Windshield wipers still work

(Authored yesterday)

And Elizabeth Warren was rained on.

Yesterday’s forecast for today called for now rain from showers starting after 11AM today. At get out of bed time I looked out the windshield to the prevailing SW direction. Mingus mtn was shrouded in clouds. Rain splattered on the windshield during a quick breakfast. Rain appeared to be a reality and I wanted to get off the dirt before I learned the extent of my traction on slippery mud. Made it out hardly accumulating any dirt on my tires. Today became a rest day.

Drove into town stopping at a coffee shop. I sat at a window bar and watched intermittent showers make puddles outside. Good to be inside. I spent a chunk of the day in a parking lot reading Scott Turow’s new book: Testimony. Finished the afternoon at the Bean chatting with Tony and Ian. Ian and I played information research on E bikes which apply to public roads not off road.

Rain fell off and on all afternoon creating numerous small sucker holes. Broken cloud cover showing blue sky. A geared up rider might have made it out of the parking lot before the hole closed and poured rain.

I drove out to paved overlook for the wet night. Rain in form of rain and showers appears to be forecast for the week. Good gentle soaking rain. Back in Jan during the 1.76” dumping I was parked at the same spot and orientation. I was awakened by rain drops on my pillow. The water did not come from either the skylight or the solar panel cable entry. Scott has a Sprinter also. He said rain entered his van thru the rear door seals. High winds during that dump must have forced the rain by the door seals. The inside paneling is inexpensive something. That rain softened the material creating sags.

Friday I drove up to Flag to a DR visit for my abdominal pain no longer discomfort. Next up is to be seen by a gastro dr. Painful cutting into my get up and go. I spent Thurs night at the Uhaul in Sedona then drove up Oak Creek Canyon to Flag. I like the slower shorter drive over fast I 17. Another rest day.

Sat I rode what I call Llama loop. I still looked at the rocked uphill, still to fearful of consequences of failure. Next up was the paved climb Steve and I sessioned. It took me 4 tries to reach the top. I rode it successfully a second time. Chose gear #2. At the intersection of Llama and Little Horse I visited with turned out to be father daughter from GA. We chatted about trails we each have ridden back at their home. I enjoy visiting with tourons and sharing common rides. No idea of what they think about running into a rider who has knowledge of their home trails. The daughter said I reminded her of her twin brother. I called to the fact that her does not have as much white in his beard. At a difficult roll down tech feature I showed off my recently acquired confidence. A rider pedaled up from below. He called me by name. He said that he reads my blog and was just tickled to meet me. From Maryland.

I rode Easy Breezy back. My technical skills seemed to have vanished from Monday’s successful efforts. This ride the ups seemed higher. The FS trail crew is working on correcting unsustainable sections. They are doing a real nice job armoring the wash edges. I asked the crew leader about the piece up the way that had been dumbed down. He is a rider. He saw that it had been taken apart. He attempted to return the key log to its challenging location but the log fell apart in his hands. He rocked in the feature. He said that during his time here he had seen it torn apart 3 times. The FS is not destroying tech features. A private party is dumbing down features. Good to know FS is not responsible.

Sat night the Zags played Saint Marys at their home. SMC beat Gonzaga at the Kennel. This game was revenge. 8PM bar side seat at PJs for the entire game. Zags skillfully blew them away. I spent the night in the parking lot shared by the sheriffs. View out the windshield was a cream colored cement block wall.

Tues update: Skies are clearing sort of but the ground is still cherishing its wetness.

Back in early 60s Alan Sherman sang about Camp Crinata(?). Kid’s letter to parents complains about camp conditions. Letter is concluded with wait, forget what I wrote the weather is improving. Big sucker hole as forecast continues to call for precip. So much more is needed.

I have never been here for the monsoon season so named as there are heavy short lasted rain fall which causes washes to run. Easy Breezy is a wash that runs. The FS has been armoring the sandy banks of the wash down into the wash. The monsoon rain will test how well the rock work holds up. Local conditions are local. You got to learn local.

Biding dirt dry out till next ride.

Overlook attracted other sleepers that arrived after I was in bed. I got the spot that is the easiest to level my home. No rain entered the van. However with the high humidity my house has a smell of wetness.