Finished up @ Boggy Draw then drove to Cortez. Senior discount for $3.00 shower in new nice rec center. Did wash in 1 of 2 almost neighbor laundromats. Stopped @ Main st brew pub for local beer. Checked out Kokepelli’s bike shop, nothing happening that I could spool up.  Check USPS for license tabs forward mail, not yet. After dark I drove to the overflow parking lot @ the Cortez airport that I found last year. Airport rotating beacon circled all night notifying pilots of the airport, for me it shone on the back side of my van…. no harm, no light.

I have been paying more attention to the weather forecast as the seasons are changing that affect riding. Friday forecast high winds w/ showers later. I jumped on Phil’s mid AM hoping to beat the winds that were forecast for gusts to 40mph. The skies were overcast and the winds were less than gentle. Phil’s is cool as the trails are open just to mtn bikes and go in 1 direction: at every intersection turn left and sometime later you will arrive back @ the TH. The trail tread is so ridden that the tread appears to be hard back adobe w/ slight berms. Can really fly on it. There are tech challenges several that bettered me that I walked. I rode others that last year I walked. Greater confidence.

At every intersection there was a map and a blow up of present location, text provided route info. I kept turning left causing my route to grow. I rode thru 2 swoopy sections that dropped into a wash, climbed the other side, then dropped back in. I managed to use the kickers to launch a few inches off the ground. My Edge 305 gps computer displayed’ Low Battery” warning at around 2 hrs 15 mins into my ride. Funny, my body was saying the same message. Finally I read a sign directing me to the TH. Funny: the TH was still a ways to ride to. Made it back to van before battery and body died and the high winds. 20 miles in 2hrs 35 min climbed 2069′ on almost flat ground. Trail system is really a maze as it kept turning around on itself that I lost my sense of direction. My computer displays compass direction. Boy, was I confused. Catch the ride data below:

Didn’t see another rider the entire time.

Yesterday I started programing my new XM tuner until almost the last step when the needed software couldn’t be found. I googled computer in Cortez and picked a likely looking shop and called explaining my problem. I was asking for a knowledgeable person to look over my shoulder while I attempted to load the data. Crazy. Older guy has a brick and mortar on Main st. Wore strong prescription glasses and still used a large diameter magnifying glass to read the screens. He was like a shade tree auto mechanic repairing computer hardware. Between us I did not succeed. I called the tech line @ Crutchfield and a tech walked me thru programing the receiver successfully. Now I need to find a weather protected place to crawl under the dash to replace the 2 hardware pieces and connect to XM.

Winds did pick up. Drove back out to airport parking lot. Gusts buffeted my land vessel.

Today is Sat. Forecast is for rain and snow. Temp is just above freezing w/ scattered showers and wind gusts. Good day to watch college football and drink some local beer.

Back at Grand Junction where I met Charlie and Theresa Charlie and I talked about living on the road. Our strategy for picking a public parking camp spot: Cruise a location to find a spot then drive to a public place like a park and do your living then drive back to the chosen spot and sleep. Charlie emailed me telling me about his camp spots @ Phil’s. Thanks Charlie who shared another spot.

I called King Cty license registration tracking down my tabs after calling USPS in Fruita as they had not received the mail. I will be chasing the tabs from forwarded USPS towns. Need them by 11/21 to be legal.

Quiet cold night @ Boggy Draw TH, 17 degrees in the dark when i crawled out from under the covers. Ran the heater on high, 53 degrees inside.

Yesterday I hiked several miles of the Boggy Draw trail and noticed patches of freeze thaw mud. Today i could either ride early when the mud was frozen but temps  below freezing or, the better choice, wait till temp climbed above freezing and deal w/ the slime. I rode Bean Canyon. The trail climbed over several USFS cattle guards separating grazing lands from thinned P-pine forests. The trail wiggled and waggled thru the forest. On the cattle grazing side the trail was either a cow path or the trail became a cow path. Very water run off gulleyed. Out by myself. Nice day. Cottonwoods seem to be holding onto golden leaves. I made first tracks in patches of fresh snow.

Wore long underwear top, short sleeve jersey, lycra shorts, Zoic baggies over, insulated leg warmers, & long fingered gloves.

Finished ride. Changed clothes and headed for Cortez. First was a shower, then laundry, check out Kokopeli Bike and Board, grocery shop, brew pub beer, check mail for forwarded mail, then drive out to airport parking lot for dinner and sleep. For spending the night places I seek a mostly flat surface that is safe and either on free public land or on less threatening private land. Aesthetics is of little concern. Senior discount @ the Cortez rec center for a shower. Tabs not in the mail.Parked in same parking lot @ the municipal airport.

Forecast undulates between clear skies and next day some precipitation, some is forecast as snow.

Tomorrow is Phil’s World in high winds. Might stay overnight in Cortez again to wait out snowy drive to Durango.

Previously you learned that rain fell b4 going to bed and as the temp dropped it changed to snow. Forecast was for 30% precip w/ snowfall being an inch. I figured that if that much snow fell I would be able to ride in the AM and be able to drive down the hill. More moisture than predicted merged w/ the dropping temps and turned into snow all night. I turned to ready to roll just after 8AM. Sunrise is 7:39.

I put on the low cut LL Bean shoepaks and stepped down into 6″ dry snow. Oh Boy. Shoots the riding and challenged the departure. I needed to back up about 7o feet up a very slight grade. I was parked on a knoll like a pitcher’s mound. My first back up fell quite short of the backing up climbing turn that would set me up for the downhill. Never lost the favor of gravity as I drove back up onto the mound. It took 5 tries to make the turn. I slithered the turn in drive and crept down first tracks on a steep gravel road. I kept my wits about me to negotiate a short climb never loosing momentum. I made it to the plowed main county road and drove on plowed state highway to town of Ridgway to hang waiting out road plowing and clearing skies.

I had provisions for another day when forecasted temps were to climb into 40s which should have melted the snow. I chose to dash. Snow quit falling just b4 noon when skies cleared and the black pavement steamed. My next stop is Dolores on the other side of 11,222′ Lizzard Pass. 2 wheel drive w/ all weather tires and  no chains required bare roads.

I parked in a plowed small business lot and then walked the main drag up to Peak to Peak sports. Sidewalks are not shoveled. 6″ fresh snow. Visited w/ Randy, the owner, and scratched his dog. This last summer he played host to Charlie and Leslie, the other IMBA trail crew team, for a trail care visit here in Ridgway. Plan is to grow the trails to attract riders who spend $ in the community. Gee, where have I heard that b4?

Ridgway was at the edge of the storm. My drive to Delores was on bare pavement almost the whole way. The depth of snow on top of the solar collector prevented generation of battery juice.  I reached a point on my drive that the temp reached above freezing and stayed that way until sundown that melted off all the snow. The mountain views at Lizzard Pass were spectacular w/ whitened flanks, clouds, and blue sky.

My plan is to ride the greater Boggy Dew trails above Dolores.  I drove up to the TH @ 7523′. Infrequent  small patches of snow remain and the trails appear to be very rideable for tomorrow. I am camped in the TH parking. The heater is on high. Cloudless night.