Ridge Trail 157
Tonight riding the Ridge Trail 157 I asked myself “Why did I ever leave Utah?” After 8 years in Arizona I’ve grown to love the desert, so much that I had nearly forgotten the trails of my youth…these are the trails that I rode back in the mid 90s on the Candy Blue GT Karakoram…
A few weeks after I got the Karkakoram I went on my first epic ride. From my apartment in Provo, up Provo Canyon to the Cascade Springs Trail near the Deer Creek dam. Up the fun doubletrack to Cascade Springs, then up the road to the summit. (I’m not sure if the South Fork trail existed back then, if it did I knew nothing about it.) Down the Ridge trail to Tibble Fork. Back down the Alpine Loop to Canyon Road and back to the apartment. It was 56 miles, and took me most of the day. I remember a screaming headache on the last stretch home.
Tonight, my brother, Mark and Stanley hit the ridge trail to Pine Hollow, to the Great Western to the Timpanooke lot. It was a sweet ride. But even sweeter was the South Fork trail down from the summit. Pure bliss on a bike. Roaring speeds through green meadows, quakies and pines. I’m hooked on Utah (again), It’s going to be tough heading back to 112 degrees and cactus.