Makes for a sore shoulder, add in a slip out fall. Tourons w/ a compressed schedule hammer out dyas of straight riding because they go home. I really don’t need to ride every day. I’ll give up adding another rider to the trails on weekends. Oh, tomorrow is Sunday, another day to ride. Rest is good.

Wed I rode from Beaverhead up and down House Mtn on beat up double tracks sharing quality time w/ blank look bovines. I know I was there because of their spoils found my tires. Good grunt ride up working on powerful pedal strokes. Loose limestone chunks mixed in w/ the basalt chunks. This time I made it to the top of House mtn and looked out up into the canyon. What a view.

The descent was fast. I rode here way back in Jan as an easy ride during recovery and my old fork. Today, I was stronger and enjoyed the power and control that the new Pike fork gives. Drop the seat, preload a rock, and make the straight line.

Wed eve friend Steve from Sun Valley arrived. We camped out Beaverhead flats. Thurs I drove up to West Sedona do do my laundry. Clean clothes for another week, 6 days of riding clothes hung on the drying line inside my van. We planned a ride out Dry Creek. For Steve it was his first day and of not riding back in snowy Wood River Valley. He rides a 29ner full suspension bike. Today he followed me. I invited him to dinner. I wanted to share my Captain Craig chicken dish. (new recipe name given by Rebecca). I made mashed yukon gold potatoes to serve underneath. Then I cleaned the spoils up left in my kitchen.

Friday was the big dance for Gonzaga. Steve is also a fan. We rode early in the day to be back in time to watch. I shared new trails for Steve on Hog Wash which is a blue square tech ride on the whole w/ some difficult moves just under black diamond status.

The smooth trail tread is created by the bike tires popping the rocks off the line. Hikers need to appreciate the trail grooming the bikers do for them. This is a simple roll up move. Later on I miscalculated on an off camber uphill roll up losing traction then falling. I managed to protect my right shoulder by sacrificing my left side. Now both shoulders are hurting.

The route took us up to Chicken Point. Above us was the infamous scary, really scary, White Line. The pic captures the line crossing the center of the pic. What it doesn’t show is the exposure. The rider rides from right to left to the snout, turns into the fall line for about 20 feet then a left hand turn to return a narrow ledge. One time i watched a rider ride the Line. way way out of my desire to ride it.

The Zags reciprocated physical toughness and beat Oklahoma resulting in 61 fouls. Next up is number 1 seed Arizona on Sunday. I see a local clash pulling against an in state team. Go Zags.

Last night was another free flowing Friday night post shop ride party. The shop provides free keg beer and I the moonshine. I ate part of a brownie and sipped a few fingers of shine. I slept in my van in the parking lot.

Today is a rest day. I did my rotator cuff strengthening exercises this morning with all parts working.

Sunday folks from Oakridge are arriving.

I have been staying out off Beaverhead road and hanging here in VOC. There is competition for open camping spots. And tourist traffic plugs rt 179 going up to Sedona.

Yesterday I rode a big ride for me as I continue to experience beat up body toll that a few years ago would have been just fatigue that a night’s sleep would fix me up for another go. Perhaps it is just Sedona chunk riding that is the culprit, I am choosing that as the cause. Tomorrow is the casual count of 6 months since rotator repair, the magic date that means that the body has healed as it is going to. Yesterday i advanced my riding challenges by riding Hiline as much as I ride it, meaning that there are features that I have never found the courage in my technical skills to ride. What was risky was the exposure and the small margin of success.  The new Pearl Izumi project shoes safely gripped the steep slick rock i down climbed. Gorgeous cloudless upper 70s day w/ little shade. The ride was 16.88 miles climbing 2123′ in pedal time of 2 hrs 29 mins, burned only 953 calories. I ride pretty much non stop except to catch my breath during a climb. Once I get my oxygen debt going I prefer to keep pedaling instead of taking breaks and starting again. My breathing is my Achilles heel. My route was Shades to Hiline connecting to Baldwin over to Pink Feet crossing of Oak creek then climbing up Old Post connecting w/ Carroll canyon to Ridge up and down and over to Secret Slick rock to Oak creek crossing, push up Templeton then down Easy Breezy bailing @ Templeton to Coconino joining Shades back to Bike and Bean.

