Late night now after socializing in Ketchum.

Yesterday AM was single down blanket and bike hat cold. Savored the warmth vs the known sudden cold to get moving.

Today’s ride is up Wolf Tone and down Curran creek to Deer to road i was parked on. Headed out & up. Non maintained road but ridable shape. Trail was cut thru tree debris that i immediately recognized as avalanche debris. The debris is insulating the snow underneath from melting. Left creek basin climbing out thru open slopes. I hiked up a knoll to a vista. Big sky. Sawtooths appear to be 1 peak wide or perhaps the said peaks are blocking the depth of the range? Carried cell phone hoping for reception to make my weekly Monday call to Grace. Made my call. She raced Leadville Sat and want to hear her story. Trail wqas above tree line for several miles surfing 1 side then thru a gap in the ridge to traverse that side. Alpine views of everything. Mtns are not jagged and appear to be hikeable from the sides I saw.  What is special is bike riding in alpine zone which doesn’t happen often.

Trail dropped off ridge down Curran creek drainage. Back into Doug fir forest w/ creek on my right. Mellow trail, horse riders made it smooth over time. Joined Deer creek where I rode last Sat. W/ Sean & Paul. Finished w/ 3 mile spin down creek to van.

Before ride start I filled the solar shower from the creek and hung it on sunny side of van. Back @ van after ride the sun angle changed lessening it’s heating power. I moved it. The upwind sky I saw on my ride said t-storms. I got off ridge in time and made the van. I set a time table to meet to be inside b4 storm hit. 4:00 was shower time. Ah, just right. Outside tasks completed, sky darkening, and I was on the road heading down stream to campsites closer to the hard road. Storm stalled up @ Ketchum I learned today.

This AM it was 37 degrees. I stayed under the covers until 8:00. Today I ride out of Ketchum w/ Kyle @ 2:00.

Time to visit Chip @ Sun sport(?) South in Hailey. Chip knows Dave Turner thru competitive mogul skiing. Dave said he was pack filler, Chip said he was top 5 good. He has a shop ride on Thurs. I will ride on.

Drove to Ketchum & Elephant’s Perch to see if my maxel part was in. Yes it was and it no longer requires the quick release lever to hold it in. Fewer parts and it appears to hold the whel just right.

And my frige reimbursement moves on. Frige cost &750 plus 1 hour labor. Norcold said they would have sent just the replacement cooling coils for $759 plus 2 hours of labor.  That’s 1 side.

Rode from Y parking lot w/ Kyle going up river missing the big hill I rode up.  Rained heavily in yesterday’s storm firming up the dirt. Trails were just splendid for traction and no dust. Trail went into 2007 burn, varying degrees of burn from nothing to slightly burned just on ground to small stands of dead trees. FS posts danger signs @ ea TH apprising users the risks of falling trees. Successful ride. Kyle raced the Cream Puff the last 2 years, is 42, & rode a single speed hardtail. Of course he was ahead of me. Kyle is net working for me.

Shower @ Y & into the Perch. Caught the closing of like an open air market. I bough a jar of local honey. Sherry @ her name sake cookie stand seduced me w/ toffee cookies. W/i smelling distance was a barbeque cooker where a trout fillet made it onto my plate. I was reminded of music in the park, Ketch ’em Alive was going on. I walked the 6 or blocks to the park. My right hip still pains me when i walk, ridding I might suppress any pain. Met Kyle & his wife there. Kyle introduced me to Mark who does these big rides and I am hoping is the big one Chopper told me about: 4th of July, Climb over int Ants Basin and then drop down to Salmon. Bug placed in his ear and he said Saturday. We will ride Chip’s shop ride on Thurs an Will know what.

I have ridden 14 of 17 days of August to date

Sleeping behind the Perch tonight. 92 degrees at ride’s end.

Tomorrow I am on my own for what I have not planned.

Slept undisturbed in parking lot. Might try it again tonight.

Today is to find powerHouse b4 ride. Researched  mag articles I had for address bu town was misleading. I checked address in Hailey, no way was house the business. Drove up to ketchum and tried same w/ same results. Shop opens @ noon, my plan was to set myself to ride and check in @ 12:00 & ride of. Elephant’s perch is a repair recommended store in the mags, picked this shop out of maybe 10 in area.

Walked into The Perch. Greeted a young man, Kyle, wearing a 2010 Cascade Cream Puff T shirt. He raced it this year and last: he went thru my aid station 2X, but we didn’t know each other then. We talked about the race for awhile. I bought a trail map and we talked longer as he laid out several rides, albeit from Ketchum (more later). He’s from Vermont so we rode some same trails back there. Learned that local Y sells showers.

Drove out to Adams Gulch TH just short distance from town. My front wheel and fork require a Rockshox Maxle axle, part of which is the quick release lever to secure the maxle in the fork. I  tightened the QR when the 9mm axle snapped. Second time I broke one. Damn. Drove back to perch, met Jason who found a close substitute and will order a replacement on Mon. drove back to same TH now about 1:30. Summer heat in force.

