I am the champion...

...of the loop!

Now many of you are saying "What the??"

Well, last year, when I was doing lots and lots of cycling, I decided I wanted to ride the Alpine Loop. I left my home in Pleasant Grove, rode to the mouth of Provo Canyon, and rode up the Provo River Parkway Trail and then continued up towards Sundance. It was about a quarter mile before I reached Sundance that I bonked. I could go NO further. No granny gear would have been large enough for me to continue. There was nothing left in the engine room.

Ever since that day, I've often looked up at Mt. Timpanogos, and every time I looked up, she seemed to be mocking me. MOCKING, I tell you!! She would taunt me as I rode my bike around town. She would taunt me as I drove here and there in the valley. She is nearly omnipresent in this valley, and it was time to either face my latest nemesis or move away. I just couldn't take the ridicule any more!

This morning, I gave it another shot, but this time, I brought a couple of friends along. You see, I could probably continue to take taunting from Mt. Timp, but I would never hear the end of it from these friends if they made it and I didn't.

It took us two hours to reach the summit. It took two hours to bike the 16.5 miles from my house to the top, averaging a wimpy eight and a quarter miles an hour. But the important thing is that WE MADE IT to the top. None of us had to get off and walk. Or push the others. Or hitchhike. The OTHER important thing is that the ride down was AMAZING! We brought our average speed up considerably, hitting 43.5 miles per hour at one point. What a RUSH!

My legs were not unlike hamburger from the climbing, so the ride from the mouth of Provo Canyon back home took a few minutes longer than it usually did, but I noticed that Mt. Timpanogos wasn't smirking at me any more. So if you notice that Timp. isn't as tall today as she looked yesterday, that's not erosion. It was my doing. I took her back down a notch where she belongs and now, FINALLY, she'll stop gloating.

Some statistics from this ride:
Distance: 43.5 miles
Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
Average Speed: 13.6 miles per hour
Heart Rate Average: 161 beats per minute (My heart beat approximately 32,200 times on this ride.)
Heart Rate Maximum: 183 beats per minute
Estimated Calories Burned: 2,298