Valley of Fire State Park, Utah

After two days in the snow, I headed back to Vegas with a stop planned at the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.



After a drive on their scenic loop, I departed the rental car and set out to complete the Pinnacles Loop on foot.



About a mile into the hike, I decided my feet could withstand the rocky terrain and stashed my AF1's under a rock.



The views of the rock formations were amazing!



About two thirds of the way into the loop, my feet were beginning to feel a bit tender. A couple missteps on thorns didn't help either. Despite the pain, I carefully made my way to the end of the loop, then the extra mile or so to retrieve my shoes.



When all was said and done, I'd added roughly two miles to the 4.8 mile loop, checking my Strava App once back to the pavement, which had logged 6.6 miles in total.





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Brian Head, Utah

Another trip to Vegas meant another trip to Brian Head, Utah!



The conditions this time were markedly better than last, with snow clouds passing between blue skies all day on Thursday, then heavy snowfall all day on Friday.



Despite the heavy snowfall, strong winds laid bare some of the connector trails between Brian Head's two peaks, so some of the trails were actually closed.



I spent Thursday soaking up the sun and riding out-of-bounds. Eventually, I went a bit too far skier's right and ended up in a neigborhood beside the resort. Eventually I made it out of the woods and simply walked back to the lift to sneak in one more run before the end of the day.



On Friday the snow was nonstop, which made staying out in it a bit of a challenge. I was able to complete about a dozen runs before calling it a day.



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SXCS Hangover Harescramble (Wicomico MX & ATV)

It was time to knock the cobwebs off the YZ (and myself) to take part in the Hangover Harescramble!



Although the weather has been all over the place (evidenced by riding the stand-up three times in December!), this weekend had returned to typical winter temperatures in the upper thirties. With that in mind, I layered beneath my riding gear and donned some warmer gloves for the event.



Since we're in the offseason, the event is extremely popular due to it being the sole opportunity to ride for many of us. In my line there were THIRTY-NINE racers!

Although my Yamaha is kick-starting much better now that I've replaced the fuel pump, I still fully expect to be the last off the line - which was the case this time as well. Still, I slowly worked through the pack of riders and found myself in 7th place by the end of the second lap.



On the third lap I turned a corner to find a tree right in the middle of my intended path! I was thrown from the bike, but managed to get back on and running relatively quickly. Later in the same lap, my bike stalled due to hard braking, which set me back a few seconds as well. With those two setbacks, I lost a position and ended the fourth lap in 8th, which was still a great result considering the gigantic field I was within.





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