Utah Is COMING!

Alright -- I've got two more big races this season. That means only thing:

I need to get my blog up and running again!

Well, here we go:

Two days ago, I bid adieu to the fair hamlet of Boise, Idaho, and relocated to the dramatic and sprawling Salt Lake City, Utah. That's right, SLC baby:  the salty suburbia, the weak-beer wonderland, the Mormon metropolis. What am I doing here you might ask? Well the answer is simple: shopping for antiques of course!

We're staying in the satellite city of Lehi, just south of SLC. On my first ride here I stumbled across this place:

The place was a total gem. The shelves within were overflowing with knickknacks, odds-and-ends, whatchamacallits, and bric-a-brac. I took a fancy to the the following items, and proceeded to haggle mercilessly with the store's proprietor.

I'm especially proud of the hat. Supposedly it's made from REAL BEAVERS! This is my only beaver-based garment, and I must say -- highly underrated.

Plus, it says "OPEN ROAD" on the inside. 

As satisfying as my antique finds were, I suppose the purpose of my early arrival in Utah (the Tour of Utah doesn't start until Tuesday) is to get in some quality riding on the race courses. And so, we've been doing just that: previewing some courses. We went up the dreaded Sundance climb (a beastly affair I've tangled with in the past). It was wonderful to climb those mountains at a leisurely pace -- I really enjoyed the scenery for once!

Ok. More to come.