Meet Stella...and the Kayesville Bonneville Shorline Trail

No, not the Stella from the Rocky movies. This Stella is a new member of the family who happened to arrive yesterday. Stella would happen to be my new mountain bike. Now why would anyone choose the name Stella for a mountain bike. All I can say is The Italian Job.
This past week I have been out biking quite a bit and my brother Chad came on one trip with me. He has been looking at getting a bike and getting a little more exercise into his daily routine. Well, to be able to start mountain biking one first must have a mountain bike to ride. This is where it got a little tricky. Seeing how Chad's wife just had a new little baby boy last Thursday it was looking pretty tight money wise and we all know that Chad was not about to go out and drop close to a grand on a bike, well he most definitely would have, but his wife wouldn't have let him. So I decided to take one for the team and sacrifice myself for my brothers sake. What did that sacrifice entail? Well, it entailed me getting a new bike! So now I can go around and sell my old one to my brother at a fraction of the cost he would have paid if it were new. That's not the only reason I got a new bike, however it was a great push into the purchase. I've come to find out that I've maxed out on good old Bumblebee and if I wanted to improve my biking I had to take it up a notch on equipment. So, long story short, please take this moment with me to welcome Stella into the family.
Now getting a new bike wouldn't be anything if I didn't take her out on a ride right? Well of course I did. Chad and I went out on a quick ride this morning along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail that spans from Layton to Kayesville. It is a quick, and fun little ride that includes some good push climbs and also some flats for a good sprint. It's mostly single track that follows the contour of the Wasatch as it weaves in and out of the little side canyons, one of them being Adam's Canyon. Seeing how Spring has just begun the streams that flow out of these canyons are running high, loud, and cold. At various places one has to cross these streams but for the most part there are little foot bridges built over them, except for one. This stream is one you can either walk across because there are plenty of rocks laid out to step on, or you can bomb through it on the bike. Seeing how it was early in the morning and only like 40 degrees I decided that I didn't want to ride with frozen toes so there was no bombing through it for me.
As I said, the trail follows the contour along the old Bonneville Shoreline and offers a great view of Davis County (yes I did say something nice about Davis County but I was merely talking about the scenery, not the people.). I took these opportunities to get some nice panoramic shots. I have to say, they turned out better than I expected.
Parts of the trail are out in the open sage but when it dives back into the little canyons you immediately ride through tiny groves of trees and vegetation. Those time when you come into those groves and are weaving in and out of the trees just might be my favorite section of the ride. Not only is it fun to do but beautiful to see as you go through. Then there are some great downhill parts with plenty of roots, rocks and drop offs to make it interesting. Now the old me would've taken those downhills a little bit slower but since I had Stella and her dual suspension and disc brakes, well lets just say controlling the bike on the downhill was much easier, and more comfortable to ride.
Seeing how today was a Saturday and this is a fairly popular trail there were plenty of people to ride past and talk with. We even ended up playing bike tag with a group that we kept passing and then they in turn kept passing us. It's a different feeling being up on the mountain than it is in the city. For the most part the people are more friendly and willing to stop and chat for a couple of seconds. It doesn't matter if they're bikers, hikers or joggers there exist a code of the trail that most people seem to respect. Granted, there are the occasional few that tend to ignore everyone and just keep going.
The trail itself is only about 3.5 miles long and downhill for the most part if you start on the northern trail head. Once you come to the end you have the option of riding back along the trail, or following highway 89 for a good cardio. Eventually you have to climb back up the mountain to get to the Jeep. Overall I believe we did about 8 miles. Before hitting the final pull up the hill we stopped off at a local Sinclair for some quick OJ after we found five bucks along the side of the road. Chad took this opportunity to express how his legs were feeling after the highway 89 section, and the whiteness of said legs.
It was a cool morning but overall a beautiful day to be out on the trail. Watching the shadow of the mountain recede over the valley as the sun slowly crept its way up was a beautiful sight to take in. The sky was a clear blue and reflected amazingly of different parts of the Great Salt Lake. Pollution hasn't gotten too bad yet and so the islands of the lake were easily visible from a distance. 6:30 am comes really early and I told Chad that I was cursing his name as the alarm clock sounded, but being out there on the trail and taking in the sites we did made it worth the early morning start. Knowing how hot it can get in the afternoon also made us appreciate the cool morning ride. The different sections of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail each have their singularities but one thing they do have in common is sitting on the west side of the Wasatch Front and when the afternoon sun beats down on them it makes for a grueling ride. However, in the morning they are a great way to get the day started. Each trail offers a great variety of good hills to push up and also long flats to sprint across. Overall these trails offer a great early morning workout without completely draining you for the rest of the day.