Sat night I found Mat’s house high above the Columbia looking down towards Wenatchee. I wasn’t sure of the directions and as I drove up the steep road into the sky and onto a private road I was fretting if I had to back down. Saw his truck & horse trailer he mentioned.

Slight sprinkle fell during the night. The forecast was for heavy rain, not good for our Sun ride. Mat invited me up for Bfast and meet his family, wife Andrea and 2 young kids. The kids went to the grand Ps for the day, Mat’s dad’s 62 b-day.

Drove into Wenatchee and up Horse lake road. Should have car pooled w/ Mat, I failed planning 101. The dirt road was steep, switchbacking, and soft from rain. Several times the positrac light went on indicating that the computer was shunting traction to wheel that had it. Made the TH. Small gathering: Mark, a volunteer who is building trail, Mat & Andrea, Steve & Morgan from IMBA, a kid, and me. We rode some of the new trail being cut in. Mark is using a mini excavator to nibble the hillsides away. Land is on steep sage covered hillsides. Lots of climbing switchbacks. We rode 9.84 miles in 1 hr 41 and climbed 1862′. Well designed and constructed trails. IMBA trail guide lines.

Evergreen something is a mtn biking club based out of like Seattle w/ chapters through out west side. They are the ones the Lands Trust asked to build the trails. It will be a mtn biking treasure w/ more trails in the future. Thing about these purpose built trails is they are smooth, mostly predictable, and all rideable. Just the joy of  riding a bike w/o excitement of Tech challenges.

Rain stayed away for our ride. Mat invited me back to his house for a shower. Just b4 leaving his exposed house a violent T-storm hit. I watched my partially opened roof vent pulse gaping wide then back to control arm lowered position. Hail fell. I sprinted for my van. Dime sized hail nailed my bald pate several times. Just violent storm.

Plan now is to drive to Leavenworth to spend afternoon, maybe catch a local beer and some football b4 heading out further up canyon to the Chiwawa river road. I learned that these trails which are shared by dirt bikes never turned to powder this year because it never got baking hot to dry the dirt out. And w/ recent light rain amount the trails should be primo. I drove the back way to Plain and spent the night in a snow park lot.

B4 daybreak rain fell in earnest in spite of forecast. I waited and waited and it continued to rain. By now the trails would be too wet to ride. Forced rest day today.

Drove back to Leavenworth and parked in city parking lot w/ great internet access and caught up on my banking. Facts display the large $ I am spending on my bike. It’s all for maintenance and replacing used parts. I should be good to go for quite awhile now.

Walked to Das Rad bike shop hoping for conversation. Not happening.

Plan is to ride Devil’s Gulch area Tues, spend the night back there then drive back to Spokane for Wed PM Loppers’ Ball mtn bike ride. I have a AM session Thurs in psychologist Larry’s Box for an hour to work out a few more of my riding faults. Going to attempt to fill myself w/ courage. I am a beter rider than i give myself credit for and am capable of  making more successful tech moves but I usually choose to bail.

My 5th pair of warranty shoes are ready for my pick up. During this 26 month odyssey i have spent $12,578.00 on my bike stuff. I never dreamed i would spend that much. But then I have spent $1,200 on Scotch. I can reason all of my purchases, nothing has been frivolous.

Signed up for Bend’s Big Fat Tour, going to ride the 70 mile epic ride. I need to manage my energy consumption to go the distance. I have lost almost all my body fat. Back in the late 80s when I was racing the Boss Coast 100 mile race the first year it seems i ate only 2 stale glazed donuts @ the halfway point and several original powerbars. Made it on youth & stored fat.

Off to no internet access camp for tomorrow’s ride.

Free time after dinner and b4 cleaning up kitchen. In internet access in Leavenworth behind the local Safeway.

Spent day w/ a varied group of human heart propelled users @ an IMBA trail care event. Instructors were Steve & Morgan. Met them in Prescott and Augusta. Maybe 30 people. Land manager was Land Trust. AM was spent learning about trail construction. Afternoon session was up on Lands Trust land. We built maybe 200 yds of new trail snaking up a hillside. Land was burnt in ’94 fire then logged, finally acquired by the Lands Trust. Like digging fire line but made prettier.

Spent last night @ Sand Mtn TH up past the junk place. No internet.

Earlier I rode MT Spokane w/ old buddy, Jeff. Cloudy day up high. I was the local and showed Jeff some new trail. Made Day Mtn just in the fog. The foliage was dripping wet as we became. Leader got wetter. I had a strong ride, I couldn’t keep up w/ 38 yo buff Jeff. I nailed a previously unridable uphill switchback. Also the former hard spots just rolled by. Soil is mostly dirt which makes great tread esp while being wetted. Jeff had a time issue which cut my planned route short. We rode down Wailer, named because of a steep long uphill inside the really long uphill. I have ridden all the way nonstop from the CXT to the snowmobile parking lot only several times in my life. The Wailer makes you waile. The downhill was so fast on very smooth almost groomed downhill, I just flew. The rear hub is repaired w/ new bearings making my bike so fast. Downhill off back of Day mtn has exposed roots on a steep outsloping trail and they were slippery from rain. Both of us made it over a nasty root. I heard Jeff make it.

Found huckleberries in my usual spot but were past eating.

