Alpine Loop

The Dress Code

  

The only ways in which today’s ride could have been more awesome would have been if all of the PCRs had shown up and it was 5 degrees warmer (temperature plays an important role in this prologue).  Wood, Bruner (it was nice to have a member of the “A” team drop down to the minor leagues), Trabert (it is about time you showed up; it turns out that’s because we extended him the only offer to ride this weekend) and Hale left Lehi and rode their bikes up American Fork Canyon along the Alpine Loop down Provo Canyon and along the Murdock Trail.  It was 55 miles and 3,800 feet of ascent into heaven.  Bike therapy was administered to those in need (mostly Wood), Woody interviews were given and amazing scenery was witnessed (Wood we are talking about golden aspen leaves juxtaposed against stark blue skies and evergreens).  At the beginning of the ride, while at the Suburban preparing for the ride, an extended debate ensued over whether leg and arm warmers, vests, windbreakers and jackets should be shed.  Then Woody shared some of his mother Marilyn’s homespun wisdom.  He said she used to tell him: “you can always take it off,  but you can never put it on”  We are confident that in his youth he might have gotten the meaning of those words a bit twisted.  Following her sage advice, and Hale’s howls that it was going to be colder than his wife’s reception when he gets home late from work, everyone kept their outerwear on.  And it was a good thing because it cold.  So cold that Trabert insisted that Wood go to the back of the pace line because as he pontificated about his week’s events a cloud-like vapor formed as his breath struck the cold air (okay, it looked more like clouds that form during a hurricane) making it impossible to see the road ahead.  Bruner had to give words of encouragement to Wood and Hale to finish the ride in less than a day’s time. 

Afterwards, we went to JCW’s and spent a half hour trying to maneuver around the 9 foot restraint bar at the drive-in (Wood’s bike was on top of the Suburban), figuring out what to order and passing the hat to collect enough to pay for the goods.  On the way home, as we reflected on the appropriate attire for the day, Trabert, who revealed to the group that he lives in the hoity-toity “Harvard” neighborhood, told us of an incident while he was working for the Pebble Beach Resort, another hangout of the rich and famous.  He explained to the Hale, a neophyte in the ways of the world, that there are “dress standards” at the “Resort”.  One day he heard the following plea for help over the “Club” intercom: “There is a dress code violation on Court 2.”  Rushing to eliminate a breach of etiquette, he found a 20 something French woman, who apparently did not have the correct color of clothing, so she went au naturel from the waste up.  She certainly would have not have made it very far on today’s ride.  We wonder how Trabert carefully avoided an international incident over an extended period of time.  The young lady surely could have used some of Marilyn’s coaching. 

Remember PCR’s: keep the rubber side down and your warm autumn clothing on (not the least of reasons being that no one wants to see your bare chests).        



 

 

1st of MANY STOPS... :-)

 

Which Way????

 

 

Picture taker was wearing a "Y" sweat shirt so I showed him Super Man's logo