Dropped my son off to suffer at school whilst I headed into the mountains to ride. Father of the year I am, but clear air and perfect temperatures lured me into Logan Canyon to ride Jardine Juniper.
Past sage brush and horse pucky I and the Ripmo climbed through dirt and over rock. We get along much better these days and we hardy fight at all. The Ripmo goes where I ask and I try not to bore it to death by remembering it is like a tank and really can slam into anything and plow over everything.
Jardine is a climb punctuated with brief moments of flat dirt that allow you to catch your breath before you climb some more. I like to climb. Turns out I think it makes me high. Today I was pounding the pedals still tired from riding yesterday when all of a sudden I felt like I was floating. I hurt but I was happy. Everything seemed so pleasant. I’m not sure if it’s lack of oxygen or an extra dose of dopamine to the brain but wow mountain biking.
When I was a kid everyone drew mountain as blue or purple triangles and so in my mind I assumed that real mountains had pointy tops that you couldn’t stand on. Of course mountains are much more interesting than pointy triangles. This ridge that leads out to the Jardine Juniper is the closes to a pointy triangle I’ve encountered.
There was a small tree across the trail. The Ripmo took a nap while I tried to clear the trail. Not having a saw is a definite handicap when trying to do a bit of trail maintenance.
I told myself I wouldn’t bother riding down to the tree this time but that was a lie. I did it anyway and enjoyed the heart pounding climb back up.
An hour up and a few minutes to get back down. I did encounter alien life on the descent.
And some flowers
The Ride – Jardine Juniper