Fall Happened

As usual, summer flew right by.  The leaves started changing by Labor Day here in Park City.  Time to get excited for the winter!

Early and bright fall colors in PC.

I've been training in Park City since we went to Aspen a month ago.  For me - that's a pretty long stretch at home.  Over the last couple weeks, I've made an effort to get out into mountains on the many trails nearby.

Brighton Lakes

One of the cooler hikes I did was along the ridge line of Brighton ski area and back up to Guardsman's Pass at the top of Park City Ridgeline with Brett Denney and my brother Ben.  

Brett and Ben breathing in some high altitude.

Last weekend, Ben and I rode the Wasatch Crest Trail.  We rode from our house, up for almost an hour and a half, and then cruised the length of Park City Ridgeline and descended into Mill Creek Canyon in Salt Lake City. It's worth the ride up for the reward of a over 5000ft of descent in the second part of the ride.  

A rocky patch on the Crest Trail.

This week, it was all about intensity.  

Starting on Monday, we put in 7 interval sessions and 2 races.  We spent most of the time on rollerskis, but did mix it up with two bounding interval sessions up the Canyons resort.  Thank goodness for the gondola to bring us on down.  

Michael, leading the pack up the Canyons.

We finished off the intensity week today with a tough uphill time trial.  As you can see from the profile image below, it was relentless.  It took me just under 40 minutes - which is about on par with a tough 15km race - except without any rest. 

Lake Creek Time Trial profile.

Now it's time for some rest and more time on the jump-hill.  

PC local Stephen Schumann: Alan Alborn photo.