Early this evening a gully washer did its name sake. In and out. Put out the range fire east of downtown Hailey. I missed covering my bike. I am out off Democrat Gulch for Croy Canyon trails.  The trails here were loose and dusty, this rain if not too much will bond the tread and will ride kinda like skiing 6″ fresh pow.

I made today a rest day after taking a beating yesterday hiking my bike and me up Adams gulch proper. Chip said that this trail should be deleted from the map and closed to eliminate an over grown trail and steep loose sections. I started out OK from Adams Gulch TH which was plugged w/ people and dogs. I passed Eve and shortly thereafter nettles lined the trail, Many stingers found my lower legs. No turning back after awhile because the downhill on Warm Springs Trail would be gravity assisted ( except for the uphills). Hot in the upper 80s. Climbed thru the ’07 burn leaving only fire killed trees, bark shed leaving snags colored white. The trail beat me today. The slight punchy uphills on the downhill killed me. Back at the 3 cars in the parking lot. Hammered.

There is an O ring on a fork leg to use as a reference point indicating how much travel used. For many rides prior the ring moved less that 3.5″. Chip suggested lowering the pressure to increase the travel. I tried that in the parking lot. The fork settled but yielded the same amount of travel. Bummer. My fork has 150mm of travel and I was leaving about 3″ in the fork. I called PUSH and explained to Nick my plight. Tech answer was there was too much oil from the damper as indicated by a solid end of the compression. Today I released the neg and pos air then pumped the pos then neg to 90 psi. The fork rose but yielded about same travel. I called PUSH again w/ this news. Tech answer was a seal on the damper  has failed allowing the oil into the lower leg. Nick entered me into their production schedule: work to be performed Fri next week. PUSH scheduling is great as you go to their web site: pushindustries.com then select requested service, the system displays your appointment, you ship to arrive the day b4 service. They service it on the appointment day then ship it back. I will have no bike for maybe 1 1/2 weeks staring next Monday. In the mean time I will continue to ride on a 3 ” travel fork matched w/ 4″ rear wheel travel. Stay behind the bars.

Bars. Speedy complete recovery for friend Tom back in Spokane. News is he fell recently which admitted him to the fractured collar bone peoplehood.

Hot night out above Trail Creek up canyon of actual Sun Valley. Slept w/ the slider open. Earlier I sat outside reading while providing nourishment to flocks of small tiny biting insects. Small rash spots arose fro the bite site. Didn’t really sleep.

Today I sought out Lizzy’s Fresh Coffee, the only Ketchum coffee roaster w/ a web site. I found it and Lizzy. A craft roaster like Brian back in Hood River @ 10 Speed his shop. Tomorrow is toddy coffee.

I bought a shower @ the Y. I discovered during the last shower that if I really scrub my hair it is really thick and stays less oily for several sweaty days. I use a real soap then rinse w/ 1:4 solution of vinegar and water.

Arrived @ Chip’s shop, a 11 mile commute from Ketchum. I explained my fork issue which returns us back to the paragraph about the fork. I spent more than 2 hours there this AM.

Next settle place was the Hailey Library where I could be in air conditioning while I worked on some computer stuff. I was making headway in moving pictures and comprehending the new Garmin mapping software. I look up to see a man walking dead on to me making straight on eye contact. Brian, he said and that I visited his restaurant in Springdale, UT, to watch a Zags game on TV, and several days later help first aid a friend of his after his bike crash. Hum a few notes and I might get it. I was all over the recall. He is here for several days of riding. We chatted. I will visit him when back in Hurricane. Back at my computer I heard fire trucks speed by right outside the window w/ sirens talking. Fire somewhere. Later I left the library and walked N on Main to Powerhouse for a beer and fries. I looked S and saw a large plume of brown cloud up a hill side. Range fire. Long ways away and burning upslope away from people. Then a wet thunderstorm hit, Hailey got a hard spritz that seems to have stopped the fire. Strong N winds are blowing and the skies are clearing. Croy canyon will be sweet tomorrow.

