Binge writing.
Last Friday I pointed my nose south heading to Sedona. Leaving the stark desert climbing up into Ponderosa pine forest stopping at Schultz creek trail area outside of Flagstaff.
Wednesday i drove down to ST George to pick up my size altered percale 400 thread count sheet then drove out to Barrel roll trail outside of Santa Clara. Chunky desert riding. One go of Precipice climb making the climbing turns and the nasty broken rock patches by keeping pedal power going. Most riders I have encountered since being in Hurkin. Successful hammer ride not by intention but the heart rate monitor and Garmin algorithms displayed 20 hour recovery time. Orange man was picking oranges so he wasn’t there for me to buy a bag to go.
I have a completely torn muscle in my left thigh from a ski injury years ago. Riding is causing this muscle to send firing signals to a broken connection which spases my leg 24X7. Wed night I took 2 muscle relaxers which knocked me out preventing me feeling the spasms which might have been quelled. Thursday i was drug hung over till mid afternoon. Wasn’t fun, eyes were blurred and thought process was out to lunch. Washed the sheets plus the weekly accumulation of clothes. I attached snaps along the van side of the bed to the van body and the matching location of the sheet to hold the top sheet in place. The percale is divine soft and slippery against the mattress pad. First night in I anticipated the sheets to be very cold at first. Turned out warmed up quickly. What a joy.
Thurs spent last night out at JEM TH.
Friday early departure for Flag to get in a ride before dropping down canyon to Sedona. No snow in Flag. Riding in Ponderosa pine forest, the Mongollon rim, the world’s largest P pine forest over volcanic ejecta. I started following MTB project loop until I made a wrong turn on the AZ trail dropping me down to the well maintained road climbing up to Schultz Pass then the down hill. Sure is a wonderful bike to ride. Back at TH the van thermometer read 75 degrees.. Stopped at anytime for a shower then continued down I 17 coming into VOC from the south.
Hit Bike and Bean meeting Ian and Lee who had just finished a ride. We went to PJs for beer and dinner. I reconnected with staff. Welcome back. Caught part of the Buck’s win.
I spent the night at the overlook as it was the most likely camp spot.
Dave and Mikelle from BV, CO are down here. Sat we hooked up for a VOC ride. I was eager to ride this loop as it is like a test of my riding ability and to learn how the trails have changed. I heard that last measurable precip was back in August. The trails are looooose sand in sandy places. Dave is a better rider than me, he being ahead of me when I was close enough to see gave me a mental image which aided my line choices. We ended up at PJs for beer then drove out Beaverhead past where I usually stay to a spot I camped at years ago. Chunky road in. Dave made a fire which we sat around enjoying pleasant but chilly night staring at the fire and telling stories. We made our ride plan for Sunday. Holiday traffic really plugs up the highway from VOC to Sedona. We left early enough to enjoy an uncrowded road.
Yesterday’s ride was out from Culture Park for Last Frontier etc and the sketchy trail down to Girdner. I showed them stuff that they have never ridden, the joy I have when I get to share local knowledge with visitors. ran into a group of the old locals. Connection. Tide was 2 plus hours for 16 miles of demanding Sedona trails. Shirt sleeve riding.
Afterwards I drove back into west sedona to shower and shop for new year’s celebration. I bought a bottle of champagne for celebration. Bottle was never opened. Slept out near the model airplane site, a new place for me that I will use in the future. Dave and I stayed up sitting by the fire telling stories. Mikelle left us for bed just after 8.
Today we are back in town for a ride.
I have been socializing and not attending to blogging. This is a short entry as I made time before today’s ride. I am still above ground and vertical.
Happy New Year to ya’alls.