Sedona has what are known as 3 H’s. HiLine, Hogs, and Hangover. I have ridden Hiline several times just this visit. Yesterday it was a Hogs loop. Today it was Hangover.

Yesterday afternoon was BnB shop ride @ 3. Good turnout of regulars plus 2 visitors. Hogs was picked as a rdie, however there are several ways to do it. After much attempted herding we worked our way over to Hog Wash that is underneath High on the Hogs that we would get to later. Both these trails are biker built heads up technical challenges. Hog Wash took us to Broken Arrow, a system trail, that we rode up to connect w/ Hogs.

Hogs uses various ledges where your uphill handlebar almost scrapes rock. There are 2 places I won’t ride as they are well above my confidence level. Our route looped back to Hog Wash then Mystic to residential streets to Easy Breezy wash ride some of it over horse hoof pits. The group seemed to break up as riders chose different ways back to shop. Fri night rides finish w/ beer and usually pizza back @ shop. Wonderful night to sit outside. Jimmie replaced pizza w/ grilled meats.  And a party happened w/ other regulars joining in. Jammin. Duane and Erin and I  planned a Hangover ride today @ 11:00. I stayed till almost 8 w/ no dinner before I left to drive up to Sedona to Snap for a shower and dinner @ Picazzos. Satiated I drove out to crowded Deer Pass camp.

Today was Sedona’s St Patrick’s parade day. I wanted to be @ TH on Schnebly rd before traffic on 179 plugged. Duane called to cancel. 11:00 and no Erin. I gave him several grace minutes b4 I pedaled upcanyon. Just b4 Cow Pies TH my phone rang. It was Erin back in Cornville. Something tells me the ride was hatched under influence of beer, except for me.

So, Hangover, to me the most technical and scary of all the rides here. Sure Hiline has the roll in but it is short. Hogs has 2 moves. hangover was loaded w/ consequences that curbed my riding. I walked quite a bit. I was riding by myself. Would I have ridden more if others were along? perhaps if I followed someone’s wheel. The trail is built again on ledges on the mountain side. Handle bar scrapes rock and the other is out in space or banging a tree.

On the other side of saddle where Hangover goes:

Typical pieces of trail:

I wanted so much to be off this trail. The trail exits the hangover stuff to a slick rock shield that required more lowering my bike down the steps. I am so enjoying the security of these pearl Izumi shoes and the traction they give me. The trail continued to traverse drop from the up against the peak to a woods trail down to Munds wagon tr final dirt back to TH. I encountered Don a board member of Sedona Mtn Bike Club and wife Jodi doing some drainage work on the trail that Don has adopted. Long conversation ensued while my body cooled off. Cold body climbing right away w/ no warm up when i continued my ride. Bitch.

Loop ride was only 8 miles that climbed 1304′ that took 1 hr 37 mins. I so much wanted to survive to ride my 1000th ride tomorrow.

A shower @ Snap and drive out to Deer Pass.

Here is to Laura who is off shore wanting some red dirt.

Tomorrow @ 1:00 @ BnB is the kick off for my celebratory ride.

And Dry Creek is running. 1.4″ of rain fell Fri and Sat. No washes are running but there are occasional pools saying rain did fall.

Yesterday Danny and I rode from the Recycle Center. Our immediate goal was to find the top of Radar then ride down hill using Under the radar, Under Under the radar to Chavez ranch road. We rode Bike Path out. I made the climb for the first time up a nasty piece of work. Danny congratulated me in awe. We rode out to the high school where he thought the trail took off. We wandered around walking cross country (legally) searching for the trail. Danny called a life line who told us it went up a slight wash. We saw a diagonal climbing trail heading away from large natural dirt pile. Hardly the wash described. It turned out to be what we were looking forward. We rode it all the way down the  wash to the road. Score. Nasty bit of eroded system trail getting up to Secret Slick Rock. Up Ridge to Sketch past where Danny fell 3 weeks prior. Finished it off w/ Ridge etc back to TH. Danny and I argue a lot and often. No real harm. Just dark finish.

