Last night I slept w/ the side door open, warm air blocked only by the mosquito netting across the opening. 90 degrees yesterday, hi today was 77 and tonight will be a closed door night comfortable under 1 layer of the down blanket. So far i have not swapped out the down for the light thermal blanket.
Slept in w/o alarm. Today I will ride from camp then do errands in town. At 10:00 I set out to test my new bike handling skills on trails out here @ Phil’s TH. I am also able to pedal uphill managing my shortness of breath. Big new skills are vision and cornering. Vision is picking goals to ride to, always strategically seeing the trail. Works well when the trail can be viewed as enjoyed in the selectively thinned open P-pine and forest. Run the trail thru manzanita tunnel where the sides of the trail are hard to find. Turning is so new and foreign. Turning requires standing on the outside pedal while looking like a chicken over the handlebar. Drive the inside hand down and into the turn, the sharper the turn the harder the push and lean. Getting better at accepting the tire will grip and really turn. There is no sitting and banking corners .
I ran into a USFS crew felling trees to clear a survey line for a property owner who complains of woodcutters stealing his wood. We pay for private interests. A woman on the crew halted me while a nearby tree was felled. She works on a 10 man fire suppression crew in the summer and in winter leads backcountry snow trips for troubled youth whose parents can pay for the treatment. She held me captive for a conversation that I enjoyed.
Ride lasted till 3:00. First thing back @ van was a solar shower while I was still warm and could handle the chill. The water wasn’t steaming hot. I used the side of the van for a wind block and washed away. I decided it was too late for town errands and I had food for dinner and bfast. I am now out of beer however. My desert suntan has returned after the 19 days in the wet.
Tomorrow I run errands in town then drive to above Hood River for several days of riding.
