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No rain fell during the night. After bfast I will drive down to Santa Clara to ride Barrel Roll. I made it to the TH. However, whatever is in my chest has weakened me such that I decided I couldn’t push myself to ride. I have a productive cough occurring every several minutes, my temp is 97.5. Chest cold? Won’t clear up.

I did hike up to Cove Wash TH on the social trail. Unfortunately portions of this trail are fall line that have eroded, a gulley where a single track tread used to be. Trail builder did not shed the water off the trail. Dirt was still a bit tacky, tomorrow it will be hero dirt. Another weather system coming in on Wed. Ride tomorrow or wait another several days.

Hope springs from my wracking chest that I will be able to ride tomorrow. I am camped outside ST George which saved me the drive back to Hurricane and return tomorrow.

Heater is running on low which @ 10:00 outside temp of 35 degrees just takes the bite of the chill. Might sleep quite well under doubled down blanket and wearing a stocking cap.

Rain fell off and on all night and into morning. Chilled off. The heater runs OK on medium setting w/o setting off the alarm therefore I must be safe. The heater has been on since last evening and will be on into tomorrow. Staying comfortable.

No riding today. However, for the cyclecross crowd there is a race this after. Cycle cross weather usually is shitty, hard on the racers but even harder on the spectators. No combination  bicycle racing and beer drinking – past the season and this is Utah. Rain fell but quit b4 the feature race went off. The course was over bull dozed raw earth that turned gooey w/ addition of rain. The course layout was very spectator viewing friendly, the fans can heckle the races right up close, if you were nimble you could catch the same racer several times in the same lap. Shitty. Man, when I raced i pushed myself as these guys did also, I liked to suffer in private. This race puts racer emotions out for public consumption.

Hey Pat, you gave me the link for Zag basketball. I tried it tonight to no success. Back up move was to the laundromat TV that I checked out earlier and learned that ESPN2 station was received. Check. I dashed in several mins into the game. Zags won. Great to see them live. Kelly Olynic is huge.

No rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. My hope is the trails @ Barrel Roll will be dry enough to ride.

I washed off the accreeted Arkansas mud over desert dust from my bike. Chilly work outside. The raw finish on the frame allows for a dirty looking frame, it doesn’t take on a shine.

Yesterday I awoke @ the upper JEM TH w/ a list of things to do. OK first was b-fast of Scotish stone ground oatmeal cooked w/ blueberries then finished w/ some finely diced raw walnuts and a splash of real maple syrup. Add 2 pieces of whole wheat toast buttered and slathered in a Smuckers jam. Wake up is a cup of Todds toddy cold brewed coffee. Good to go after cleaning up my kitchen. First off is testing my blood for clotting rate I do weekly. INR value is 2.5 w/in range. Next was laundry I do once a week normal day is Thurs. Nice laundromat. The same woman is still there. Not surprising as as she said she has been there 11 years. Next was Over The Edge bike shop. Quentin and I greeted each other. Plan then was to ride Hurricane Rim trail as the forecast was calling for rain. Dirt has clay that holds water rendering trails unrideable.

The Hurricane Rim trail is now an IMBA epic. It is a 20 mile loop just above town. The trail starts w/ a jeep trail climbing up to Goulds rim. I rode into a recent rangeland fire. Fire jumped Goulds wash.

My new Nikon takes much nicer photos, however, each creates more bytes than this site allows to upload. Great but unable to share.

Over the years i have ridden this trail bunches. each year a skills test is presented, how is my riding this year compared to last? I have this chest cold that limits how hard i am able to push myself. The same features stalled me, still because I lack the wind to make the climb. I am a better rider than last year.

Back into town. Learned there is an Any Time Fitness in town that sells showers. I checked it out. I was greeted by the owner who recognized me from visits years ago @ his facility in Santa Clara out near Barrel Roll. $5 and no driving made more sense than driving 20 mins for a free shower.

I spent the night in town behind the shop.

I covered my bike after my ride. Rain fell during the night per forecast.

My heater on low and med settings doesn’t burn all the propane which sets off my propane CO alarm. last night was too warm for the high setting so i slept w/o heat.

Today was chore day. I started it w/ breakfast @ The Cafe just across a parking lot from my parked van. It is owned and Run by Kevin and Pam, whom I met last year. Kevin is a past Riders who Inspire from MBA. Neat little place they have.

I drove into ST George. Big item was battery store to service batteries I bought there last year and to check out the 3rd battery installed by Van Specialties that has never been checked. Access required disassembly of my dresser. I succeeded. The battery passed stress test. i passed my stress test by reassembling the parts.

Tomorrow I might go back to ST George and ride Barrel Roll etc as the tread is mostly crushed rock. That is if it is not raining.

Today I visited Red Rock cyclery in ST George. I was greeted by a woman, Kristina, who said she had met me somewhere. Neither could remember where. She is on a short road trip to Moab. I shared ride info w/ her. She is trailing for the BC race. Good for her.