Well summer heat is here and I've been riding quite a bit trying
get back in the condition. The local Salt lake Jordan Parkway trail going north from
around 800 S. to 200 S. has construction presently. It could be several weeks
to a couple of months before they get the pavement back into place, while the
trail isn't impossible to travel on you will find scenarios where you'll have to
take to the side of the trail to get around. Further north after joining the
legacy trail the curved plank bridge you will want to pay
particular attention to the screws, I
was surprised to see how many of those in the middle of the bridge are standing
up high enough to be a hazard.
Three weeks ago I rode the section of the Jordan Parkway
from Camp Williams area to Saratoga Springs, there's a brand-new trailhead just
before camp Williams that says veterans memorial and you turn left there and
follow it down to the new park. The trail is on the north end of the park and
makes a U-turn and heads south. For the next mile it makes a fairly rapid
descent down to the river. From there it crosses a bridge and you are now on
the east side of the Jordan River and you continue along following the trail. The trail gets a little lost down in a park and if you just go to the main road
in the park and go south you'll find the trail of the far south into the park.
Once you get to that part is not too much further to the model airport and then
on to the Saratoga Springs pumping station.
If you are really lucky and the wind is coming out of the
South the return trip is not terrible until that last mile and a little bit,
some of the grades are quite steep, go early in the morning because it gets
really hot.
Recently I rode out the Salt Lake Marina at Salt Air, a
little heads up, they have applied Chip seal to the road from the KSL tower
all the way to the Marina. This new surface while it makes the road look great
and certainly adds to the overall vibration of the ride. I did find that water
fountains at the Marina don't work, after doing a little checking
around I found that the standup farm type faucet at the back of the restroom
area is safe even though there's no sign telling you the water is safe to
drink they assured me it was, and since I'm writing this article they must've
been correct.
Today I took the road bike and headed up towards big
Cottonwood Canyon from there I turned and headed N. along Wasatch Blvd. I
started a little later than I wanted and the temperature was already in the 90s
by the time I reached that location and I can tell you there were a lot of
riders out a surprisingly large number. The water fountain at the parleys
trailhead does work but it's very difficult to fill a water bottle
with the small stream, if you're going down to the Tanner Park.
Their restrooms have a spigot and I fountain with a better stream where you can get
water. You can also go across the gulch and find a
water fountain there.
With all the fires burning everywhere be sure to pay
attention to the trail conditions here and especially when mountain biking it's
just way too easy to start a fire with the simplest little spark, everything is
just tinder dry.