Sat was the OTE shop ride up on Guacamole. I rode w/ Kevin who is an engineer @ Pivot bikes. I rode in the back seat of a Honda Element. Jeff from SLC area came down w/ Kevin. Beautiful day again yet still required chilly layers. G is another mesa trail where there are only sharp punches of uphills over the rocks. We rode 9.37 miles and climbed 815 feet. I was right behind Jeff when he crashed 2X. I walked those places after watching him fall. Technically difficult riding these mesas.

Drove back to OTE. Tonight Zags play MSU in the Kennel and is televised on ESPN2. I planned on driving to St George to watch it. Bill, a local who is winter wrenching @ OTE lives in Springdale, said that Jacks is a sports bar in Springdale and would play the game. He said that Brian who tends bar there met me on the 401 in Crested Butte summer of 2010. Springdale is a teeny town just outside Zion, like 20 miles from LaVerkin which is 3 miles from Hurricane.  Springdale won the location decision. I arrived about an hour prior to the game to talk w/ Brian w/ no game competition. I remember talking w/ some riders. He complimented me on my climbing prowess. We talked riding until the game came on.  Zags played a good game but MSU was just a tad better.

I drove down to Sheeps Bridge road for the night.

Yesterday early AM I got up to pee. I looked out the windshield full onto the moon that had a shadow across it. WTF? I should have had my senses about me to doubt that the moon was being attacked by aliens or the green cheese splungied. I learned that there was a lunar eclipse. I saw it w/o knowing what it was.

Today I finished the drive to OTE to meet for our Coyote Springs ride led by Bill who earned a bit of $ building the trails along w/ Morgan Harris a la Gooseberry fame. 90 mile drive. Bill, Quentin, James and Jeff from Springdale, and 2 guys from LV. Les, you commented that Rock creek looked desolate where the creosote bushes are taller than a rider. Here the bushes scraped our knees. Not even a Saugura cactus. What a display of work to bench cut into steep hill sides, switchbacks. All on loose round rolling rock. I wrestled w/ control. A section of the trail routed us over bassalt blocks w/ multi facets. Jeff got into trouble here and fell downhill face first into the jumble. He took a rock right into his glass eyeglass lens which shattered. Facial cuts that bled profusely and several deep gashes on his right forearm. What a blood dripping spectacle. My first aid kit was pressed into treatment. James and I bandaged him up and stopped the bleeding. He needed stitches and we needed to be getting him sewn up. We shortened our ride and headed back downhill. He was able to gingerly ride his back back to the rig. On the way back to the hospital in ST George where I stayed for 2 days back in ’09 we shopped @ a Nevada liquor store for better and cheaper beer prices. Still drinking Moose Drool from Missoula. We dropped Jeff off in the emergency room lobby. 5 scruffy guys, one wounded, perplexed the older woman on the front desk. I suggested that we gangster drop Jeff off. We would speed to the emergency room door, screech to a stop and pitch Jeff out of the rig then screech off. Jeff chose to walk in under his own steam.

Finally back out @ JEM for snack dinner.

Tomorrow I will be coaching Dan on riding skills in the local WalMart parking lot.

Crazy: Steve and Morgan of the IMBA trail care crew are here for 1 day. I am one of their groupies as I have visited w/ them 4 times since Jan of 10. They are riding the Rim and I am teaching.

Yesterday was a rest day in the great weather. First off was laundry. Crazy Retard tax like event w/ no $ spent. Wed night I read an OTE Facebook post about ladies ride on Thurs riding Gander which is up connecting w/ Gooseberry. I made a mental note to stop by the shop b4 laundry to be allowed to go on the ride. I spaced and did my laundry. Later I visited the shop. Just as I put my hands on the pushbar to open the shop door my memory recall kicked in. Shit. Later DJ pitched me some jive that I could have gone along.

Back out @ JEM TH late afternoon. I have been hiking in the desert many days. Today I hiked up a wash pouring off Gooseberry. I ran out of daylight b4 I found the bottom of the pour over.

