Houses and Bikes...

I spent the first week after school lying on my couch feeling crappy because I wasn't doing anything about finding a house. I guess that's not true. I spent most of the week analyzing an mls site (cityhomessaltlake.com) in minute detail trying to figure out all I could without actually calling anyone and setting up appointments to see properties. I've spent the better part of this week trying to figure out how all of this works. It turns out there doesn't seem to be much chance of me being able to buy a house without a realtor, and there doesn't seem to be much for a realtor to do until I get pre-approved for a loan, so I buckled down and got an appointment to see the mortgage lady at my credit union. I still don't know if I'm suposed to shop around for the best pre-approval.

I've been in contact with two realtors by email, one of whom is really helpful, the other of whom is horrible, but when it comes down to it, I'd far rather use someone I know and like. To this end I asked Mark LaRocco to put me in contact with his dad, Rich. He spends most of his time guiding big game hunts now, but he's still got his realty licence, and does a little now and again.

I realized yesterday that 1) I was feeling guilty for not actively doing something, which indicated that lying around for a week didn't decompress me from the recently completed teaching year (at least for me that is very necessary), and 2) that sitting around totally sedentary and alone probably wasn't a good combination for my emotional and physical health. So I went for a bike ride.

I'd been curious for a while where the end of The Avenues was, and if the mountain behind it was accessible, so I spent some time playing on Google Maps and found the highest point (that I could see right then) was Terrace Hills Dr., and that beyond it were a couple of trails. I hopped on my bike and started riding up there with the intention of locking my bike and walking up the trail to the top of the mountain. It's not a very big mountain, kind of a big hill, and the road takes you most of the way up. So this is the ride.

I think it was about when I was crossing 11th Ave. that I realized my heart was about to explode. I mean really, it was doing very unpleasant and frightening things, so I got off of my bike and lay down on the tree lawn. After it felt like it was kind of like "normal way overworked because I'm not in as good of shape as I think I am", I got back on the bike and kept riding. I was about about half way up Northcrest Dr. when I realized my heart hated me. I walked then rode, then walked, then rode the rest of the way up to the top.

When I got to the top I got off of my bike and sat on a green electricity box and contemplated locking my bike and continuing up the mountain, (which the sign informed me was part of the Bonneville Shore Line Trail). As I sat there I found that blisters were spontaneously forming on my arm where I'd burned myself a week and a half before, and on my left index finger. That seemed really weird, and kind of freaked me out. I'd never heard of strenuous exercise causing that, so I just decided to ride home. I took a slightly different route, a couple blocks down for part of it.

When I got home I mapped the route on Bikely and was disappointed to see that it only showed an 873 foot climb. I thought it was more. It felt like more. Still, that's 873 feet over 2 miles (it was 4 miles round trip). I guess that really isn't that impressive.

Pride scarred (and bored and anxious) I decided to go for another ride today. I mapped out a route that seemed to take a back utility road from just below Ensign Peak above the Staker/Parson gravel pits and over the mountain to Bountiful (I guess its actually North Salt Lake, but Bountiful sounds better). It was pretty strenuous riding up above Capitol Hill. To my credit I rode the whole way.

This ride was a much more respectable 1890 ft. climb and just under 13 miles. I shot some little videos of some of the scenic bits of the trail, and one foolishly long sequence of me riding through a meadowy part that probably looks like what ended up on the editing room floor when they were cutting Cloverfield. But this post is too long already, so maybe I'll put the videos up later.

Let it suffice to say that it was really lovely in some bits. There was a storm chasing me from the south but the mountain stopped it and it was sunny on the other side as I came down from the summit. One part I was not pleased with was that on the Salt Lake Side I had to go around a gate that rich people put up. I was (self)righteously disgusted by the wealth, but it was far worse on the other side. The development has crept up the mountain since the satellite pictures were taken for Google. It was a sea of these terrible "mini-mansions" that all look very similar, cost obscene amounts, and are terribly wasteful. I felt some pleasure to see how many of them were for sale. However, I don't doubt that in my lifetime the development on either side of the hill will grow up to the summit and join. It won't be a trail ride then; just a ride through suburb streets, that is if they don't put better gates up to keep the riff-raff out.

Oh, by the way, I've been listening to this song today, over and over.