MightyJohnsons

I grew up in Alaska, so you’d think I’d have plenty of good bear tales — and I do. However, I’ve never been closer to a bear (in captivity or the wild) than I was yesterday afternoon.

I hadn’t been out for a ride since being caught out in Saturday’s deluge, so I brought my bike to work hoping I would have a chance to get out and ride up Provo canyon on the Provo river trail.  (For you non-locals: the Provo river trail is a paved parkway that is frequented by day hikers, bikers, rollerbladers, birdwatchers, families with kids on bikes, just about everybody — it’s a well-used and popular trail.) So when the skies finally cleared on Wednesday I took off up the canyon.

I was riding by myself and going pretty quickly up the trail without making a bunch of noise. I came around a small bend in the trail and I saw something give a slight jump off to my right. I looked right into the eyes of a black bear that I had obviously frightened. It was no small bear.

The bear was only five feet off the trail, I swerved to the left and went by the bear before he had time to figure out what to do to me. I passed him within 10 feet. After I rode on by, I kept my eye on him and he kept his eye on me. I looked back again and he was turning back into the woods wandering away (there was no time to take a picture — I was by him in a flash and I wasn’t thinking about stopping).

I saw a hiker on the trail ahead of me by about a quarter of a mile. I pulled up next to him.

“Did you see the bear just back there?” I asked.

“No. A bear?”

“Yeah, a bear,” I replied, “back there by that cement thing right along side of the trail.”

The hiker told me he’d just been sitting on that cement thing taking a short break. My guess is the hiker guy sat there and ate a sandwich or an apple or something, and dropped his leftovers there. The bear started scavenging when the guy started hiking again, and I happened to approach silently and quickly at just the right time. Scary.

I warned other hikers and bikers I came across on the trail, most of whom looked at me like I was nuts. Look, I never expected to encounter a bear along such a heavily visited area of a paved trail, even if it is up in the canyon a ways. I flagged down a city worker a little while later on my ride and told him all about it, and he said he’d report it to the right people.

I’m not sure why the only exciting things in my life happen when I’m out on my bike: I ride right by a bear, I get caught out in a crazy storm, I come across a cougar, I flat out and get stung on the neck. Maybe it’s time to find a new hobby… nah, I’m having way too much fun.

It has been a cool and rainy June here in Utah this year, and it has really put a damper on my cycling time. So, after a week of non-riding when I got the chance to go out for a ride with a friend on Saturday afternoon, I jumped at the chance.

Our plan was to head up American Fork canyon to Tibble Fork reservior. We had attemped this ride last year and had to turn around early because one of us (it wasn’t me) was cooked. Now that my friend and riding partner is in much better shape, he lead the way up the mountain, determined to make our goal.

After passing Timpanogos Cave it started to drizzle. No big deal. When we got up to the Tibble Fork turnoff, it was a good, solid rain. I asked my friend if he wanted to turn around. “Nope. We’ve got to be able to say we made it this time.” After another 20 minutes of cycling uphill in the rain without it letting off, I thought we might be in trouble on the descent. Distant thunderclaps confirmed my fears.

As we approached the finish line (the Tibble Fork reservoir parking lot) the storm changed from a steady rain to an all-out downpour, a total deluge. It was coming down in sheets. It was fierce and fast. It rained and hailed so hard that it physically hurt. My friend and I took shelter underneath the eaves of a public restroom up at the parking lot.

Thankfully, a driver fleeing the storm caught sight of us and pulled over. “You guys want a ride down the mountain?” he asked. Since there isn’t any cell coverage up there, we had little choice. Also, this guy had a four-bike rack on the back of his truck. So we threw our bikes on the rack as fast as possible and jumped in.

On the way down we passed several rock / mud slides that were later reported on the local news. It would have been brutal coming down the mountain on our bikes.

He dropped us off at a gas station at the bottom of the canyon and we rode home, still soaked and cold, but we were thankful we didn’t have to wait out the storm and ride down the canyon.

Jacob plays on the Titans soccer team. His team is part of the competitive league for North Utah County Soccer (NUCS). The Titans had a terrific season – only losing one game all year – and were the regular season champs.

Then came the tournament. After several hard-fought battles, the Titans made it to the championship game. They played against the team that gave them their only loss during the season and were looking for some revenge. The Titans conceded an early goal, but stormed back with two late goals to win 2-1. The boys’ hard worked paid off. Continue reading “Soccer Champions”