It’s all about me and I smother myself in it. Turner has my new DW Spot raw finish awaiting a ship to address. Whoopie. I have coveted this bike for over a year. I deserve it I have been telling myself. What the heck, I am already eating black beans, this just means that dog food is that much sooner but I will enjoy the ride. I have buying to do, a couple thousand to put the bike under me.

Build kit:

The shock will be PUSHed

Rock shox revelation 150 for 6″ front travel, fork to be PUSHed later this spring once they engineer the tuning, 20mm axle

New front wheel build: Chris king hub, DT Swiss rim

New seat post because of larger diameter frame

new bike rack because Maxle fork eliminates holding the front wheel in conventional wheel holder

Replacement for worn parts:

Front & rear derailleurs, grip shifters

Move over:

Chris King headset to 4th bike, Chris king bottom bracket, seat, stem, handlebar, Formula brakes, rear wheel.

Lots of shopping.

Today i participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Black Canyon Multiuse trail. multi organization celebration for work performed to receive the money and spend it. Photo op.

I was 1 of 5 mtn bikers to demonstration ride the new north bound section of trail. There were a few hilers and a bunch of people on horses. Met the 3 riders, 2 are instrumental in the trail. Keith weld fabricated the fence gates. Short ride out to river crossing. The river can’t be bridged economocally because of wash clearing floods recarve the river channel.

Ate white bread lunch provided, 2 helpings of an apple crisp desert. Too bad food stuffed to go for a ride out south.

Needed groceries beyond the lesser desirable section in the local IGA, drove 17 miles down I-17 on greater outskirts of Phoenix. Looked for laundromat: either Phoenix or Sedona. I wonder how people w/o washing machines get along?

Staying here for tomorrow’s trail work project further north. i asked about camping where they will be working, glad I did which is why I am still in same quiet place as last night albeit w/ interstate traffic noise.

Then head back to Sedona and bike build.

Met trail designer and learned from him about his trail build. Interesting: he doesn’t make outsloped trail in the desert. He said it starts out outsloped but the bikes make a center groove and the horses walk on the outside edge for an unknown reason. I liked his design and the build crews’ implementation , all hand made.

Observation: my evolution of dirtbagging is increasing brazenness in using other people’s property. Absent landlords. At first I was freaked if somebody asked me to move. It only happened once back early on. Now should I be asked to leave it will be gracefully if not obsequiousness. Pride interfers. I’m wrong, I’ll leave approach. Where can I go that you won’t kick me off?

Location: Black Canyon City, AZ

Last night the night lights in the parking lot turned on. And i was right in lamp light of one. Very visible in a posted well lit spot. Hey, look at me I said loudly. No bother, didn’t need interior light to get ready for bed. Not like a sunup for wake up.

Plan today is to ride @ South mtn, duh, South of downtown. GPS & I disagreed, score: it 1, me 1. Hard to find TH. Once found maybe 40 cars parked. Scored spot in main area right @ gate. Nothing like cruising for the spot closest to where you are going to exercise so you don’t burn extra energy before exercising. Think ski area parking lots.

Chris Lesser wrote in his mag’s web section Btrails about the National trail. He said it punishes you. Cosmic ray put the exclamation point on how tough technically & cardio it is.  I decided that i was going to experience the trail myself. It went up and over step ups, some sections were tame, the bulk was all hands on the bars, tractor speed on the pedals, and warp speed on the heart. In 6 miles it gained 1200 feet, a ridable gradient, it was how the feet climbed were gained. This is a developed trail loaded w/ technical features, not a trail that was routed to find the technical.

Down hiked the switchbacks down to telegraph pass. Then hike a bike down to the flats for desert classic back to the parking lot & beer.  Over the years I have hiked quite a few miles of backcountry backpacking. This down trail was the roughest short of climbers’ way trails.

Dropped onto desert classic and the 8 miles of big gear spinning dropping down into and kinetic energy ride up the other side desert trail. Tiger in my tank has long lost it’s fangs.

My style is pretty much start the ride and stop when finished. Today was 2 hrs 40 mins.

