SR-190

Don't you hate it when you're riding your bike down a hill and all you can think is, "Go faster you stupid car."? I didn't actually think that on Tuesday (June 29th), I have before, but not then. I thought I would because I rode SR-190, aka Big Cottonwood Canyon which is a big... freaking... mountain... As the saying goes, what goes up must come down, I went up the mountain and so I HAD to come down the mountain... to the tune of wind screaming past my ears at over 50 mph... but only for a second or two. My average speed down the hill was probably closer to about 35 mph. You still get pretty good screamage at 35 mph. I had a pretty rough weekend... Work was crazy... I was busy attending a wedding reception and church, and I went home teaching. I have stuff going on at home that is UBER stressful that I won't go into now and Monday afternoon... I sliced my finger opening an envelope... that's right... an envelope. Monday night, I went to a movie with Kathy Jo, which wasn't stressful, just time consuming. Tuesday was the last night of my seven on, and with all the stress, I chose to sleep instead of train (not really sure if it was a good trade off) so I hadn't done anything "cardio" since I ran on Friday. With all the other things going on, I was in sore need of a fix. All night long Monday night, all I could think about was riding. I wanted to do a good, hard, long ride and thought, "Big Cottonwood Canyon".

SR-190 starts at the junction of 6200 S and I-215 in Holladay. It meanders lazily in a south-east direction up a hill until it becomes Wasatch Blvd where you can start to see the canyon.From there, it descends for about a mile until it runs into Fort Union Blvd where it takes a hard left and heads east up Big Cottonwood Canyon. When I say up, I mean UP! It is one tough climb. Just before entering the canyon, you cross the Wasatch fault. As the sign says, there is a "geology sign" in a parking lot just off the road. The sign explains a little bit about the geology of the canyon and throughout the canyon there are more signs similar to the one above showcasing the canyon's geology. The first four miles of the actual canyon are well shaded by trees which makes for a nice ride. Just before milepost four, you pass the Stairs Hydroelectric Power Plant. It was built in the late 19th century and is still run today by Pacificorp generating a little over 1 megawatt of electricity.
Right around milepost six, you hit "the S curve" I "zoomed in" on the S curve in my map at the top of this post, because it is one of my favorite features of this canyon. In about a quarter mile, you rise about a hundred feet. The S curve itself is not really steep, it is the hundred yards of a steep 20% grade at the end of the S curve that make it so difficult (aka fun) to ride. Just after milepost 8, there is a well spring that provides delicious drinking water to thirsty cyclists (or hikers or drivers or whatever you may be). The canyon continues to rise passing several hiking trails, picnic areas, campgrounds and residential homes until milepost 14 where you pass the first entrance for Solitude Ski Resort. Just before milepost 16, you enter what is called "The Brighton Loop". A one way road, about 0.7 miles long that passes homes, a church and Brighton Ski Resort (a favorite of mine). The route loops around (thus the loop) and temporarily ends where it joins back with itself at the end of the loop. The route then resumes 0.3 miles later as the road switchbacks for nearly three miles to Guardsman Pass where it terminates at a dirt road marking the county line totaling 19.9 miles.

Monday night, I mapped out a ride figuring out how far I would be riding, estimating how long it would take me and waited. I finally left the hospital and got home to get ready. I decided that since I am riding up such a narrow windy road, I should be as visible as possible so I donned my bright Maillot jaune (yellow jersey for those that don't follow le tour... shame on you...) with my matching jaune... socks... (I don't know the french word for socks...).

yes, they do say "addict" and "live to ride" See:

gotta love it!

I figured it would take more than three and a half hours to finish this ride, so I wanted to take the opportunity to practice fueling for the half iron-man in August, so I packed ample amounts of fuel:

It is amazing what you can fit into three pockets of a cycling jersey.

I didn't actually pack the BIG bottle of "perpetuem" or the big bag of dried fruit, but I did pack the small baggies next to them. I usually only carry two bottles of water when I ride, but I wasn't sure how many opportunities to stop and refill I would have, so I decided to stuff one extra bottle into my jersey pocket. I also packed four granola bars, a packet of electrolyte supplement, four GUs and a packet of GU chomps (kinda like fruit snacks, equivalent to two GUs). Before leaving, I ate one of the GUs, and a slice of bread and taped the other three GUs to my bike (a trick I learned in a triathlon video I got from the library):

When I need a GU, I just tear it off and it's ready to eat!

