I just got back from my third ride in under a week in the Siskiyous. It’s been 5+ years since I’ve ridden up there three times in a single week. I didn’t have my camera on any of the occasions though. However, I need to test out my laptop (and the photo editing software on it) before our trip to make sure that I can post decent pictures on this blog while we are on the road. So, to that end, I’m going to share some old photos from the laptop of mountain biking in Utah with you.

Two summers ago I was at a family reunion at Aspen Grove Family Camp near Sundance Resort. I brought my mountain bike with me. One day I road down to Sundance and then road up, around, and down some of the single track trails on the mountain. I don’t remember all of the names but some were Archie’s Loop, Scott’s Pond Loop, and Black Forest Loop. There were some crazy downhill parts called something like Rock & Roll and Bonecrusher.

I had so much fun the first day that I went back again on Sunday. It may just have been because it was a Sunday in Utah or something, but I rarely saw anyone else. On the second day I purchased a lift pass which allowed for more downhill riding since you could take the ski lift up. (I know, pretty wimpy, but once you’ve climbed a mountain once the thrill and glory is gone and subsequent climbings are just a lot of hard work. I did climb it once without the lift!)

This was the lift as I waited for it to open.

Seldom do you get to see this shot. People usually don’t take pictures mountain biking, myself included, since you don’t want to be hauling the weight of a camera around or risk breaking a camera in a fall. Those pictures you do see are usually of people on bikes on a trail taken by a non-rider. This is a picture while riding with no hands that gives you a good feel for the actual view of the mountain bike rider. I thought it was pretty cool, but as the photographer I’m biased. 😉

A self portrait among the Aspen trees… Some of the scenery was spectacular. What made it even better was the complete lack of people.

Not having spoken with anyone beforehand I didn’t know what to expect once I got up the trail. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pond near the top.

If you look closely at the above picture (lower right portion of the photo) you can see that the single track isn’t always great on Sundance. Sometimes it is pretty rocky and in this case it is also pretty dangerous; if you were to take a spill here you may end up going over a cliff of sorts.

Every view was amazing, not the least of which was this backside of Mt. Timpanogos in the Wasatch Mountain Range.

Posted on June 19th, 2008 under Other. Tags: bikes, mountain biking, pictures, utah. Comments Off on Mountain biking on Sundance