Left Deer Pass camp for town and chiro appointment. Mary made several small adjustments. I mentioned my sore left knee and she responded w/ her percussive device. Knee pain still exists. Wed’s appointment w/ ortho DR will reveal damage.

Drove to Fat Tire for fork repair. Hung there most of the day as Mr. Brown let us down. I left my bike w/ hopes of replaced lowers tomorrow. Dave called SRAM about my petered out Reverb. He told me he explained to them who I am and that they are giving me primo replacement service. The new post will be my 4th. Perhaps the bugs will be exterminated this time. I want an adjustable seatpost back on my bike.

Just another Sedona weather day. I finally left town back to Deer Pass late afternoon. Once parked I poured a beer into my IMBA world summit pint glass and set it on my table towards the edge. I was standing moving around when the sheath of my Leatherman caught the glass causing it to spill. What a mess less than 12 oz of beer can make. My driver’s seat which is also my desk , dining room, living room, and library chair was sprayed. I wiped up whatever the wet rag could extract. I put multiple pages of the Arizona Republic newspaper onto the seat then sat on it soaking water and beer into my britches. Beer smell for the ages. First disaster to interior.

I have an intense headache 7X24 that is getting worse. Home medication is not dulling it nor solving source. Fri AM I have a DR appointment.

Last night fixing dinner I violated a Boy Scout Toten Chip rule by cutting towards myself slicing across the upper surface of my left little finger. I keep my knives sharp. I scored a clean slice about 1″ long. Coumadin bleed.

My shoulder is responding to thera band exercises. The tendonitis is waning also. I am wearing out. And my butt is wet.

Life goes on.

Oh, I bought on line a new heater, same brand and model, to replace my old unit that wasn’t performing up to spec. It was a simple lift the old unit off the attach screws on the face of the galley and wrenching loose the propane coupling. The new one slipped right onto the screws and the fitting tightened up w/ my left handed metric adjustable wrench. The new one starts w/ 1 Piezo strike. It seems to put out more heat. I am happier.

Readership data indicates visits to this blog drop off on the weekend but pick back up thru the work week. Hello Monday morning to y’all.

Catching back up resting from Sedona lifestyle. Thurs was a rest day after PT. Therapist worked on my right shoulder by giving me some exercises. Biking posture manifests into a hunched over forward posture. The exercises pull the shoulder blades back towards the spine allowing me to stand more upright. My tendonitis is less painful.

I did my weekly wash @ only laundromat in Sedona.

Friday afternoon was the Bike and Bean beer and pizza shop ride. Today 23 riders showed. Rebecca and her friend Luke joined. Simon lead. We rode Bell Rock pathway to Baby Bell. Simon launched a roll that illustrated his former prowess as a downhiller. Even the VA crew chose not to match his show. We continued to Llama as the group spread out. i maintained my last position. Llama to Little Horse to Chicken Point. A complicated stairstep tech problem exists just below Chicken Point. Tim and Colon from VA worked it to finally climb it. Phenomenal effort! Above Chicken Point we watched a rider hike his bike up a face to ride the infamous white line which is a death drop if the line is missed. We all stood and gaped as did a bunch of Pink Jeep tourists. He pulled it off. Scotty shot this video of Simon and Josh riding it. Missing is the hairy perspective of height.

Next we rode Hog Heaven another of the high exposed routes. The group fragmented. I rode behind Sue and watched her huck a roll down I finally rolled down. The huck was more predictable. I rode some more pieces. Then dropped to Hog Wash for the return to Broken Arrow, down Little Horse to HT where i rode right up to that staircase problem I solved 2 weeks ago and rode it right on down. HT drops to Sleezy Breezy wash up to Shades connector then Shades back to shop. My reverb seatpost shit the bed by involuntarily dropping when I sat on it. Bummer.

Back @ BnB for post ride revelry. I called Dave @ Fat Tire about my Reverb. He said it is a warranty issue and I will get a replacement. I will visit on Monday for reorder. My new Revelation fork lowers are to arrive and he will install it. wearing bike and body parts in Sedona. I drove back to west Sedona to sleep in Danny’s side yard.

