Fri AM I drove down to Cottonwood for new vinylcal pic applied to van.  Wow! What vivid detail.

Stopped @ Zoomers where Dean manages the shop. Brief conversation. He autographed his article in Bike. True to my first ride in Sedona that he helped me learn desert lessons.

Shop ride Friday @ 2:00. 23 riders head out. The Shenandoah Bicycle shop in force w/ owner Tim & s.o. Sue Haywood, Colin, & Nat. Beth from Moab and several of her Moab friends. Chewy set the ride. They are chargers, Sedona riders were in the mix. Rode Shades to Highline, out Transcept to drop off then back, down Highline, left on Shades, down to HT, then down to Sleezy Breezy wash to Shades to beer and pizza @ BnB. What a group and ride. I rode really hard pushing my heart to average 132 beats per min for the ride.

Back @ the shop hanging w/ almost all of the riders mingling around the small shop drinking beer and eating pizza, compliments of Bike and Bean to Friday afternoon shop riders.

Short sleeves weather. Breaking at The Pedestal. Observe the attire.

Drove to Dannys for a shower. Then city camped.

Sat was traditional Bfast @ Wildflower. Beth preceded us. Today’s plan was riding from Danny’s street ride over to Soldiers wash area. Danny lead.  Beth’s 2 lady friends are pro mtn bike racers. I rode in the back. Weather forecast was 60% rain and gust to 33 mph after 11:00. Danny bet Beth a six pack it would rain. We stayed dry and Beth won beer. Soldiers wash is a trail maze that I do not understand. 7 sacred pools over to Tea cup, Thunder mtn, plus more memory fails to recover. I was beat from yesterday’s hard ride. I think on Girdner Beth flatted. We cajoled her to change her tire in front of us for amusement. Beth and 2 of her friends are guides. 5 minutes w/ pooling repair resources.

My chain was skipping on the smaller cluster gears. No solution was found during the ride. I needed to get to Fat Tire in uptown b4 closing time. Called Dave who said come on over. Derailleur worn & hanger bend, & binding shifter cable. Discovered that even a new maxxle can’t snug the right fork leg to the hub allowing play. I need to be in his shop Mon Am for his telecon w/ Rockshox.

I bought groceries and headed for deer pass.  Several hours after dark winds gusted perhaps meeting their forecasted strength. Rain fell also. Weather was slower than the forecast. Van rocked.

Today i am riding w/ the old Mountain Bike heaven crew meeting @ Johhny’s Garage which is now the name of the ride. Cat and Dave were new to me, otherwise the regulars: Dangerous Dave, Jeff, Kevin, Mike, Johnny. We rode city streets to get to Thunder mtn up against the cliff trail. Dropped onto Dry Creek rd then down Girdner to Anaconda, Cypress, somehow over to top of Christmas wash turning left and riding up wash to a system trail, up Canyon of Fools to Mescal riding a new saner exit, road ride to cypress, up Snake to Girdner, out to Dry Creek rd then finishing on Thunder mtn to city streets back to Johnny’s.

We rode down Christmas wash which is what it is: a wash filled w/ jumble of rocks that is mostly rideable when one keeps his wits about. Looking ahead, balance, power, and understanding of what i can get from the bike.

Last piece of wash:

 

FS has provided a sanitized route to Mescal while leaving the older harder line. Rode up Canyon of Fools which is a wall ride going down. Uphill it was right up the gut. Canyon is carved by runoff that choked to simultaneous feet scraping on the sidewalls, sky about 9 feet above.

Rode back to Johnnys.

Drank a beer @ Oak Creek brew pub while watching the end of the Pats game and stayed for 1st quarter of Giants and niners. Camp and dinner was back out @ Deer Pass.

Basically i bike ride, hang out somewhere & drink beer, maybe going out for dinner, maybe a shower, maybe city camping, maybe desert. I ride w/ riders who have urgency to ride. I ride 5 days a week. The trails are technical requiring sharp attention as spacing offers painful landings. My left knee has an issue that i need to have looked after. My right shoulder down to my elbow are painful. Tues I start PT on tennis elbow.  Need to see DR in Flag. No falls, just wear and tear from Sedona riding.

Pics are from 3 distinctly different rides and riders as I was the only common rider.

Not sleeping well as i should be from a ride. I will try now to rest.

Steve said meet @ BnB @ 10:00.  To me that meant Highline.

We left just after 10:00. Frost was still on the ground in sheltered areas. Steve had no idea of what he was getting into. Highline is its namesake high above the valley and just below the cliffs above. Places of exposure w/ tech moves on the tread.

We rode over frozen ground, thawed freeze thaw, and dust dry tread. Steve was gaga over the trail. Not like Woods River valley in Idaho. I walked my usual spots reduced by one.

We hike a biked down the Baldwin drop in then rode around Baldwin for a short jaunt to Pink Feet crossing that can be crossed w/ wet feet and not swept downstream. We climbed up Templeton switchbacks then dropped down into Sleezy breezy wash for the climb out. Wash riding.

Steve treated me to lunch. He made plans to leave for Sun Valley tomorrow @ 5:20AM to beat the huge snowstorm up north.

I worked on my bike in the parking lot under blue skies. Hung @ the Bean for a short while then drove out to Beaverhead flats for the night. More succulent weather is forecast. Tough duty.

That’s what pictures show.

Yesterday was chiro working on my arm & headache. Afterwards i stopped @ an outdoor shop and ran into Beth and Pat. We chatted then adjourned to a coffee shop for more conversation lubricated by caffeine. We parted w/ ride plans for today.

Out in the parking lot I ran into Dave and Rebecca from Green Bay. Will make meeting plans. Drove down to BnB. Jimmy said that Tim and Sue from Harrisburg, VA are here for the month.

I called PUSH telling them about my less than PUSH plush fork performance. I was told to lower the air pressure. Will evaluate on next ride. Next ride results seemed to be smoother.

Spent solitary night @ gay pick up place.

Today I met Beth and Pat @ BnB. Our ride plan is to ride some of what I rode last Sat. Another Sedona day. Pat made a miscalculation resulting in a plummet down the outside edge of the trail. Beth and I patched a gash on her chin. We stopped @ an intersection and tried to understand the trail map that was on 2 pieces of different scale map. Part of it fell apart from the water I spilled while filling my hydration bladder. i was not lost but not knowing which way to go. A rider zoomed down. I immediately recognized him as Joe Murray. I introduced myself. He said he knew of me. He corrected my navigation problem and we pedaled over to Girdner back to the rigs. I bid Pat and Beth adieu.

I made arrangements w/ a cabinet maker to rebuild the dresser drawers. I stopped @ his shop and surrendered the drawers for several days. i have clothes in boxes and on the floor.

I drove to Danny’s for a shower. He has a spinal nerve issue causing dizziness rendering him supine. I fixed us dinner and cleaned up the kitchen. I am city camped in the side yard.

 

Ladies love outlaws like babies like stray dogs

Ladies touch babies like a banker touches gold

And outlaws touch ladies somewhere deep in their soul

Thanks Waylon.

Today I was parked @ IGA grocery store in VOC. A single woman approached me to check out my van. She started talking about her traveling most recently riding a bicycle from Portland to here packing her possessions. She is an artist, she said she would swap art work for food. She stated she has had nothing but great experiences in her years of wandering. We both concurred that there are so many great helpful people around.

Mommas don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

Thanks Willie.

Listening to Willies place XM radio.