out the Park City Kimball Arts Festival and dump me off at the Spiro Trail so i could do the Mid-mountain Trail, yea I think I got the better end of that stick! It was sprinkling so I left the camera with her to get some video of the Park City Kimball Arts Festival.

My ride was pretty good and did not rain on me at all but stayed nice and cool the whole trip, not sure what kind of video she got but I will post the video here she took so make sure to check it out k.

For more videos check out my Video Blog.