Today is Dan’s & my big Hurricane Rim Loop ride. The standard loop is 20 miles. Dan’s route started us out over @ Sheeps Bridge rd which would allow for a warm up b4 the H hill climb out of valley. Worked out well. Riding the 7 miles of the Rim to the town TH is the toughest technically, the CCW way I ride it, these miles would have been the last of the ride when I am played out. Today we mashed our way thru. The H hill was still a grunt. We climbed the steepest part which is on a double track. Dan was in his stride. Strategy is paying off. Dan detects a flat rear tire. Slime tube failed. I found 3 thorns stuck in the tire which affected the slime failing. Dan cooled off causing his restart on chilled body. We use the same Edge 305. Dan is 18 months older than me. He gets his heart rate up to 170s. I blow up @ 140.

There used to be 3 features that I walked. Today I knocked the tight climbing switchback. I sessioned it and made it 2 times straight. Success.

Dan records his ride data and is cognizant when his times lengthen. Prior to our start I told him I was going to more enjoy myself by riding @ less than a hustle. Hem embraced the effort also. We had a fun ride.

We pedaled off @ 12 and finished @ 5:00 in the fading light. Riding down the JEM trail in the lat light made for long shadows. Can’t describe the lighting and film would not have captured all of what it is. Just my visual enjoyment.

Drove back to OTE to help put away the bikes and invite them to share a Chinese Buffet dinner. Not healthy.

Drove back out to JEM TH. Flat out full moon. I have been here 3 weeks. desert is real dark when no moon shine.

25 miles in 3 hrs 14 min climbed 2300′. Just a great ride on a great trail. One of IMBA epics.

Yesterday i washed windows. The h2o vapor from the burning propane condenses on the inside of the windshield mostly on the passengers side. i cleaned the inside of the windshield now the streaks of h2o won’t carry dirt.

Last Saturday I fell a short distance onto the only pointed edge on the rock  striking my upper side rear left leg. This what a coumadin bruise looks like:

good night

17 degrees again this AM w/ ice creeping up the inside of the windshield. I have a noon rendezvous w/ Kevin  down @ OTE which made for a leisurely start. I park facing the west for the sunset and forward tilt for keeping my head slightly higher when I sleep. That means that the sunrise is seen only in the rear view mirrors. The joy of a sufficiently full tank of propane and a new camper battery makes for a snug as a bug feeling.

Yesterday I drove down to ST George for my ear nose throat DR. He said the sinus cyst is not the cause of my head aches. Data is showing that people love w/ them. he suggested another go at an eye DR. I made an appointment for next week.

I returned to the Interstate Battery shop seeking an analysis of my 5 year old camper battery. All of the cells were less than full. The mech put a load on it and it was dead w/ a bad cell. I sprung for another $159 battery.  W/ my usage in the AM b4 the sun charges I have 12 something volts. Great.

Kevin and I met @ OTE then drove the short distance uphill to the TH. The first part is a road climb hump right off the bat on a cold body which was dressed head to toe like the Santa Clara trail ride. I lead the entire ride per agreement, the ride was 2 1/2 hrs for the 20 miles. We stopped 2X for a short break. Pedals spinning. Humper. I like the trail as it has great mixture of stuff. I never tire of riding it. There are several places that i can not ride because I run out of steam to make the climbing move. I nailed the switchbacks again today. We encountered 2 riders.

Last night I rented “The Help” which is about black maids in Jackson, Mississippi. Segregation and white superficial supremacy, the maids were more worldly and connected than their white women employers. I sought medical treatment in Jackson hospital emergency room for blood clot issue. City streets are the worst I have driven, even worse than Spokane.

Back out @ JEM TH. I burned the brown rice in my Crouset as the stove won’t simmer low enough and later I forgot to turn of the gas and burnt the stuck on ride.

Tomorrow is a rest and laundry day. On Friday Dan and I ride the rim trail. Sat shop ride is Guacamole trail, another mesa trail near Virgin