I aired up my tires, attached my GPS unit and my cycling computer for maximum accuracy. I was pleased as I was riding to see the limp flags on the few flag poles along 8000 S. As many of you know, I often ride in fairly windy conditions, so it was nice to ride in calmer weather. I was a fool to think the day would be so simple. I made my way along side streets to 6200 S and Holladay blvd where I was nearly run over by some inconsiderate jerk in a big black SUV. I caught up to him at the light and menacingly stared him down only to see that he was on his cell phone... typical... I let it go and proceeded under I-215 to begin the actual route. As I rode up the hill, I glanced behind me looking for an end sign in case there was not one at Guardsman Pass, I didn't see one, but I did see the big brown sign you see at the end of this post (no end sign at the top of the pass either) along with another sign for SR-210 aka Little Cottonwood Canyon. I pulled over to snap a photo. My phone was in the same pocket as one of my water bottles which was filled with ice. I think the cold affected the battery because my phone did not want to cooperate. I finally got it to behave but I was facing the sun and decided to come back later in my car to take a picture. I continued on and realized that I had forgotten to turn on my GPS unit. I considered heading back down the hill, but figured I was coming back anyway so I could record my GPS data then and I had a heck of a lot more climbing to do and the sun was rising fast only making it hotter. No time to waste by backtracking. I continued on. I made it to Fort Union and rode left to the mouth of the canyon. The shade provided by the many trees lining the road was SO nice I hardly noticed how hard I was working to make my way up. I passed the power station, and made it to the S curve in surprisingly good time. I girded my loins for the sharp rise and was shocked at how easy it was to ride the curve until I got to the steep section I noted before. Near the top, I turned my head and saw a lone rider in a brown jersey at the bottom of the S curve and reflexively pedaled harder as to not be caught. I had to tell myself to slow down. "I am not in a race and I have a LONG way to go still". As I climbed I would glance back to look for my new friend but didn't see him till much later. I passed the spring and considered stopping, but decided to wait until the Spruce Campground (if I stopped he would catch me and we can't have that now can we?). I soon made it to the campground and pulled off the main road to find a water spigot. As I was riding in the campground, I looked to my left and about five yards away from me, I saw this guy:My heart skipped a beat when he saw me and started to run. I was relieved to see he was running AWAY from me and I found my spigot, refilled my water and turned around. I saw him again about 25 yards off the road so I pulled out my phone, zoomed all the way in and got a few good shots of the big guy (the whole time I had one foot on the pedals ready to drop my phone and ride if he started to charge). I made it back to the main road sure that brown jersey was long gone... oh well... I continued climbing past picnic areas, more campgrounds, beautiful views of Big Cottonwood Creek, and several trail heads. I eventually came to Solitude and thought "how nice, should be a short ride to Brighton, then a nice hard climb to Guardsman." I passed Solitude and saw yet another steep hill. By now, I had been riding about twenty miles, had finished one bag of perpetuem (by the way, perpetuem is in powder form. You mix it with water then drink it), and a bottle and half of water. When I saw that hill, I thought, okay... just make it to that tree, then look for another land mark. I would make it to the next tree, or the bend in the road or the next delineator post until I made it to Brighton loop. I headed straight for the lodge to use the... facilitates... only to find that all the doors were blocked with garbage cans from the inside so I continued around the Brighton loop. If you look closely at the elevation profile, you can tell where I was at this point because it is the only portion of the ride where I got to go down the hill until turning around at Guardsman Pass. I descended a little over a quarter mile to the turn off and used as much momentum as I could to carry me up the hill. I rounded the first switchback and thought, "That wasn't too bad". I started up the next hill and pulled over for "sweet relief". After exiting the bathroom, I saw another cyclist and the knee jerk racing reaction kicked in again and I spun to keep up and again had to tell myself to slow down... I looked up... about 400 feet above me and to the north to see a car heading along the mountain thinking "There is no way that I have to go there"... I did have to go there... It was another game of make it to that bend, okay now that tree, okay now get to the top of that rise. Every time I crested a hill, I was disappointed to find another sharp rise looming in the distance. I had to stop to catch my breath twice up the hill. I was after all about 9400 feet about this time. I decided on one of my short breaks to take a picture of Big Cottonwood from (near) the top:
Eventually, I cranked my way to the top and was rewarded with a nice view down into Heber Valley and Park City:
I had just climbed about 5300 feet in just over 26 miles. I chomped on one of my granola bars while marveling at the view. I also chatted with a very nice man from the mid-west here in Utah visiting his son. He told me that they had ridden the Wasatch Crest Trail the day before on their mountain bikes... an excellent trail if you ask me. I said goodbye to the man and headed back down the mountain. The wind had picked up be now and was blowing pretty hard from the south. I am dead serious when I say it was more fun climbing Guardsman Pass than it was descending. It was pretty scary. The grade is so steep, that even with the brakes on you are still clipping along at a good pace... maybe I need new brake pads... Anyway, I finally made it... alive... to the canyon and from there the grades are not nearly as bad. This is where the fun began. I descended and descended and descended and felt like a pro biker in Le Tour. It was really cool because there was long straight, steep section of road where I maintained about 49 mph for about a minute and a half. I pushed a little harder to see if I could break 50 and I did for only the second time in my biking career. By the time I made it to the spring the wind had shifted and was now blowing north east which meant I was riding into the wind... what is it that the wind has against me? My favorite part of the ride was, of course, descending the S curve. I restrained myself in the speed department and swung around the curves at about 20 mph. I have never leaned at such a sharp angle on my bike... it was exhilarating... I giggled like a giddy school girl... I finally exited the canyon and headed straight down Fort Union to 900 E where I turned south (directly into the wind) and headed home. I was on the roads for over four hours! I think my GPS unit affects my bike computer (it is wireless) because my bike computer always matches the rides I map out unless I am riding with the GPS. The computer said I rode over 52 miles and that I had a top speed of 66.8 mph... yeah... I don't think so. Maybe from now on, I leave the bike computer home on state route rides. Actual riding time was 3:46:51. I rode 50.7 miles. If you are interested, you can see the whole route at map my ride. I averaged 13.6 mph and topped out at 51.1 mph (don't freak out mom, I felt perfectly safe going that fast and people have survived bicycle crashes at much higher speeds). This is my 15th state road, 461.7 total miles of riding, 192.1 miles of state roads. Thanks again for reading!