The 7 Springs ride outside Phoenix was cancelled because of flood damage to road. Sunday’s MBH ride will be just a shop ride.

A bit cloudy upon looking out windows. Forecast is for mostly sunny. Yesterday’s ride was on primo trail conditions w/ just a right amount of h2o in the sand. Hope today’s ride bears well.

Arrived @ MBH after a scratch huckleberry pancake recipe. The berries are from last summer’s picking. I couldn’t find buttermilk for the recipe. Yesterday i splurged on a quart w/ a pull date of 2/10. Need to have another pancake bfast. Freezer temp fluctuates causing the berries to go thru numerous freeze thaw cycles. Enjoyable non the less.

Crowd @ MBH gathered, all usuals and a new guy and that became his name. For me I am becoming Craig. Great validation and creating a sense of community. Yes and no that this comadre applies during the rides only. No invites for shower or place to crash but I haven’t been soliciting.

Today’s ride was way west of town, darn near where I have been camping 7.5 miles from shop. Bike continues to please. Ability to ride thru rock gardens and step ups. It weighs 29.5 pounds w/ a small amount of Sedona sand added. Not a light bike, it is a Sedona bike. I measured the used travel on the front fork after today’s ride: 5 1/4″ used out of 5.9″ No bottom out, nice and soft. The suspension allows the bike to set down on tech stuff. The wheels seem to follow the terrain versus being bounced around. The rear shock that has been custom tuned by PUSH is very supple, I move the ORing to almost off the shock body during compression. This means that PUSH has given me literally all the shock has to give. Super ride.

Back out @ Deer pass for the night. More showers coming in mid week. Will ride by myself tomorrow enhanced skills.

Yesterday B & B finished the bike build up.  Need front brake adapter for 180mm rotor. Use bigger brake on front for getting down stopped. Original front derailleur interferes w/ suspension. And I had the new one I bought that I didn’t think I was going to need.

I headed out from shop, rode a little pavement and then jumped on Sedona single track. The first tech feature was a small tree across the trail w/ rock ramp built up & over it. I sessioned this piece last ride thru on old Spot and finally made it. This time it was almost a point and shoot and rolled up & over and was in balance. Notice right away that i am not jarred off line I am taking. I do have a new fork, Rockshox Revelation, w/ 5.9″ of travel. A new front wheel using the maxle from the fork for a 20mm axle laced to a beefier rim. My shock has been PUSHed as it was put on the bike. Too many things to isolate to maybe say that the frame is what it is all about. The frame pulls it all together.

Just past this feature I encountered 2 40ish men stradling their bikes talking. I pull up horribly out of wind. When my wind came back i got windy and answered their questions about my odyssey and then they allowed me to ride w/ them. They were usually out of my sight as I pedaled along discerning the characters of this new bike. We rode a wet wash somewhere out on Rabbit ears. I rode way more and was in more control and balanced. Oh, I was also using my new Crank Bros Candys which use the same 4 springs as the Eggbeaters that I have retired and adds a small like pedal cage that gives  more surface for the foot to rest on. Harder to get into but stayed clipped in. Made a long afternoon out of it w/ the 2 locals. Back @ shop cheered everyone on w/ my joy of the new bike.

Too late for shower. Headed out S of town to Beaverhead w/ plan of riding nearly today and then get a shower b4 1:30. Made B & B for heated restroom & chatted. Gonzo joined me for his ride. I rode more stuff, notably an off camber dropping down piece of slick rock. Mistake would be a side slip into bedrock creek bottom. I finally allowed myself to roll down it and trust the friction of my tires and my counter weighting. I rolled it. And then i did another one. Wow. Confidence building in the bike. The route was over slick rock, some sand patches, and the always present wash. Heavy rains moved the rider located rocks around. I rode way more. Another big smile on my face. Yes,  I bought a successful bike. Rolled down the highest roll over yet. Gonzo rides an earlier Turner. I rode behind him and watched him move around like I imagined myself previously doing. I was straight ahead.

Drove down to Hilton b4 1:30. Darn, my guy doesn’t work today. No shower here. Drive to W Sedona to laudromat and clean clothes. Next shower loc is RV park out past Deer Pass where I have been staying. OK. 8 miles further. Clean for clean sheets tonight.

Last week’s rains damaged the road to 7 Springs where Rama was taking me tomorrow cancelling the ride.

Back @ Deer Pass rd, generator man is gone. By myself. Last night @ beaverhead the internet access was poor.

The Zags were pulled from free web TV I was watching. Couldn’t find a web site that I was comfortable downloading or had a fee attached. Darn.

Tomorrow is MBH shop ride. Get to show off new bike and ride a bit better.

Trails today were jsut perfect w/ right amount of wet in the sand. Still a lot of h2o around and running.

Last night out @ Deer Pass camp spot I checked the UPS tracking of my frame. Delovery is scheduled for today.

Today I was up, fed, cleaned up and on road after 8:00 for Bike & Bean to await frame and build my new frame up. Made B & B. Wheel arrived yesterday. Hung in shop. UPS normally arrives around 12:00. Today he was almost 2:00. Business was slow in shop, they let me have a stand for my old Spot. The new one went in another and the parts started moving. Frame is raw meaning no protective coating, seems like the heat treat bath colors the metal. Jason started on it and Chewie took over. Only part problem was the Rockshox Revelation fork uses post mount for the disc brake caliper. Works w/ o an adapter for the smallest rotor 160mm. I use a 180 for more power and need an adaptor to allow the rotor to clear the caliper. Not a show stopper, Chewie will modify another brakes manufacturer’s adaptor to fit. I ordered the engineering correct part from Formula. Fed Exd the old frame back to Turner.

Today was all about a new ride. Yesterday was a rainy ride for the old Spot. Forecast was for showers after 3:00.  Made MBH for 10:00 shop ride under increasingly threatening skies. Be back before predicted rain. Rama, John & Janet, Doug, & Adrien a visitor, and I rode from shop on N side of airport. Trails are soft. Some new trail section for me. Started raining, we stopped & put on shells, mine is just wind so I was wet but not wind chilled. Rain increased. Rama, janet, & I bailed. If I had a rain shell I would have continued. It was chilly and quiting was OK.

Tomorrow I ride my new DW Spot on Sedona trails. Can’t think of a better way to have a first ride. Lots of $ spent: $1840 for frame (retail $2495), revelation fork $670, Front wheel $345, PUSH shock tune $159, new pedals $100 ( Candys). Quality of life: Priceless. My bike is my status symbol and it speaks well of me. I speced the parts, it’s built up my way. No other one out there like mine.