Ride climbed from edge of parking lot. ST shaped by large wheels making a radiused tread. And smooth. Took a left when i should have stayed straight and climbed some more: 1,000′ in 3.3 miles. Back into forest that had burned previously. Still live trees inside burn created fleeting shadows. Corrected my mistake and descended then climbed up new trail in Eve’s Gulch. Goal was 2 hours or 2,000′ climb. I was cautious on descent because replacement skewer didn’t fully cam over to lock it in place. If it loosened the maxle might loosen, meaning ultimately a nasty fall when the front wheel let loose. Not likely to happen but I treated it as so.

Took a $5.00 shower. Checked out cost benefit of joining but for just a shower it is cheaper to pay as I go.

Clean and drove back down to Hailey seeking Powerhouse part bike shop part food / bike/ Belgian beer tap room. Sean told me that Chopper, an advice column writer for BikeMag hangs out there. I am seeking his autograph. Outlandish questions answered by wit & strangeness is his column. I sat @ the bar and sought education on the beers. Expensive. I picked a $6.50 beer in it’s own distinctive glass. Different, definitely not American hand crafted. I asked the bar keep about seeing Chopper. He says i am sitting next to him. Oh. I introduce myself and words flowed. His own person. He’s off to Oakridge for Bike Oregon weekend on Smith optics dime. He autographed my Bikemag issue w/ my story.

Hung @ bar to engage in conversation w/ a guy who hangs here. He spent 10 years in Coeur d’Alene giving a chance for shared knowledge of a place not here. He said most people around now are not from here. he said sheep guard dogs have attacked riders making man’s best friend more dangerous than furtive gray wolf.

I was parked on street in Ketchum w/ side door open. An older man excitedly greeted me. He has been traveling the world and just the western US. He decided he needs to learn about more of America. My van struck causing him to start a conversation. He’s not a rider but he is a kindred spirit in world of vagabonding. He will have stories to tell should he call me.

I parked in front of Chip’s store in Hailey. A car pulls behind me. I get out, a rear door of car opens and out steps a maybe 13 year old. He read the Bikemag article, his dad said i am his idol. I told him to keep his eye on the prize and someday it will come to him.

Weigh 145 which is where i want to be.

Tomorrow another ride.

Woods river valley, where i am, eventually reaches galena summit. The river  flows into the  Snake. On South & East facing slopes it is devoid of trees. Not much precipitation falls here. What i thought was going to be all trees is not true.

Last night’s sunset was stellar w/ red & gray colors. Comfortable sleep temp. Traffic noise wafted up to a dull roar. Sunride came right into my eyes looking out the windshield. Raise my head and ohh at sun break.

Off to finish drive to Ketchum et. al valley. Found laundromat in Bellevue. I just put the clothes in dryer and was hanging line dry “things” in van a guy rode up on a mtn bike. He introduced himself, Sean. He said we met last spring @ Slick Rock after Fruita festival. Brain fade. He invited me on his ride this afternoon. He and buddy, Paul, had a ride in mind.

Finished laundry & drove 4 blocks to Sean’s house. I said something about needing beer so he gave me 3 growlers for the fridge. Headed out. Went up Deer Creek past where I stayed last fall, way up.

Road ride up a ways then onto ST dirt bike trail. Rode in trees for most part, Short sections emerged to South facing slope in full force of sun. Pleasant temp. Hit high point then dropped in. ID woods ST: down a steep creek bed many sections of scree, small block size sharp edged rock. Season high grasses crowned over onto trail. Dirt bikes ride it. I made believe that the trail was smooth and nothing bad was hidden. Worked, but be careful trying it yourself. Great being back in trees. Negative: Broken shade: patches of full sun and patches of dark shade. Eyes can’t correct exposure in time. Keep weight back and head up, let controlled speed overcome anything less than suspension can handle. Finished down on logging road. Passed CXT outhouse made in Spokane. Figures, closer to home than Hillsboro.

Back @ TH we slaked our thirst on a growler a piece. I was buzzed by dry bottom. Talked all kinds of stuff that made sense back in real time. Under the Banner of Heaven. Jeffs a prophet in FLDS, is being extradited to Texas after UT court threw out his conviction. Texas has some more serious shit coming down for him.

Several nights ago I finished, To Kill a Mockingbird. Upon rereading I really noticed the racial way of life back in 1935. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Huckleberry Finn, Ken Burn’s Civil War movie, and having been in the south sensitized  me what Harper Lee wrote.

Finally drove back into town to grocery store. No shower. Bought store fixed stuff and parked on gravel pad in Albertson’s anchor store shopping center. Staying in town.

Campsites out Deer Creek road where I stayed last fall were all empty this time. Sean said because they are all higher up into mtns.

Tomorrow is Power House for ride data. Per Sen & Paul say so.