I sleep w/ my head back in the darkest recess of my van. My glow in the dark digital alarm clock is on the frige just above my head, the dial faces horizontally, to read the time I grab the clock and tilt it to my eyes, the numbers are large enough to read w/o glasses. I slept in. Warm night and morning was above freezing . Once out of bed I pulled on a several times ridden and sweated in wool long underwear top in anticipation of riding. I called up NOAA forecast on my smart phone which forecasted high winds gusts to 30. My ride plans changed. I returned the top to the clothes heap, not in the dirty clothes bag, here garments dry b4 being suffocated, wool tops just age. My wash has fewer tops than liners but more than the baggies. Liners and socks are fresh each ride.

Not riding today left me w/ free time. I lingered at sleep spot while watching the crowds shove off for home.

I drove into town still looking for something outside to do. I stopped @ Chile Pepper and washed out the hydration bladder. Don’t want to know the effects on my body of the chemicals used to make a sterile environment to prevent  slime. Slime means the bladder needs to be drained and aired out after every ride. Bladders these days have that certain property that allows water to remain and no slime. My bladder slid just like wet plastic.

Ah, a plan hatched: I would drive out to TH for HyMasa and hike. B4 the TH I saw another one, this one is Moab Rim which I have never been on. OK a hike up a 4X4 painted route. Stock Jeeps would balk at the features. Sure were a lot of spilt fluid runs and drips. Nasty.

Made it to the top then looked over the edge.

On the way down I joined a neglected hiking trail that kept me off the jeep trail.

Time to socialize, drink a beer, and watch some football @ the Brewery. Kimila from Fruita greeted me, she, husband Drew, a couple, and Will. Ordered my beer then joined their group. They rode HyMasa what I wanted to do and said the wind never became an issue. Bummer. They drove over from Fruita for the day, less than what I would drive to backcountry ski back in Spokane.

We all left together and I returned to empty Willow Springs primitive camping. So far the BLM has not designated camp spots to reduce the use. Weekends it is packed.

Furnace works after several restarts. Tomorrow it gets cleaned again.

Tomorrow I head to Hurricane. Every week I test my blood for INR value w/ a test meter and one time use test strips. Saturday is check day. I ran out of strips which I knew I would, what I didn’t know was where I would be to receive them because of suspected transmission issue. I ordered the new strips be sent to Hurricane. Testing creates an urgency, I must drive to Hurricane tomorrow.

Today I had a 2:00 appointment for furnace service that I was working around. Plus Wait Wait don’t Tell me is on @ 9AM and I need an outhouse. I enjoyed bed warmth and let the sun  shine in b4 getting up. Going to ride later which meant starting wearing it. 50 degrees inside, 19 out and I’m in my pajama bottom. Wool long underwear top nd a sweater then bfast. Cleaned up and stowed for travel then drove down to Bar M TH and an outhouse made by other than CXT from Spokane. Wait Wait was all previous material.

Just a few rigs in the lot. The day warmed up during my ride as seen in other riders in shorts and short sleeves. Encountered 4 riders, 3 guys and a woman on Deadman which is only a blue tech difficulty but still requiring skill to negotiate. The woman, she was a hottie dressed like a hottie. Very chesty wearing like a halter top, and killer hot pink tights. She did have a helmet to go along w/ her like running shoes.  She was under dressed. Wonder what that was all about. B$ meeting them I mislocated myself on a trail map and rode again a piece of Deadman. My rides are getting shorter and this extra bit was draining the tank. Deadman is really chunky that goes in and out of steep walled washes and around ridges. Up and down then repeat. Way more dancing on the bike over the ground. Tight blind corners up or over slabs of bedrock. Momentum is key. Great traction that allows me to standup and ride pitches that last time I walked. Lots of riders and rigs in the lot upon my return. Kids on small bikes. 13.89 miles climbing 1629 in 2 hours. The climbing is the cumulative amount.

Back at the lot a man and I assumed his son were near by. Guy came over and reintroduced himself that we had met @ Curt Gowdy in WY like 2 years b4. Memory is a horrible thing to loose.