Last week I briefly viewed the chest X ray focusing in on the broken right clavicle which is still jagged which might be the source of my shoulder pain. I requested the clinic to send the X ray to the ortho DR I saw in Flag. I am asking him to compare the healing in 2 1/2 years.

Comfortable sleep night. Good Night.

 

Fri. night I slept @ spot off Democrat. Several rigs drove past after dark going up gulch perhaps to party which caused concern for me if somebody decided to have some drunken fun w/ me on their way out. Whatever happened I slept thru it. The sun goes behind the peaks about 8:30 but the day’s heat lingers for hours later. Bedtime around 11:00 is hot enough for just a flannel sheet but by maybe 3 AM the summer blanket and just a short while later almost the down blanket. But it is a dry heat and I don’t sweat the sheet.

So, Sat I was going to ride the Croy Canyon trails from camp spot. The sun rose to cloudless skies, no wind, and rising temps. I decided that I would seek shade and ride the Greenhorn Imperial loop which I did. Those trails are drying out and becoming dusty. Greenhorn is just above the creek bed under the most shade which holds moisture in the trail the longest but it is drying out. I am hoping to be here after a nice rain to ride “tack” conditions.

I set the solar shower on the hood of the van facing the sun which assures the greatest heat up take. I took a parking lot shower w/ warm h20 while being cooled off by the dry wind.

Steve, I viewed the first season of Justified. The movie store is saving the 2nd season for me that I will prolly pick up today. I stayed up late 2 nights watching it.

My breathing or lack of it continues to dismay me. Yesterday I took an evening hit of the Advair hoping that improvement would occur just for normal unstressed breathing. There was some relief. This AM I added a hit of albuterol which helped considerably.

Jimmie from Bike and Bean in Sedona said he will not be making Sun Valley. Life allows for choices.

Today I am taking a rest day after 4 days of riding. I will drive back to Ketchum to a book store to pick up Jess Walter’s The Financial Lives of Poets. I will find a shaded quiet spot to read.

Presently I am parked on the street here in Hailey under the shade of a Chinese elm.

I am thinking of heading to Montana for August. Chip told me about a ride around Lionhead just outside West Yellowstone. Map made by Will @ Beartooth Publishing in Bozeman. I supplied Will w/ Sedona gps data for his Sedona map. I called him several days ago to order his map. He said that his ribs are just now healed after his fall on our Sedona ride back in March. He said that the rides are in grizzly country and solo riding is not the best riding partner. But then where the forest fires are will affect my ride choice.

July 9 was the 5 year anniversary of being Home Free. I have lived exclusively since in my van.

Sat I defrosted my freezer. I discovered that the AC function doesn’t work which meant that the lesser efficient propane energy source was used to cool which took longer to drop the temp to 35 degrees.

Temp here is still in the upper 80s.

Off into the heat.

That is blazing bike speed either up or down. I allow gravity to pull me down hill, very rarely do I give a pedal stroke to enhance my speed. Going uphill, well I do the pedaling against the former friend, gravity, until I run out of wind.

Wed AM I left the great camp spot above Trail Creek driving N to Adams Gulch TH. Today’s ride is an out and back on Eve’s Gulch and maybe the flow trail back down. A dog shelter was conducting their weekly dog walk program. Lots of happy dogs. I petted either Waylon or Willie, but none of the boys, a mix lab and pug. I miss not having a dog but not badly enough to bring one into my life. I ran into Kyle coming down who encouraged me to ride to thetop and ride the flow down. Today I rode the new reroute sections of the trail making a better climb. In and out of the burn of 2007.I stuck with it to the top onto a ridge.

At the ridge a section of unburned forest exists between a burn on either side.

