Let's Grove Tonight

I started saying a few weeks ago around the beginning of November that we’re on bonus time. It’s that time of year when, under normal conditions, the trails are too muddy and snowy to ride. Well, if that was bonus time then we’re officially in the bonus with an additional year-end factory rebate. It’s almost Thanksgiving and the local trails are relatively clean. Grove Canyon is not only clean, it’s nearly perfect.

Getting out today was a little challenging. The usual suspects in the UC were split today with executive ride meetings. One group, including Aaron, Brandon, Sunderlage, Dave, and Nick, met at noon to cover the Provo trails. Another, including Keith and Adam, met in the afternoon. I couldn’t attend either meeting and had resolved myself to not getting out today. I had a to-do list so long that I worked straight through lunch. The life of a marketing grunt at a tech company is busy busy. Hey, I’m not complaining at all. I’m happy to have plenty to do.

As the afternoon progressed, I learned that Mike Young’s plans changed. He was no longer going out with the afternoon crew. Instead, he called his own meeting at 4:30 at the base of Grove Canyon. Now I hate to see a brother have to meet alone at something like Grove, which is in my top 5, so I scrambled to the meeting and met up with Mike.

Grove Canyon's in my top 5

Photo credit: Aaron, 11-4-2009

It’s a known fact around here that Grove is steep. What might be a little less known is how fast Mike is. Sure, we all know he’s an endurance freak, having turned in several top finishes at the Leadville Trail 100 and other events. But he’s also fast on the shorter XC courses and has solid technical skills. Two miles into the 1,800-foot climb spread over 2.6 miles, Mike rolled away from me and hammered his way to the top. Nice job, doctor, it’s time for closing music. We were both fueled by urgency—we had kids to pick up and darkness to avoid. Grove’s not the kind of trail you want to descend at dusk. The penalty for failure ranks 15 on a scale of 1 to 10. If you wish to get a feel for Grove click here and watch the video (courtesy of Fatty). Round trip time was just under one hour.

So here’s the word for the locals. Based on the reports coming in from the execs on the local trails today and my meeting at Grove, Grove is the cleanest trail running in the UC right now. It’s nearly perfect. No mud, no drips, no errors.