Drove into town for the furnace service arriving jsut b4 2PM. Note on door says Mac went to lunch and will be back in 40 mins. I keep my appointments and I expect others to keep theirs. I turned around and drove back into town to the Aquatic center for a shower then stopping for propane and made his 2:40 return. I walk in. Guy looks at me. I didn’t register. Oh, the propane. Seems that there was some job shuffling and he did not want to work on it. I was able to reschedule it for Mon AM, done by then original guy who gave it to the Sat guy. Volley score. Said that the material in the valve was from the plastic liner in the propane tank breaking down. Propane attacks metal hence the liner. Doesn’t compute as the frige, stove, stove and catalytic work fine.

B4 the 2 appointment I stopped @ craft coffee roaster for a refill. A woman pulled in beside my van riding a dual sport BMW. She was shaking out her silver w/ strawberry highlights. Attractive. I asked what question she would like to have asked but hasn’t. I was thinking woman on bike must get same questions. The question was what position does she like best. She described a full laid out position on her bike. She was thinking how she likes sex. And I had an appointment in 8 mins, commitments you know. I will never know.

I have turned the heat up on the vaporizer such that the herb left over is cooked devoid of thc that I throw away. Tonight I made butter w/ the previous saved stuff. Van has different base smell.

My headache started when I fell and hit the headachee side of my head back in Sept well b4 the heating season. I have a CO and propane detector installed.

Tomorrow I plan on Hymasa and Captain Ahab as being Sunday there will be other riders.

Back out on crowded Willow Springs, mostly engine types. They leave tomorrow.

No pics. Same stuff.

Yesterday I chose Moab Brewery for dinner and football and beer all 4% of it. I watched the Seahawks. A young woman walked in and took the corner chair. There was a guy to her right, me, and an older man on the left. Among us we had each other in stitches from laughing. We were pretty loud in a loud place. We each went our separate ways. Seahawks won. I left for Willow Springs.

Well, Willow Springs was plugged. I found a turnout off the road, good enough for the night. 21 degrees @ 7:30AM. Am running the catalytic heater.

My plan was to drive down to Bar M trails for a ride then into town for a shower etc then drive up Dead Horse to ride Mag 7 trails and spend the night. Out of frustration w/ the furnace I gave the repair shop here who worked on it to make an appointment on a whim. Scored one for 2PM tomorrow to again flush and clean the valve.

Plan change: Drive up to Mag 7 trails, ride, drive back to town, shower, then @ 5 watch the Zags somewhere in town, then drive back to crowded Willow and hope for a spot.

Petroleum is being extracted from the earth up on the plateau in several locations. It is what it is, we create the demand. Gemini Bridges road passes a pumper and tanks all painted a juniper green. One well was so strong the oil flowed upward w/o a pumper. I drove down the road to the TH. One year I parked off the highway and rode down, then at the end of a hard ride I had to pedal back up. I drive slowly to keep things in place inside….. and out.

I was the only rig in the lot but b4 I could pedal away several more just flew in and disgorged riders. Crowds. That didn’t translate to riding w/ others. A group ahead of me stopped to fix a guys tube flat. Shit, he is in for a pinch flat ride. A woman recognized me from the IMBA Summit, said we talked. I finished my ride only encountering several riders coming the other way. A couple were riding fat bikes down towards me as I pedaled up. They didn’t seem to be going as fast just coasting as a regular tire. They were on full rigid. I hollered to the woman that the bike didn’t make her butt look big. She laughed. I never saw her butt.

Drove back into town for a shower then to wait for the Zags on ESPN2. I picked the Rio sports bar. The tender put the game on a big screen right over the bar and I had a front row bar seat. I nursed 1 beer for the game. The Zags won a scrappy game.

Drove the 12 miles from town to Willow Springs rd. I was going to snag the first open spot as there might not be more further out. The first 4 spots were occupied. I scored the big turnout on the right. Lots of primitive campers out here. This AM while I was sort of toasty I looked out at a group of tent campers standing around talking, I could see their breaths. Comfort. So Great.

Weather forecast continues to be chilly and clear. Hard to leave.

Tomorrow is another go @ Brand M trails.