Slept in Jimmy’s drive way, fixed breakfast, and washed dishes in his sink w/ running hot water. Liked it so that i washed his dishes.

Off to B & B. Jimmy & his friend Kevin were up to a ride. Jim is being such a considerate host to Kevin who flew from Long Island for 3 days of Sedona riding. Jim started short & gentle and then got him bloody today.

I rode off by myself to ride Hogs now that I mostly know a loop. Jimmy has been coaching me w/ some moves and I practiced & applied when i was able to, able to ride stpe ups better. Almost 3 hour ride by myself mostly riding, stopped for a shot of  gel, pushed when I had to and rode the chute again w/o jason at the bottom. Made route blunder & rode slim shady from bottom. Big day. Getting very warm & dry. Quad cramp right lein evening.

Drove out to deer pass for Sat night. A camper scored my spot.

Sunday Gonzaga played @ 9:10 AM. I was up early and ready to bike all b4 tip off. Watched first half. Zags played proudly but not well enough and were beaten by #1 Seed, Syracuse.

MBH ride started from shop and out & backed Chuck Wagon out off Dry Creek road. Climbing up a step up i ran my left foot into a prickly pear. Maybe 10 spears entered my foot thru the leather material. Needling pain during my grunting pedal strokes to make the step up. Spun over to our break spot. I put on my reading glasses and used the pliers on the Buck knife from my pack to pull out the spears. I took off my shoe to see foot damage. No blood. I ran my hand inside checking for piercings. Found 1 about 3/8 long, it skimmed the top of a toe instead of spearing it. Got it out for ride home.

Did wash @ laundromat. drove down to B & B at end of day.  Jimmy gave Kevin a last Sedona treat before he flies out tomorrow. Off to Jimmy’s house for a shower & company.

Wed left Deer pass camp to Sedona for MBH shop ride.

Wed’ shop ride had a wide range of rider abilities. Looked like it was going to be a mellow ride so i took off my leg armor. Then dangerous Dave arrived, later Kenny, Tim,  & Doug. Now ride looks serious. I am wearing just a pair of the multicolored cotton socks that Rama gave me because I admired his. Rama said he gave Doug a pair, and Doug was wearing his and armor. Paul, visiting from Toronto, joined us. He exercised in spin classes during the winter but nothing on ground. He said he rides tech stuff back home. He stayed w/ the break away better riders from Rama’s inexperienced group. Paul had a tough go staying w/ us. I needed to leave by 1:00 for Scottsdale so Tim and I planned a route for me to lead Paul back to shop. I misnavigated shorter route & added maybe another 30 mins and some hike a bike. I stayed w/ him waiting @ trail junctions. Dropped him off @ shop and I prepared to leave for Scottsdale. Paul came over to thank me for helping his ride and slipped me $40. I said no and he said Yes. I accepted. Ride temp was 76 degs under cloudless blue skies.

Drove down to Scottsdale to Carrie & Nick’s for dinner and a curb to sleep at. Wonderful and stimulating people. Again, the question: When is enough enough? No answer but it gave a focus of conversations. Temp in Scottsdale @ 4:30 was 83 degs.

Thurs AM I got up & fixed my bfast @ curbside. Carrie & Nick are sleepers till 8:00. Woke them earlier than that. I washed my dishes in their sink instead of dripping sink gray h2o on pavement.

Over to gastroentro dr appointment.  Younger dr decision matrix kept pointing to colonoscopy and the reason for it, none of which i like the reason for. Another cause could be detected by blood tests. I opted for blood work first then the scope. Whatever is inside me is dragging me down, the pain has become chronic and was tolerable, now my whole body seems to be affected: dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite.

I called Jimmie @ B & B to make arrangements to pick up his buddy from Phoenix airport before 5:00. Worked for me so that I was able to ride Hawes trail outside Mesa. Sonoran desert w/ cactus providing only shade. Hot & dry. Trail is mostly decomposed granite making for sand, not the beach sand fine of Sedona. Trail dipped into washes. Several places it appeared that somebody had actually shoveled the sand away. Washes had loose sand from heavy Jan. rain runoff.

