Drove up to Ketchum. Learned of the stoker rides and I joined one, Fox peak on Wed. I made the bus pick up in time along w/ maybe almost 20 others. Bus shuttled us out to the Baker Creek road and dumped us out. Ouch! I been here b4 several years ago. So much for the bus even dropping us off @ the start of the climb. Banish my wishfull thinking. The shuttle just saved driving out to the TH. The ride finished back in Ketchum.
The ride climbed up logging road a little over an hour of solid pedaling. The the road dropped a bunch of elevation climbed only to be made up in the dirt climbing over the upper shoulder of Fox Peak. New trails for me. Big umph. Trails traversed a ridge that dropped down to the gulch divides, stronger than little punchie climbs. Gotta love the Sun Valley trails: lots of smoothies, narrow, some under dry land forests for less than dusty tread. sage brush cover. Sunshine. Views over the seas of peaks. I was crushed on the uphills but stayed w/ the fast riders on the downhills. Am learning the dirt. Ride finished in town finishing on Adams Gulch: 25.23 miles in 3 hrs, climbing 3163 and descending 3948′. I met Kevin and Angela from Bend. No pics as I pushed to stay ahead of the slower downhill riders. Seat dropper.
Back in town a road bike criterium was racing on a small section of downtown Ketchum streets plus some street vendors. Steve joined sporting a small cast on his right hand, the remnants of surgical repair of a game keeper ligament tear in the thumb. Marc for Ketchum was a member of a relay team for the mtn bike criterium race that was like an intermission to the road racers. Crazy. A guy approaches me making eye contact, he is zeroing in and and am backpedaling racking my brain for his name. i came up empty. he was Zeke from Tennessee that I met for the first time on the Haas Ridge ride outside oak Ridge. Wow.
I drove back out Trail Creek road and found an open spot. Kevin and Angela joined me. Two Sprinters cluster. We made ride plans for today of our own as opposed to the stoker ride that was a rehash of the climb and a shorter downhill.
Temp drops to light blanket sleeping. Weather forecast continues to call for like 30 to 40% chance of heavy rain which threatens but never falls.
Today i drove Kevin and me to Greenhorn Gulch. Steve suggested it yesterday: Climb up the gulch under tree shade then punch over to Imperial Gulch up and down hill back to the van. Grunt of a doable climb on the gulch. Imperial was just a hoot to descend on reconstructed trail that is weathering in well. I rode most of the new on Imperial as it was being made, great to ride a bedded in trail. The ride was just a reduced effort, 10 miles in 1 hr 26 mins climbing 1850′. Hot.
Drove into Hailey, shopped @ Albertsons on N end of town. I parked all afternoon in the parking lot. The town was plugged for the parade on Main St then another criterium race. Hot sweating. Waited till most of racing was over then drove down to laundromat for Thurs wash. Ran into a couple that are touring in a truck camper.
Computer dumped a bunch more. i am quitting.