Enjoy the Harvest (Moon) - Provo Canyon Night Ride

As the colors change and people flock to the canyon in seemingly countless crowds, other almost evangelical events begin to occur with the die hard mountain bikers...that thing know as the Night Ride.

For weeks now we have been preparing our lights. Mind you, we do not own any high lumen exorbitantly expensive name brand light that can equal or surpass the car headlight. Instead we ride with 200 lumen flashlights,purchased at Costco, mounted to our handlebars using zip ties or even electrical tape. 

When the sun goes down and the lights turn on, frequently ridden trails turn into new adventures, where the uphill seems less steep and the downhill much more so. As the light flashes from side to side, eyes dart in and out of the oak and brush, triggering stories in the mind of what may lie waiting. 

This Saturday night was one of those nights, with exception, batteries were not required. 

We heard the Harvest Full moon would be at its crescendo this weekend and decided to venture out. So about 9:30 we attached the lights, headed up to Timpanogos park, put tire to dirt and rode for the next hour or so with only the moon to light our path. 

We began climbing from timpanogos park and left our lights off as climbing a dirt road is no technical task. Upon reaching the top where road turned to singletrack much to our amazement the trail and surrounding terrain was illuminated my the Harvest Moon, now high over head. We continued climbing to the water wank road then further up Betty and eventually to Rollercoaster. It seemed the higher we went the brighter and clearer it got. This was a good night to be in the mountains.

Arriving at Rollercoaster we took a left and began descending towards the road with the lights of Orem shining below.  No Strava speed or segment records were broken in the descent, but amazingly, the moon continued to lite our path ahead so that we could comfortably descend. 

After reaching the water tank road we were a little nervous to descend the cliff portion of the trail, but found that again, no light was needed. We made it down the cliffs, through the race course, to the car all-the-while commenting what an amazing night this was and how lit up the trail and mountains were. 

It was a night to remember and a great beginning to exploring at night, one Trail at a time.