It’s a matter of making time in my “busy” life to capture antics.

Today I am taking a rest day and parked @ Bike and Bean w/ internet connection.

For the last several days high winds have been buffeting Sedona and elsewhere. The mayhem started Sat w/ hail falling for a short while and Temps dropping. Little rain dropped. Didn’t ride on Sat as trails were slightly muddy.

Sat morning I was huddled inside my van when a knock was heard on the van door. There stood Jimmy of Bike and Bean and another guy. I recognized him immediately as another Jimi who was a wrench @ The Hub in Brevard, NC I met 2 years ago. Funny, the weekend b4 it was Sam and Jordan who own the store and Jimi worked there. Jimi is on a multi month road trip. I have been sharing rides w/ him. He rides mostly slow enough ahead of me to watch his riding which is polished. I am so far out of his league. He is traveling in an older VW Westy.

We rode Sunday on slightly wetted trails. Windy. We have been camping together out off Beaverhead where I have been staying. We awake to cowboys wrangling the grazing cows to other locations. Beaverhead is a massive grazing pasture. Ecological destroyers are cows as they compact the soil, shit that smothers the ground, takes food out of the mouths of the wildlife, steal water, etc. Just so fast food eating can provide beef to a consuming public that justifies raising cows.

Gusts of 39mph are forecast this AM. My van is rocking in the parking lot. Last night winds kept the van rocking.

Mark Langton created a smiley face plate that states let’s all get along. It is shaped like the classic Triangle of users where mtn bikers yield to other users. The plate’s intent is to eliminate a hierarchy that makes us the little kids asking for permission to be on the trails. His address is: Mark Langton [markmtb@roadrunner.com]. he said the number 1 problem other users have w/ mtn bikers is they go too fast when they pass other users. If we just slow down when passing we will eliminate most user complaints.

Still planning on leaving here on Sat bound for Gallup, NM and points East in tornado land. Poison ivy, chiggars, cottonmouths, high humidity & temps, lower elevations, and different beers.

Joe Murray stopped for a visit.

One night out @ camp I pulled out my pistol. Jimi and I took turns shooting till the 26 bullets were gone. I bought the pistol b4 I left, I shot it once back in Spokane. Our aim was safe for the intended target, elsewhere there was concern.

Sedona has been my “home” for 4 months. I enjoy the comfort of having figured out living elements and being treated as a local. Back on the road life is more nomadic and certainly less settled. I will bid adieu to my friends here till this winter. And look forward to new trails, meeting new people, and reconnecting w/ friends I had made and riding familiar trails.

Today during my ride out south  section of Dry Creek trails was under cloudless skies, no wind, and in the 80s. First real hot day for a long ride. Yesterday’s ride out Turkey Creek the Garmin software recorded max temp of 100. Last night was so warm I almost kicked off the single layer  down blanket. Haven’t run the heater for about a week. No rain, no campfires allowed in the forest.

Life here continues to be routine: eat, ride, shower, drive to camp spot,eat, sleep.

Friday night Sierra Nevada brewery provided beer and goodies after the Bike and Bean shop ride. I rode standard money route I heard it called. Shades to end, left on Templeton, right drop down Easy Breezy up to end, cross the road and rejoin Shades back to the shop. 8.3 miles in an hour climbing 909′. Back at the after ride party I stayed on a moonshine cocktail. 22 riders started plus many non riders packed the shop. Left after 9 and drove out to desert.

Sat night dining out was on outskirts of VOC. I parked my van near the front door. I sat inside facing the restaurant door. I was just about to leave. The door opens and a 6’7″ fit black guy walks in. He locks eyes while extending his right hand to shake. He introduces himself, Omar, and says he likes what I am doing. He saw my van, read Pisgah stickers. He is from Charlotte. We talked trails. Warrior Creek is near his home and rides it frequently. I rode it 4 years ago. He showed me a video on his phone. I recognized the trail. He said Charlotte has lots of good riding. I added the town to my interest list.

