The good type of pain

This morning I headed to Deer Valley Resort for some downhill mountain biking. Deer Valley is rated as one of the top places for mountain biking in the country, and it holds the national downhill championships on one of the slopes. I considered taking my iPhone for pictures from the top, but probably a good thing I didn't bring it. the view from the top of the mountain looks something like this:



I got there shortly after the lifts started running at 10AM and spent 6 hours riding down the mountain. In those 6 hours, I managed to get in approximately 15 runs down the hill, including several times on Naildriver, Sunset, Four Point/Deer Crest and Homeward bound, and once each on Flagstaff loop, Team Big Bear, Deer Camp, Super G Trees, and GS Trees. I also felt adventurous enough to try some of the difficult trails including Aspen Slalom and Devo, part of which is used for the National Championship course. Here's a map of the trails to for a better perspective. I managed to only crash once, and that was a result of my front wheel digging in too deep to the soft dirt on the trails that has come as a result of a lack of rain. Molly's dad lent me his bike, which worked great.




I definitely got nice and dusty as you can see from my sock line. You can also see the extent of the damage from the crash. After 3-4 hours of brutal downhill riding, my entire body ached, but I was having too much fun to stop. I anticipate being a little sore tomorrow.



I also ended up with some fabuluous helmet hair.



After I finished and cleaned myself up, Molly drove me in to Salt Lake City to pick up the truck from the shop. Picking it up was simple, but getting it back to Park City took a little longer than it should have. I was nearly out of gas, and it took the better part of an hour to find an open diesel station. I was relieved when I finally found one.



The really good news is, the front end shake seems to be fixed, and the overheating issues are also improved, if not completely fixed as well.