Whew, good news about my left knee except it is wearing out. Made a quick dash up canyon to Flag where snow was forecast. 2 ways to get to Flag: shortest is up Oak Creek Canyon but is a twisty broken pavement road that many logging roads would put to shame only a logging road would not have been built up canyon. The other longer route is I-17. Both would be affected by snow. Shit, finally a winter storm and I need to drive in it. Flag is 28 miles from uptown, the GPS reported 59 min drive upcanyon.
I got on the road early today to do my wash and Dave @ Fat Tire to work on my bike. At the laundromat I looked up and saw Bruce Dickman standing there w/ a grin on his face. I met Bruce back in Dalton, GA where he announced the Snake Creek Gap race. He plugged my effort. He is here selling a line of bike chemicals, ProGold. He loaded me up w/ samples. He says his chain lube is better than Squirt. Plus he gave me cleaner for my bike. He’s kidding right? My unpainted frame was for a reason, it never looks clean when it is clean. All petroleum based.
Rolled into Fat Tire for Dave’s bike care. He installed my 4th Reverb, it has nut smacker speed on the return. Credit to SRAM for such rapid replacement, someday they will eliminate all the bugs. Today BikeMag and MBA are touting the seat dropper post. He replaced the broken spoke & nipple. He says Aluminum nipples are better than brass. My wheel is almost 2 years old on a Chris King hub. DT Swiss rim and spokes.
AT Fat Tire i looked out the shop window @ snow clouds up a lateral canyon. Forecast in Flag was 60% after 11:00. I arrived just after 2PM. I was out of the DR building @3PM. I drove down RT 66 into town. I checked out 4 outdoor gear shops looking for a new belt but didn’t buy. I whirl winded thru Absolute to say Hello. Snow was falling in town. I saw rigs w/ accumulated snow. I beat feet back to Sedona. I-17 was shrouded in snow w/ some sticking. I-17 is longer and stays @ elevation longer than Oak Creek. I dropped down Oak Creek where snow hadn’t stuck nor fallen. Made it back to Sedona to overcast skies and 40 degrees.
Jimmy @ Bike and Bean has asked me to share my mapping data w/ him and I agreed. He will tell me the ride and direction then I will GPS it and load it onto my map. I have something that I can contribute.
Snow did fall in Village of Oak Creek after dark that didn’t stick and was of little amount.
Hanging here in a parking lot writing this while waiting for 9:00PM local start time of the Zags vs BYU game in Utah. Going down to PJ’s to watch it. Go Zags!
The main man behind the new bike mag, FreeHub, is in town for a Sedona adventure. He is from Bellingham, WA where predominant color is green. He changed to primary color red. And his skin is drying out.
Tomorrow is shop ride. I have a DR appointment concerning my headache.