Planning on leaving Sedona a week this coming Sat. N to Flag, then east on I40 to Gallup. I plan driving width of OK. I have been web researching rides.

Today a rider’s wife parked their Sprinter just behind me @ the Cultural Center parking lot while I was out riding. She raced her husband on his bike. We passed on Aerie then I saw him heading towards Girdner. In places the trail is downhill on loose chunky sharp sided red rock. I thought I would catch him. Didn’t see him until back in the parking lot. He did the conversion. Just sweet wood work. My van is functional trade quality. His was so much craftsmanship.

Sam and Jordan from The Hub in Brevard, NC, right outside  Pisgah NF. I spent my first winter @ their just opened store. I would like to share the trails here w/ them.

Thurs after doing my laundry I rode Soldier wash trails. Rode Teacup that goes under coffee pot rock.

What at first was thought to be alergies affecting several of us hanging @ Bike and Bean. Reality became it is a cold. I have it. Last week I had a nasty sore throat that hot salt h2o didn’t abate. It went away but then my chest hosted the virus. I rested my lungs on Sat while high winds moved the sand around.

Friday shop ride route was pretty neat: Bell Rock, Llama, Little Horse, Broken Arrow, Hogs, Twin Butte ( which is a newly built trail, my first time), Hog Wash, Peccari, Mystic, HT, Breezy, Templeton, Coconino, Shades.  Hogs is a double black diamond but the new trail offered an easy way to drop down. Bunch of locals and several visitors. Beer, pizza, & moonshine cocktails followed back @ Bike and Bean.

Bee Sting Cocktail:

juice 1/2 lemon, pour in tall glass. Add a dollop of honey, mix to dissolve. Add a shot of moonshine (100 proof Old Smokey) add ice then top off w/ however much sweet tea you feel like. Goes down refreshingly smooth.

Sat was very windy. I parked my van in the parking lot. Today I will put on the high performance brake rotors Formula Brake sent me and new brake pads. I planned to be a shade tree mechanic using the awning attached to my van. Like I said Sat was windy. The wind was strong enough to lift the awning a little bit which was of no concern. However, a rogue gust hit which blew the awning straight up in the air and was held there. SHIT. I scampered up the back of the van and grabbed an awning strut and pulled downward. The wind was still holding it up and my purchase on the short end of the lever arm did little to pull it down. I verbally coached the awning back down. I rolled it back up into its closed position, one strut is bent. Someday I will roll it open and study the damage for repair if needed. The rotors and pads are on the bike. Thanks Formula Brake.

Today had another high wind forecast. My lungs felt better. I am a mouth breather so the dust laden air makes a bee line to deep in my lungs. I passed on a ride today. Instead I hiked around Transcept and returned on Hiline. Very windy. Transcept is closed to bikes but open to hikers who illegally created the trail. I encountered several mtn bikers; we passed each other cordially. I did yield the trail to them even though the IMBA trail user triangle shows bikers are pond scum and yield to all mighty horses and hikers.

Out @ Beaverhead Flats being buffeted by high winds. I held my wind gauge into the wind for a few minutes, long enough to record a 25mph gust. Dust has been blown inside leaving a gritty feel.

Planning on heading east on May 3rd after 1 last Friday shop ride & post ride shenanigans.

Thurs Jimmie invited me on a ride. His lungs were suffering. He wanted to ride slow. His slow was my almost full on effort. I rode behind him and watched his line choices. He coached me @ 4 tech features that I have not mastered. I did solve one feature by breaking it into 2 moves but balked at the others. I am afraid to commit and follow thru w/ a pedal stroke.

Another day of high winds is forecasted for tomorrow.

Thurs I was parked in the laundromat parking lot w/ the door open and me sitting w/ my back to the outside. I heard a man’s voice asking something about breakfast. I recognized the voice w/ o turning around. It was Scott Taylor of Cascade Cream Puff promoter fame. he and his wife were down visiting from Eugene, OR. I helped before, during, and after @ 2 Cream Puff races. Oakridge, OR.