The Black Canyon trail, on the outskirts of Black Canyon City, AZ, is being celebrated Friday w/ a ribbon cutting ceremony.  Trail stewards were able to obtain $432,000 Stimulus money  for trail work. Tomorrow is a celebration. I will be here for it as I am camped right at the TH tonight. Sat is a trail work day that I will stay for.

Stopped @ KOA XG for a shower. The owner had a pet king snake in a case in the office. I asked a lot of snake questions and he answered them.

Today as I was finding South Mtn park which is on the west side of I-10, I drove on west side thru nice appartment complexes and then big houses lining the golf course. I missed a turn (GPS correct) and drove to the east side of I-10. Poverty. Interstate is a moat but no drawbridge.

Sleep much better when I am in a legal place. Sleeping in parking lots inside a city is dicey and shallow sleep expecting some type of human intervention.

Yesterday I drove down from the McDowell XG to the competition trail where the Cactus cup mtn bike race is held. This is the first race of the new season and riders are chomping to show what they did over the winter. The race is still in the future, I just rode the course. Trail is made for mtn bike racing. Me, riding my 5.5″ travel all mountain bike was overkill. My bike on a race course is like running in mountain boots: I completed it w/ a whole lot of extra effort and way last. Race course is less technical and wider than trails I prefer to ride. Desert riding, the cholla were cut back a little further from trail edge.

Took a shower in the restroom @ the trailhead. ironic that the public campgrounds become better facilitated which attracts self contained RVs that do not use the facilities except for shower power & water.

Stopped @ Bike garage bike shop in Fountain Hills because the xg host suggested it. I discovered that my front hub was adjusted too tightly so i asked the wrench at the shop his opinion. He said Too Tight & backed it off a bit.

Interesting bit about Fountain Hills is that a small lake was built with a huge fountain in it to shoot h2o many feet in the sky. I drove by the lake and saw the fountain base w/ no spray. As I left the bike shop I saw the h2o in the air. i asked @ the shop for the tourist version and she said it is a man made fountain, not natural and it sprays per a schedule, like a bus schedule. Fountain was built and houses of much $ sprung up.

Had time on my hands. Found REI in Paradise Valley near where Trail 100 runs which was to be my next ride. I checked bike racks out. If I buy the 20mm maxle Rockshox fork I will need a different way to carry my bike, or rather front wheel. Cheapest way is w/ the big mouth rack that grips the frame.

Used GPS to find Trail 100 TH thinking that I might dirtbag camp nearby. Not good because of bad neighborhood, lots of gated fenced driveways & businesses. Drove back to REI neighborhood where I found a vacant office building parking lot to sneak into. Double locked my bike and slept w/ an open ear.

New plan is to drive back NE and ride Hawes trails out in the desert instead of in town. Lots of driving. Some main surface streets are 3 lanes each way.

Parked in small office business park that never got off the ground and floundered as the economy tanked. Will stay here tonight.

Hawes is real all mountain trails that my bike is for. Wandered around on trails this time I had a map. I previously rode part of the system last spring w/o map, in the rain, & approaching darkness. Much better ride today but a grunt none the less,17.54 miles, 2719′ climbed in 2 1/2 hours. 70 degree temps under cloudless skies. Finished my 60 ozs of h2o just before the home stretch.

Tomorrow i will ride South Mountain Teacher of Terror which is ride up national trail and return on desert Classic. Chris Lesser from Bikemag wrote that National is the nastiest single track trail. I will walk a bit of it.

Friday @ Black Canyon trail between here and Sedona, is having a trail dedication after receiving $430,000 in stimulus money to complete the 50 mile trail system. I rode part of it last spring. I will add my bike to the appreciative riders.

From there it is back to Sedona to learn how to ride harder stuff. I found 2 places to camp in FS land that is legal for sound sleep. Hangout between the 2 bike shops.

Reading Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven about FLDS, the polygamists. Bit of action occurred in Colorado City which is just outside Hurricane, UT. Fascinating.

Trails can be for racing which are less technical, wider, and more open. There are regular trails that offer regular trail challenges w/o going after the trials stuff. Then there are the trails that are all about trials like Sedona and 50 year trail outside Tucson.