I turned down. A trail of less than 10% is normally sustainable, operative word: NORMALLY. It climbs w/ pleasant exertion and descends w/ glee.  All alone. I found the entrance to the flow trail felt like a filter that functioned to keep lesser skilled riders out. I was a skinny handbuilt narrow bench cut crossing numerous patches of loose like shale rock.  Then onto the flow trail that was machine cut w/ huge amounts of dirt relocation to create a downhill pump track. Big dips topped by kickers at the top. Steeply banked berms rocketing around the corner. Really got after it. I held my speed in check. And then I was at the bottom. I like riding downhill on the up track as it would have taken more time and been a different ride. None the less back @ crowded TH then drive to Y for a shower then down to Hailey to Chip’s to service my fork.

Fork serviced which made it more spingy. And I received socialization.

I drove out to camp spot for the night. Thurs plans were becoming clear as I accomplished each one in a well orchestrated sequence. I did my wash in the AM then drove up river to Galena Lodge to meet for Sun Summit South ( Chip’s shop) shop ride. I stopped @ The Perch to visit. I told Kyle what the ride plan was and he said I would not like it. I called Chip expressing my reservations. He said I would like it, come on. I stopped briefly @ lodge to say Hi to manager Don one of the original Hugh Ass race team from back @ Davis, WVA.

I heeded Chip and drove to the lodge. Chip would be driving from Hailey leaving after shop closure at 5:00. I figured if I started riding up the highway to almost Galena Summit I could get there ahead of the pack.  It worked. I raised my seat maybe 1/8 inch that really helped my pedaling. Just that much shorter my legs would blow up. Climbed to 8650′ Elevation is taxing. The trail to Titus Lake shows signs of years of hard hiking. Refreshment after the climb lured Mose in for a dip.

Our trail dropped down Titus Creek back to the lodge. Several creek crossings wetted my lower half. Joy for seat dropper.

Back @ the lodge dinner was waiting. Pleasant visiting w/ the riders and Don. Don suggested a camp spot nearby that became my home just after dark. At 10:15 it was 40 degrees outside. I shuffled blankets to put back on the down blanket. I looked forward to a chilly sleep. Except the van slowly gave off the day’s heat. I awoke in sweat. I shuffled blankets for the summer weight. and went back to sleep. About 4:30 chill woke me. I gutted the chill w/ the light weight blanket. I turned the heater on b4 getting out of bed just after 7. Great view of prolly Gladiator peak and alpine.

I drove back to the lodge. My ride plan is the Galena Grinder race course. I rode this back early on and I distinctly remembering the loose tread that robbed forward progress and energy as I walked pieces. It was hard. I’m here and I will make 1 lap. When the trail turned upward my breathing faded. I walked more this year than last time. Today’s ride more of the same.The downhill rewarded.

8000′ elevation left me short of breath. I was good for 1 lap.  9.47 miles climbing 1794′ in 1 hr 18 mins. I loaded up and drove back down valley to Ketchum Y for a shower. Clean feels good.

I stopped @ Club Ride to check out the newer version of my exiting shorts to learn if the waist is smaller. Mike helped me compare then and now and both were of same waist size. No go as the waist is too big for me.

I stopped @ Backcountry where Brain works. I parked street side and started walking to door. 3 guys loading mtn biking stuff into a car. One guy locks onto me saying that we met in Bend years before. They just completed a 5 day Western Spirit guided trip and were smiling and showing wear of excitement. We chatted for a bit then I walked into the shop. Brian was at the desk in front of a large window to the street below. The guys’ car would not start. I watched 2 push while 1 steered to coast a short shallow hill. No start. I walked down to then to see if I could help. They said the battery was drained from leaving the headlights on, a jump is golden. I offered my help then drove nose to nose. Varooom.

My refrigerator has ice build up in the freezer and the low temp was about 40, up 5 degrees. My thinking is it needs to be defrosted. I drove to Chip’s and asked to use his parking lot and a bit of electricity for the process. Granted he said. I loosened the ice w/ a pot of 160 degree water. I connected the electric cord to a shop cord and started the fridge back up. AC is more efficient than the propane. I needed to get the temp low quickly. No go. Fridge won’t run on AC. I am sitting in the shade of what I will call box elder letting the propane burner work. The shade is better than the sunny 87 degrees in the shade temp.

Off to dinner then drive out to democrat for tomorrow morning’s ride.