Last night my sound system was affected by the vortex energy here in Sedona. It hit behind Picassos. Anyway the tuner’s mind went on a bender and has since failed to respond to controls and gone into flat line land. Order a replacement tomorrow.

Yesterday Danny and I met for usual Sat Bfast. Canadian Bacon stopped by and shared his spin on the trail closure. There is so much one sided conversations. I would so much like to have several of these people in the same room to hear from their lips.

Danny and I created this route (mostly Danny) where his GF would shuttle us down to BnB and we would ride back to his house in West Sedona. Danny wanted to ride Rabbit Ear Ridge climb in 2:2 @ his own pace. He did. I stopped once to remove my glasses and put them on my helmet because of the sweat dripping into my eyes. What a hump. The early part of the ride was like we did previously on Fri. We dropped onto Llama over to bail route to Bell rock pathway. We turned onto Easy Breezy which is now an adopted system trail being loved by removing tech features. Shit. We climbed Templeton to share the trail w/ mobs of hikers. Much easier to ride down the climb out of the creek bottom. We crossed @ Red Rock crossing getting our feet wet because of the h20 flowing over the stepping stones. We rode thru Budda beach then made a hike a bike up to Ridge continuing all the way to the Recycle center then rode the road back to his house. 19.86 miles climbed 2285′ in 3 hr riding time. We were out for almost 5 hrs, I did not pee once. dehydrated.

A beer and shower @ Danny’s then I went to picassos where the sounds freaked out. I was too dehydrated to really enjoy dinner. I drove out to Deer Pass camp that is still crowded. An FS  LEO truck checked the occupants out but didn’t stop to talk to me.

Today was  a Johnny’s garage ride w/ many of the old MBH riders. Rhama rode today. Maybe 12 riders of good technical ability and cardio. As the ride went on riders split off. Maybe 6 of us lasted to climb back up Special Ed. Rhama put on a clinic for riding slowly the entire trail. The trail is basalt rock buried leaving exposed maybe the top 10″ in places. Then there is the prickly pear penalizing a rider for making the trail wider. Too bad as this trail is in the closure area.

Today I drank almost all of my 70 ozs of h2o on our 2 hr ride time ride. Still didn’t pee.

A road ride back to Recycle center. I drank a recovery beer then recycled the bottle @ the center. I drove over to Dannys to pick my forgotten wash cloth from yesterday’s shower. He and his GF, Ellie, just returned from their hike. I ended up socializing for a bit. My plan was to shower then drive down to BnB to check out the Santa Cruz demo scene. I stopped @ New Frontiers for groceries where I ran into LA. She thanked me for the red rock blog pictures she saw while overseas. On the way down to BnB I saw 2 mtn bikers slowly pedaling on the road. One stuck out his thumb. I pulled to the curb. They were finishing up a long Sedona ride on the road back to BnB. It was Zack from Fri. night. I loaded them and 2 bikes inside my van. A guy runs up to my window and asks if I could take him down to VOC. He waived $ that I refused. I ferried 2 riders and their bikes and a walker to BnB. The shop was closed, the demo was put away, there was nobody to hang w/. Bummer. I drove out to Beaverhead and called it a day.

Tomorrow I order replacement tuner.

Tonight I copied my Sedona 2013 ride map. I will take it to a print shop for an enlarged print.

I am replacing the Ardent rear tire w/ a Conti trail king like I used to ride which I think climbs better.

Rest day tomorrow.

Wichita is in the final 4 after beating the Zags last weekend then OSU yesterday.

Pleasant weather. No heater @ night, a slight short lived chill in the AM. Mid 70s for the high.

My time here is running short.  Sedona has really been my home for 4 years while I travel. What a place to leave from. 8 months from now and I will return.

Cover story and pic of new issue of Dirt Rag is about Sedona.

last night after dark I was researching the web from my computer. A rig pulled into my little cubby. I sent negative vibes out to not share my small private space. They turned around and left. Later another rig pulled the pulled sideways across my front bumper. WTF? I turn around to fully see what this rig was about and I saw that it was Mike, the USFS LEO, a fellow mtn biker and past road tripper. Just amazed how he found me. I am not hiding, but of all the gin joints in all of the world and he lands up in mine. We stood outside and conversed for quiet a while. So great to have an uninterrupted conversation. And it wasn’t while being bent over the hood w/ my hands behind my back. I still view LEOs as my scolding mother. Transactional analysis is child (me) parent (Mike). He told me that the law is any rig can be searched w/o probable cause w/in 100 miles of international border. I am rethinking my rides at Patagonia & Noble Canyon. My fear is my van is torn apart during a search and I am left w/ a pile of parts and nothing found. He said the government issues a torte claim to file for cost of restoring rig to undamaged state. I just really don’t want to expose myself to the hassle.

