After a short swim today, I decided to take a ride up Provo Canyon. My previous rides up Big Cottonwood Canyon and American Fork Canyon were so much fun that I decided it would be a nice relaxing ride to help me get my mind off all the stress at work. It was not at all like the other two rides, nor was it relaxing.

For one thing, Provo Canyon is a freeway. I guess that didn’t really cross my mind until I typed it just now, but it’s true. Provo Canyon is a multi-lane divided highway. The ride up the canyon was a lot of fun. I had a great tail-wind pushing me up. In some spots I was able to hit the “red line” a few times (75 mph — indicated). I imagine I was only going about 65 mph, but that’s a topic for a different day. It was a great ride up the canyon.

At Vivian Park I pulled off the highway and drove up past South Fork park. That road was very much like the ride up American Fork Canyon. If there was a way to get there without going on the highway, I would probably do it again and again. But since it requires the 10 minutes on the freeway, I doubt I’ll go back anytime soon.

The ride down the canyon was fast, but not all that enjoyable. What had been my tailwind pushing me up the canyon was now a hurricane-force headwind. And sometimes it was coming at me from the side, which made it hard to steady the scooter on corners.

It certainly accomplished the task of taking my mind off work for a few minutes, and there’s something to be said for that.