Recovery, loafing, and a shower @ Bike and Bean then a drive out to Beaverhead desert camp. I drank more h2O and ate 4 electrolytes which prevented all but 1 cramp post ride.

Saturday I traveled down to Cottonwood to ride the shop ride from Zoomers, the shop that Dean manages. The owner used to live in Tri Cities, WA. Dean is a “colorful” character. I originally met him back outside Zion NP in 1998. We rode what is called Dead Horse SP which is a misnomer as most of the ride is on USFS land, it’s that we enter thru the park. We rode a new trail named Bones, 6 miles long single track. Last year the IMBA trail care students built a piece and then was finished by a FS crew and a small group of volunteers. Nicely sited.

Different desert on limestone rock.

Friday AM I ate a small piece of an electric brownie that stayed w/ me the rest of my waking hours. I didn’t trust my reflexes and ability to make smart choices so I left my bike on my van for the shop ride. Moonshine further enhanced my disconnect.

DR. Smith examined my jaw and facial and determined that my jaw sits too far back in the “socket” which is causing my jaw pain. He made a like mouth guard that orients the upper and lower teeth to pull the lower jaw forward. I wear it at night. I am only able to breathe thru my deviated septum nose.  What I know is it cost $1,100.

Today is a recovery day. The joy i have in my life and being here in Sedona is there is always another great day and ride tomorrow. Let my body heal and go at it again tomorrow.

Gonzaga is an 8 seed in the NCAA tourney.

The missing 777 is not from  a manufacturing problem.

It is not how hard you fall, it’s how you get back up. I have been there 2x since I started this odyssey. Several readers have shared their consequences of miscalculations. To everyone I wish successful recovery from  the sudden stop and the courage and dedication to recovery and an active life. I have come to treat me on my bike as I would a loaded firearm except there is no behind the gun. My injuries have been the result of brain farts where I diss the situation as easy or thinking of how good that moonshine will taste. Heal up y’all.

Which connects to my recovery. The PT treating me says that i have range of motion but lack of strength which might be attributable to lack of sufficient tendon to reattatch to the bone. And that is what it will be. My damage left the skilled surgeon w/ shards of tendon to stitch together then the joined parts anchored to the bone. Lifting weight above my shoulder is discomforting and after horsing me and my bike around on Sedona trails  I am feeling discomfort. What I do and the enjoyment I receive from activity outweigh what comes later. Moonshine and other medicine help me think of other things. It is what it is.

Two days ago I was examined by a dentist to determine my jaw pain. He said that my jaw resides too far back in the jaw socket which causes problems like sleep apnea, etc. Today i return to be fitted w/ a muscle training appliance to reposition my jaw. I remember a character on the Barth Gumble late night show that had a lantern jaw that required a head piece and an attached dribble cup.  Funny how memories pop up.

Still riding the chunk here. I am still on the blue square trails. My confidence is rather rusty.

Next week is 6 months post surgery.

My van has Michelin tires, an MS model. I received a recall notice on a pair of the MS tires. The replacements were the new improved model, MS2. Previously a pair were on the front wheels and the van handling went south: the van rolled from side to side diminishing the handling. I found another pair of MS that I swapped for the MS2 and the handling returned to driving a Sprinter. The recall replacement tires were the MS2. This time they were put on the back. Same performance problem. I was told the tires were straight across replacements. Finally after my diligence I was connected to a Michelin higher up who told me the tread pattern was different and that they would not play well w/ the MS. Shit. To restore the handling I would either have to buy a set of MS2s or buy someone elses’ tires Michelin gave me 30% off the new tire price for tires that had 52% wear left. I got shorted because of their problem. I will appeal the settlement after I score more cell phone minutes consumed by being on hold.

Sedona weather continues to be short sleeves and shorts. The sun is tanning my skin. At night the temp is chilly enough to burn the heater on low.

I am starting a “Manure Free Trail” campaign which will require horse riders to remove their horse’s droppings from the trail. Many public lands require dog owners to pick up poop. Recreating on horse manure will be a stinky thing of the past. Horse riders it is time for you to respect those of us stepping on the product of your self centered recreation.

Gonzaga won the regular season conference championship then won the tournament last night. they will receive an automatic invite to the NCAA big dance, Coach Few’s 16th straight appearance. Go Zags. Terry, evaluate their play and success in the Dance.