Deer Pass is crowded way more than ever.

Drove into my DR appointment. Mark said my wound is healing well enough to no longer require packing. He steri stripped the wound believing they will hold wound closed. Next visit is next Wed.

I drove over to Fat Tire hoping that I would get to meet Pernille again. She dropped a bike off yesterday. Wow! energy waves passed. I wanted more. She arrived shortly after I arrived. Her energy was so wonderfully positive, we warmed up to each other. Darn. She is returning home to Copenhagen on Sunday. My glasses are on crooked.

Drove down to BnB for Fri ride. Just Danny, Beernuts, and Scot showed. 75 degrees while seasonal and not overly hot was still hot to ride in. We ended up a short ride out Old mans wash on the other side of 179. Climbing Rabbit Ears ridge is on a below grade horse hooves chewed up cobble trail. Today i rode it non stop in its entirety. I was right behind Danny who was right behind Scot. Key again was 2:2 that allowed me to track stand as needed to negotiate a rock. Success; felt good about my accomplishment. Crazy Sedona riding. I made a left turn too outside and greeted a prickly pear w/ my right hand. The cactus left 3 large spines imbedded in the back of my hand. Painful I hollered I was injured. I stopped. I pulled the spines out but 1 broke off under my skin. When I put my new stiff glove back on and clenched my fist the spine was pressed deeper into  my skin. I rode bare hand the rest of route. Back @ the van I pulled my tweezers out of my first aid kit and pulled the spine out. Relief.

Made it back to BnB just after 5:00 closing for traditional Fri beer for riders. The numbers grew w/ core people arriving. Jimmy also feeds pizza. I ate a slice and a banana for dinner and skipped a shower. I hung until 8:00 then left for now crowded Beaverhead. I met Zack who is a dead ringer for Jason of IMBA trail solutions. I learned that he is a planner for NW BLM lands. He worked on Sandy Canyon out near Portland, OR that he encouraged me to check out.

Tomorrow is Bfast w/ Danny @ 8 @ Wildflower in Uptown.

Easter weekend crowd. Living in a tourist & retirement community. Some tourist belong to retirement community but they are still getting on.

Or wouldn’t. After reviewing the HR data I understood why: My HR was higher than usual. I rode a past route from the Recycling Center out Carroll canyon to Bike Path climbing up to Radar then dropping down Under the radar, Under, under, the radar, Under, under, under, the radar to exit from a wash. I rode Chavez ranch road a short distance to pick up Ramshead up to Ridge, then jogged over onto Sketch back to Ridge onto Carroll Canyon back to van. 75 degrees, not overly hot. Had no attack attitude. Shortened the ride eliminating the climb up Hurkenham and descent on Special Ed.Discovered that I left the driver’s window down. Nothing disturbed.

Still have, to me, a slight fever.

Several branches cut my skin drawing blood which ran for a short time then clotted. Tonight I checked my INR which was 3.3 that is above my prescribed 2.X range. Pleased that the blood clotted as quickly w/ this high value.

A shower @ Snap. A visit w/ Jason @ the water store, groceries then out to Deer Pass b4 dinner.

Yesterday I visited Dave’s shop. I asked about the remains of the buildings out on Western Civ. He didn’t know and suggested the Historical Society that turned out to be just up Jordan rd. My visit revealed that the Rupe / Rogers homestead history will be presented @ an upcoming meeting. Seems that someone wants to build a development on the private land. Interesting: it is an in holding w/ no private access.

Drove down to BnB. traffic coming up canyon was jammed packed, Morning visiting traffic. As long as I stay out of Uptown I stay out of heavy traffic.

I made a Thai dinner using the remaining 1/2 can of coconut milk.

Last night I finally slept my usual dead out. I fell asleep w/ XM on. I awoke @ 2:20 not knowing what time it was. I had no center to work from. The alarm woke me. Great sleep.

Tomorrow is another DR visit to treat the cyst removal hole. Perhaps it will be healed enough now to just bandage it closed. Fri BnB shop ride.

Last night I researched Garmin for mtn bike gps data for kentucky camp. I found a guy’s route that might be what I need. I can load the route to my Edge 305 and follow that to keep me on track. I read that there is a mish mash of trails and old jeep roads for the route. GPS  will keep me found. I plan on driving way south for the ride should the temps be tolerable.

Wash today. Clean sheets and clean body.