Sat was ritual b-fast @ Wildflower. My ride plan is to meet Rebecca and Luke up @ the high school @ 1. First I swapped out my seat dropper for my old rigid seat post. We headed out on our ride. Riding w/ a fixed length seat post was like riding w/o a helmet feeling in that I was unprotected. I want my dropper back on. We were out for 3 plus hours on a Sat on very popular trails and saw fewer than 10 people, bikers and hikers. Amazing.

I crammed 2 bikes and 2 passengers inside my van for the drive back to Dave and Rebecca’s rented house on Chapel for a shower and dinner. Dave and Rebecca own The Hub bike shop in Green Bay, WI. They have been driving the 1,800 miles down to Sedona for 10 years. I like them. Their rental is posh but lacked a suitable parking place for my van. I drove down thru VOC out to Beaverhead for the night.

My left knee is problematic causing pain. I have an ortho appointment on Wed up in Flag. I chose to rest again on Sunday. Health issues.  I am missing some riding which is no big deal as the weather continues to be sunny, warm, and dry and i have nothing but free time. Drove out to Deer pass road. Very red colorful sunset.

Last night I spent many minutes framing my Sedona area rides into a .jpg. This computer, as i suspect all worn laptops have slow response times, consumes so much waiting time. I saved the pic to a thumb drive. Today i drove in from Deer Pass to a graphics shop to buy a large size and laminate both sides. I used my BECU debit card for the transaction which was denied both as debit and credit. Huh? I owe prepay fee. I bought groceries @ Safeway and paid w/ the card. Transaction denied. 2 out of 2, something is wrong w/ my account. Duh(?). Called credit union fraud dept who put a hold on my card for 2 unusual charges from Russia. Not me. BECU killed my card; I ordered a new one that will be sent to my Seattle mailing address that I will ask to be forwarded to me here. Maybe 2 weeks w/o a card. Nearest place to supply my cash economy is Cottonwood @ a member credit union. Can’t buy anything on line. I have had that number for close to 20 years.

Monday was a rest day. Dave @ Fat Tire told me to be @ his shop @ 9:00AM opening and he will call a rockshox engineer to explain the situation and ask for resolution. Dave is a well spoken, educated in marketing, learned bike mechanics in their entirity and speaks at length. He called and got thru to the engineer he wanted to speak to. Rockshox is warrantying new lowers to be sent to Dave.

Tues AM was PT for tendonitis. Brad tells me but I already know that healing will be from not using it. AM I likely to quit? Not. But I will reduce frequency and intensity.

Then went on BnB shop ride, another Cathedral mtn climb a bike ride. Dropping down to sleezy breezy back up to Shades. I am riding w/ more confidence coming from skill. Another after ride open  beer tap boys on bikes session. I drink only 1 beer almost always. People were planning on 7:00PM dinner in Sedona joining the VA group. Danny and I were the only VOC people. Visited w/ their gang which is riding big time rides, like they have a sense of urgency. Me, there is always tomorrow and 2 to 3 hr ride times are just right. City camped @ Danny’s after a shower, first in 3 days.

Today was the bank card recovery. I was late to Jimmy’s skills enhancement session. We rode  out to a wash where he instructe me on stepups. I am getting a hang of the second part of the pedal wheely in lifting the rear wheel over both square edged and rolled edge rocks. Correctly doen the rear wheel misses the leading rock edge. We worked for an hour.

Back @ BnB. I finally rode back to my van set on doing some tasks. First up was to pump up the road bike tires. I climbed up on the JOBOX instead of taking the bike down. I’m pumping a floor pump when Dave from Green Bay pulls in. We chat for quite a while pushing my task start time later. Next stop was PJs for their killer chicken salad. Ran into Jay, a pharmist where I buy my meds. Chatted w/ his group. Paid for dinner w/ cash. Finally drove out to Beaverhead. I rented a movie Monday that i haven’t seen.

Oh, Monday night i stayed @ Beaverhead as did Beth, she texted me she was near me. She invited me over. I countered w/ heat and Frank Sinatra on XM. She came over. I fixed dinner and shared w/ her.