Camped last night with Jeff and Glenn on BLM land north of Loma, exposed, no tree cover. Breeze arose that was tolerable until sun quit sharing its warmth. We retired to our respective accommodations. The furnace kept the frost off the nose. I parked with the windshield facing sunrise for the daily show. Took care of breakfast. Sun was warming and wind was nonexistent Us 3 older guys soaked sun while we continued to swap stories. They left heading to Moab. I headed back to Kokopelli to ride a new trail.
I drove west on I 70 to Mack exit and drove up to TH. Parking lot almost filled,great for a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I rode Troy built to Lyons then climbed a bike up to Mack Ridge which runs along the cliff edge adding exposure to narrow single track. Hawkeye leaves Mack Ridge just before challenging down climb. I rode this trail this spring just after it was completed. At that time the dirt was freshly disturbed. Today the tread was rolled in hard. To me amazing. The trail had to find a break in the cliff face to drop back to TH. A hard turn to the right started me on the descent. A buzzard launched itself from a short juniper right in front of me, so close I could read its license number. I ain’t dead yet. Quite a squiggly trail. A short ride but a beater just the same. Today I made garmin record the climb up Mack Ridge which is just a little pedaling and lots of hike a bike, even some climbing moves took only 11 mins. Facts overcome emotional judgement.
Drove back to town. Shower at rec enter, groceries at City Market, and a beer at Copper Club then back out to same spot as last night. Colorful sunset.
Quiet night.