This last Sunday had to be one of the more spectacular days in the current 2012 year, with a mild breeze blowing out of the south east I decided to take a bike ride along the Jordan Parkway. I was surprised at the number of people out already on the trail at 11 o'clock in the morning.

After a short commute from my home North of the 1700 S. trailhead I rode along headed towards the South I made the choice take the loop down around Decker Lake, just about every nice weekend you will find the model boaters out there running their RC boats so if you have never seen it before then make sure to stop by.  They are very fast. But I was there for a different reason, the ride.   I  headed once around the lake and back to the Jordan Parkway trail and southbound once again. Good news for those that did not like the trail section from 3500 S. Curving along the river this section was rough from all the roots, smooth now!

Farther down the trail after crossing 3900 S. about 4/10 of a mile North 4500 S. you will find about 200 yards of dirt, it appears that they're doing some trail renovation there and  should be completed later when weather permits. If you riding a road bike or rollerblades this will be a section that you want to walk through. Continuing south you won't find much change in the trail system. One thing I found for sure was that the my conditioning was not as good as I had thought it was, so at the loop west of the Murray Park Willow Pond I made the turn you head back, 14.5 miles at this point leaving me slightly over 10 for the return.

On the way back I managed to spend some time pacing the River flow, about 4 miles an hour along the section just behind the Ox Bow prison facility. I was actually surprised to see how full the River was this early in the season and with more storms coming some of the lower lying areas could experience  flooding of the trail.

Late last year when using my Garmin with a heart monitor I found many heart readings missing.  After reading articles that elude to static from the clothing and a variety of other issues I just knew there had to be a better reason. What I found was causing the problem is when wearing technical shirts they remove most of the moisture rendering the sensor pad ineffective. I spent some time researching this and  found a product called ”Spectra 360” this is available from Amazon in a 8.5 ounce tube for just over six dollars.  You do not need very much this on the pads to work properly, this last time I applied it to one side and then rubbed the two together and had the same performance as if I had applied it to both.

Since using it on the last 4 rides I feel confident that the intermittent signal is now gone. My basis for that conclusion is found in the Garmin base camp software. When I download the information from the Dakota 20 no longer do I find lost heart rate information. Being able to compare the same ride and see the actual heart rate averages shows my conditioning as it changes. So if you're having trouble with your heart monitor and wetting the pads is not working for you get Spectra gel 360, you don't need to use very much I found. Any of the strap type heart monitiors could benefit from this, while my Polar was good it did become intermittent and I found moisting the strap again would help. Now its solid through out.

I noticed the other day that performance bike is opening outlet in the building that houses Office Depot in the West End. Rumor has it that the opening date is April 1. I know They Own Bike NashBar a well-known online supplier.

looking north on the dirt section

What a beautiful day yesterday was, I decided that I would take the road bike out for a ride and see how the Legacy/Jordan Parkway connection was coming. 

As you cross a section of Redwood Road going West you have looping section of new trail that goes across the new bridge turns left on to the trail from there you head north into a wetlands area with the plank bridge still yet unfinished but now it's passable, I'm sure that they don't really want you riding there yet but  many of us took advantage of the lack of warning signs . Gravel is being placed alongside the trail edge to complete the transition between the asphalt trail sides, once they have the barriers on the wetland bridge the trail should be complete, perfect timing for the spring activities.

Riding this time of year can have some concerns, one of those is the debris that comes from the overhead bridges at each one of the freeway overpasses. As they plow snow the collected debris alongside the road becomes debris down on the road below where you may be riding, an excellent opportunity for a flat tire for sure. I saw this on just about every overpass and I went under yesterday. 

One area to stay away from until the construction is completed is the North Temple corridor, major construction along this path and the fact that the sidewalk on the north side of North Temple is just short of passable, makes this a definite stay away from project. 

For those of you that ride road bikes I would recommend staying off those sections of the trail that are shaded during the day, I found snow and ice along many of these as I rode yesterday and can tell you that it's a very interesting ride. 

If anyone would like a GPS track I have many that take different routes across the valley would be happy to provide those in the format you may require, some of these include the Salt Lake City Marathon, Harman's MS 150 ride in Logan, and many others that are just pleasure rides. Well really they're all pleasure rides just that some seen less pleasurable after a few hours.

Legacy to Jordan all most a reality

On December 30th the weather was very nice, perfect for a bike ride. Why not take a ride along the Jordan River going north to Redwood Road where the two trails Legacy and Jordan join. 

What I found was the river now has a new steel bridge that crosses the river and joins legacy.  To access the bridge you cross Redwood Road going west , then turn north following the new trail to the bridge with a final turn to the left. Continuing north on the legacy trail you find a nicely paved trail with unfinished sides of the trail, about two thirds of the way north on the paved trail you find the starting of a plank bridge that goes across the water area that's yet unfinished but from the photo I have enclosed looks to be not too far from being done. 

With the warm weather we've been having I would not be surprised to see this done in the next month or so providing the program is on track and no overruns have been incurred. 

Once this project is completed the ride from the north end of Farmington to the South in the Salt Lake Valley at Gardner Village should be one of the great scenic rides of the Valley. Add in the vision of being able to ride from Saratoga Springs North to Farmington station and then take the rail trail from there north into the areas of Syracuse and Ogden. 

No excuses now anyone that wants to ride the trail can find an access point along the way, choosing a ride as far or as short as they like exiting the trail at any one of the locations for rest stops and shopping opportunities. 

I look forward to riding the trail again when the weather is a little bit better hopefully running into some of the riders that I've seen over the past years and enjoying a  conversation with each of them, I always welcome conversation so if you see me out there give a shout I would love to chat.

Log in to the blog and add your adventures, or send me the information to the email below and I will post it for you,  Happy New Year!  Ride more and work less.....

If Friday is anything like today I am going to ride somewhere. Too busy today!

Chevron Mile marker at the south end of Legacy

Update to Legacy final mile

Well it’s been a little over 3 weeks since I visited the last section of the Legacy trail. The progress is going along as expected, it looks like some of the trail in at least one of the low sections is going to be a plank bridge like those north of Parrish lane.

2011 for the completion may be optimistic with weather considerations and the fact asphalt is not readily available in the colder weather.

Thursday ride was nothing short of wonderful, nice breeze, warm and my wishing the weather could stay like this through the end of the year, Ok, all the time!

In reading the Tribune the other day I see that others wonder why the bike lanes in many areas are so full of debris that riding in them is dangerous and costly. Hand the keys of the sweeper to some riders, they will fix that in short order and I would bet the only cost would be fuel. I know that I am dreaming here but wouldn’t it be nice? 

Tires, tubes and technology, that how I ride and have a great time. Over 12 thousand miles with very few flats, I call that very good!

Remember that on the blog in the lower left is my email information, send me your posts and I will handle them, Oh and in the “Airport to Saltair” section take advantage of the link for weather information. There is a short summary of using this following the link.