Picked up Kevin @ airport. So hard for me to multi task the driving a breadbox in airport traffic and navigating. Made 3 trips around terminal roads until I found him. He called me to tell me where he was standing. Now I am talking, driving, and trying to find the correct terminal. Score, got him in the van. Next challenge was making the gps tell me how to get back to Sedona. GPS has a disclaimer when it is turned on excusing Garmin of being responsible for driver mistakes while using the unit & driving. Makes sense but I bungled my way thru. Finally I- 17 and Northbound.

Made Jimmie’s house. Ate pizza & drank some beer while visiting & watching some mtn bike videos, Jimmie Page & Allison Kraus concert, and a road car rally. Stayed up late. Sept out front.

Current: Friday I needed to drive up canyon to testing lab for blood draw and then eat b fast. I asked for enough blood to be drawn to do cholesterol check. Bit of effort to add this request to original order as gastro people aren’t concerned w/ it. Just not feeling well.

Ride this after from B & B. Zags play first round today @ 4:00 which will conflict w/ ride. Ill feeling w/ a shorter ride and watch the Zags or push a longer ride and miss the game? You with me or again me? Where’s door number 3?

Cooler today in Sedona. Tonight’s forecast is just above freezing, not ready to switch to summer weight blanket w/ down quilt as extra warmth.

Man, you gotta see this place. Today clear blue sky, the reds and whites/ grays inn the rock, the greens from juniper, pinyon pine, the blue greens from the AZ sycamore, mountains, few people, & challenging riding. Just gorgeous.

Yesterday was a rest day as I was pretty spent after Sunday’s ride. Drove down to RV XG outside Cottonwood for a shower. Back into Sedona to do wash. Visited w/ MBH shop rider regular, Wes, who sells electric cars & landscape supplies. Bought propane. Talked w/ Mark who works where I but propane. He is doing a lot of riding & is new to sport. We compare notes over the past week’s rides.

Drove down to B & B. Rt 179 goes thru Sendona following Oak Creek canyon to just S of downtown. Major hwy construction going on that drops speed to 20 mph. Several places the pavement is very bumpy that slows traffic even further. Construction blocked N bound traffic which backed up way South. Glad I was going S.

Hung @ B & B. Jimmie had a possible customer for my bike parts. He still rides hard and my stuff will be too light for him.

Drove out to Beaverhead camp. I park out on the edge of the flat exposed to up hill traffic on hwy below. I wondered how visible I was so i bushbashed down wash. Green color blends in, need to look for horizontal line of van to find it.

During my hike I found a small owl carcass hung up in brush. It was desiccated & no smell. I am making an ornament from it’s severed lower legs.

Today drove back to VOC and geared up for morning ride. Stopped @ B & B to say hello and see if anyone else was going riding. Jason said yes and our ride idea was congruent. A woman from Hurricane area was shopping for tires. Gonzo presented Maxiis Ardent to her. He brought me in for a testimonial. She bought a pair and asked shop to put them on her wheels. The shop was busy and she was heading out on a ride w/ friends. She was desirable of my helping her swap her tires. I asked the shop if they minded me taking the business away. Not to worry. My purpose was to teach her how to change tires. She helped. Robin is her name. She went of her way and Jason & I headed out our way.

The light is high in the sky like late September time making the light flatter . The sun will continue to climb which will make the light harsher. What a spectacular day. I had an unexplained feeling during the ride. Being outside in primo conditions doing what i want and enjoying it.

We rode the High on the Hog and down Hog wash to Broken Arrow. The Hogs trails are made by bikers and are so well designed and made, sustainable. Hikers have discovered them and are encountered frequently. Today during a pleasant exchange w/ hikers I told them that bikers built the trails they were enjoying. Getting better @ riding more tech moves. Jason lead, he was having an off day. Some places where he stalled I bailed because he did and I could follow his example. I did pull one off for his accolades: The trail rolled into a bedrock wash and climbed a few feet then traversed the slick rock angled maybe 30 degrees. Much trust is placed on the tire side knobs and counter balancing to keep the bike on plane w/ gravity and don’t look down. Biggest act of trust I have pulled off. Added some more new trail to map.

Getting sunburned arms, my legs have coloring from the end of pant legs down to top on knee. The leg armor covers my knees & shins completely while the back of my legs are covered in spaced pieces of stretchy material to hold them on.

What a day, what a day.

Tomorrow is MBH shop ride in AM then drive down to Scottsdale to Carrie’s for the night w/ gastro dr appointment on Thurs.