Unusual week

This week has not gone well. Kim's Grandpa Jack died (well, OK, it was late last week). Jack was great guy and I'm going to miss him. He had a wonderful sense of humor. He was also very accepting of all people, which endeared him to nearly all he knew. Steve Jobs is reported to have once quipped, "Even people who believe in Heaven don't want to die to go there." Jack wasn't exactly in this category. He joined the LDS church sometime in his late twenties or early thirties, and sincerly believed that life goes on after death, with work to be done there just as there is here, and he seemed to be getting anxious to get busy with the next step. I trust he is fluorishing in his new circumstances, but we will still all miss him here.

The funeral was in Vegas where he lived, so we stopped in St. George on the way there so I could do some MTB riding. I hit the race course for a few laps on the Spider 29er and my Niner. The Niner worked better than I expected. The Spider ride went well until the derailleur went into the rear wheel (again#@!). Maybe it is something with the rear wheel on that bike? Other people have ridden it with no problems, which makes you wonder, doesn't it? I was a little surprised to see I rode the descents faster on the hardtail than the FS. The FS was the first lap, so I think I was warming into it, but still...

The rest of the week has been a poor training week, with not much riding. A little riding last night. By today I just felt like I needed to get out for a long ride to get my legs back. Where to go? I've been wanting to ride what I call the "Salt Lake Circle" for a while, but never seem to get to it. Inspired by Saffell's plans to cruise the Bountiful flats, I decided to do the Salt Lake Circle today. Started at the house, rode out to the Kennecot mine, up past RMR and the airport, past the capitol, past the U, and back to the house on Wasatch. Pretty flat ride with about 5200 feet of climbing over 84 miles. The weather was a little chilly, but sunny with a lot of cyclists out and about. Even saw Bp ripping up Suncrest this afternoon. Good therapy for the rest of the week:)