For the first time I waited for a shower @ Snap. Cleaned then headed out to Deer Pass. Comfortable night w/ no heat and 1 layer of blanket. Still doing the PT exercises every other day w/ some success. I am able to stretch a green band in a direction previously  painful. Shoulder still hurts. Caster oil seems to be a hit or miss effectivity  in reducing pain.

Today was up and at it for doing my wash and getting the whole ride thing in and done. Into the laundromat for weekly cleansing. Hot and dry speeds the line drying clothes hung inside my van. I visited w/ Dave for my weekly fix. A killer sandwich @ Sedona Memories then a drive out Dry Creek rd for my ride.

temp forecast was for mid 80s. I can do this as I have done it. Only today was the first of the season. At ride finish the dashboard thermometer read 85 degrees. The heat wore me down. I rode the same loop: Chuck wagon, Gunslinger, Mescal, Dead mans, arie, Cockscomb, Rupp, AZ Cypress, social trail, back to AZ Cypress climbing out on Anaconda to girdner, tuning left onto Chuck Wagon to the rd. Dry Creek was running way up high @ crossing on Gunslinger. The wash rocks were 6″ under water. I knew I had more crossings ahead to wade so I waded across. Hot ride.

Back into town for h2o and a Snap shower then back to Deer Pass. More campers.

If I ride Fri, Sat, and Sun, I will reach 1000 rides.

Last night I fell asleep and never started what I started. My seat hits the backs of my thighs creating a stress point that upon occasionally sets off incredibly painful cramps in my ham strings. I was awakened last night w/ the same. I managed to stretch my legs out then carefully get into bed. About 5 this AM I stretched in my half sleep and cramped up my right calf. Extreme care was used in my haste to slide out of bed to stretch, if I so much as tightened any leg muscle camps would be set off. My pee indicated I didn’t drink enough h20 to replenish what was lost during my short ride. Mustard didn’t help.

Back to yesterday.

Bfast of French toast using farm fresh eggs. Drove to BnB. My plan was a short recovery ride from shop. I discovered that my rear derailleur cable was frayed @ the derailleur. I checked w/ shop to learn if it could be replaced while I waited. There was a lull in activity as all the rentals were out. Turned out the cable was also frayed @ the grip shift that would not allow the cable to be pushed out. Shane ended up disassembling the housing to extract the end. New cable installed.

I rode out climbing Shades. There is a place where 2 rocks create a V that makes getting thru difficult. I made it last year but have not succeeded this year. Today one rock had been removed, hence dumbing down the trail. I told Jimmy about it. he said he noticed it and rebuilt the V. It was removed again. There is a local element that is dumbing down the trails.

My route coming back was easy Breezy, a wash ride. I rode over fresh horse prints pock marking the trail. F*****g horse riders. The FS is considering banning mtn bikes because of the damage they do. Give me a pack of mtn bikers riding a created social trail over a few horses riding on same social trails or traveling cross country. The FS is egregiously wrong.

Yes, there are several errant bike tracks that will weather out. The hoof prints are cast in. Our bikes’ suspensions are designed to go over things. The tracks are below grade that the wheels drop down into making for a harsh ride. Then there is the horse droppings to ride over.

I drove back to Snap for a shower, dinner @ Wildflower then deer Pass for the night. Warm enough for single layer blanket.

Forecast calls for temps into the low 80s as the week progresses, night time in mid 40s. Temp lowers by weekend.

The Zags are ranked #1 for the second week at regular season’s ending. Next up is NCAA big dance.

I bought Kersey / Bates Temperament assessment. Today I answered their tool. I am a ESTJ person. I don’t have previous results to compare my personality in earlier days to learn if this retirement has changed me.

Going to get ready for afternoon ride that might be be Fat Tire Dave whom I have never shared a ride.