Spent night in N Div bike shop. I noticed the noise more that night. I pulled up bottom bracket instruction info on line and Greg & I reinstalled the bottom bracket per dwg. King guarantees it for 5 years. I feel better that it is installed per dwg. Read the dwg. Almost a $300 bill @shop. My shock has new seals and valve and holds air. The rear hub has new bearings and has its 6 month service. The bike rides so great. Next up are new pedals. I pull new cleats on and heard screetching sounds that I t raced to the pedals. I looked at the bales that hold the cleat in and they are so worn which allows slack that causes the sound. Crank Bros have refined the Egg Beater type pedals. I am uncertain which new pedal to get: another Time or the new Eggbeater that I disliked but improved, but how so? $100 for the pedals making the choice costly.

Breath test showed I have slight bronchitis preventing me from completely emptying my lungs. The test was performed normal then a shot of Abuterol. I showed a 40% increase in lung function. I went from being 76% normal to 125% of normal. Results will be read by a DR who will share it w/ my primary care giver who has been my doc since I moved to Spokane back in ’90. Big tall guy w/ premature gray hair. At first meeting I picked him as way older than me. Today I learned we are the same age.

Staying tonight @ Matt’s house. I met him today at the trail school. He was a smoke jumper. Cool. I wanted to be a jumper but i chose to stay in summer school. What excitement it would have been.

Forecast is for heavy rain tonight and showers tomorrow. Might be too wet to ride.

Plan is to stay here till Wed afternoon for several rides. Loppers’  Ball is this weekend. I signed up for Bend’s Big Fat tour weekend; Sat the epic ride perhaps 80 miles, the Sat party, & Sunday ride. Oct 16. I will back schedule from that date to allow for some Hood River riding.

Gotta do dishes & drive to Matt’s house.

Monday night I slept thru the traffic noise on N Division. Fixed bfast and set out on day’s missions.

First was RV store for help on the heater and spitter valve. Struck out on both but git ideas. Second was shoe replacement, the store tried to give me 2 year old model. I refused so they ordered the new pair. They also contacted Specialized to verify if my material tear is a legitimate warranty issue. New shoes said Yes.

Drove to Liberty Lake for ride up shoulder of Mica peak WA. I believe 2007 was last i rode the route. There is a maze of wheelchair trails mixing it up w/ trails I remembered. I managed to put the correct trails in proper sequence and rode an impressive ride. The climb up from Round mtn was loose broken rock like always. The DW link sucked it up and my body pedaled very strongly. In 2 hr 14 min ride I spent 49 mins in O2 debt, max hr was 153. Breathing is still an issue. performance has to be attributed to lower elevation. Learned that park does not charge entry fee sometimes. I checked out a restroom @ XG in park and found a free shower w/ hot h2o. I passed on it because Mike @ North Div offered a shower in the office trailer.

I drove back thru Spokane to bike shop. Mike showed me the shower. I closed the dor, stripped, and turned on the hot h2o which stayed public h2o system temp cold. I heard Mike call my name and say Whoops, the heater needed to be started. I dressed and joined Mike outside going thru the lighting process. Pilot light lit but went out when the valve was turned to Run. Mike called Avista to report a gas leak w/ intent of gas company trouble shooting the burner problem.

Still needing a shower.

Mean time I reported to Kevin, the wrench who worked on my rear hub, that the wheel still wobbled after his work. He tore it apart verifying proper parts orientation and quality of parts. Still wobbled. He said he will call King in AM to figure what’s up.

I drove to Yokes out @ MT Spokane road for diner groceries and a quick dinner in a field behind the store.

My plan for the day had been errands, ride, shower @ shop, dinner grocery shop and fix dinner,  then spend night @ former neighbors Bill & Jennifer. I rushed thru dinner then made neighbors towards 8:00. Lindgren road is .6 miles long gravel that gets stutter bumped between fall & spring gradings. Road had just been grated and the summer dust palliative application held up. Drove thru the dark. Bill was working on a car in the outside garage and their female lab was in the drive. Kelly immediately recognized the van and hobbled up to greet me. We had a lot of catching up to do and I finally made the garage. Toeless, their black male cat greeted me. Big cat, he is clear cutting the neighborhood of small mammals. I gave him his name as he is missing one of his toes. My old cat, Lefty, a much smaller female cat would chase him off our property then go over to his house eat his food. Ah, the memories.

Caught up w/ Bill & Jennifer and got a shower b4 bed then slept in their driveway.

Today I pursued the leads for propane repair. Took 3rd referral to find service and they needed to order the valve.

back @ N Division Kevin had already learned from King what he needed to know. He identified 1 bearing that was frozen and another that had pits. These were the bearings the shop in Ohio gave me. He found a retainer plate that was damaged. I said replace the bunch. King will UPS the parts to arrive on Fri. I will have my rear end back on bike for time to dash to Leavenworth for weekend IMBA trail care visit.

Bought a new mouse which makes computer work more enjoyable.

Les from Boeing is hosting me tonight w/ dinner, a shower, and his driveway for my knowledge of ST George trails where he and his wife Gloria will be riding next week.

That’s where I am right now: parked in the restaurant parking lot up on South Hill Spokane.

I learned that Spokane endured a cold wet summer. Summer because the calendar said so but conditions were closer to spring: no tomatoes.

Last Sat when i hit Sandpoint, which is on Lake Pend Oreile, I heard a familiar sound: sky rats cruising the grocery store parking lot searching for food. Sky rats are another name for seagulls. Yesterday @ Liberty Lake when i returned to my van i was air bombarded by another local flavor: stink bugs. Their defensive weapon is a foul smelling gas expelled in direction of threat. Almost like a Mayfly hatch. If they are squashed they squirt. Next to find are black widows and brown recluse spiders.

Mtn bike riding is such a big part of my day that when i can’t or don’t ride I have idle time. people I want to visit are working. I’m bored and Spokane just doesn’t hold my attention.

Thurs i have my pulmonary test.