Chilly here in Fruita. Yesterday was sunny and bright but a strong breeze chilled me off. This AM it was below freezing w/ a good frost. My furnace ran all night raising the inside temp tpo 56 degrees when I crawled out from under the covers. Strong battery reserve. Sitting here at a TH off Kingsview road in bright sunshine waiting for warmth later in the day.
Yesterday, Saturday, I left the same spot and drove oiut to Kokopelli TH, Marys, right off I-70 behind the truck weigh station. Packed parking lot. Today OI pedaled up Wrangler which is a greener trail to avoid a crowd(?) on Marys. Trail climbing is an old jeep road, good grunt, made for several catch my breath stops. Joined Marys w/ nary a crowd. I rode Marys which is part of the Kokopelli trail till a brutal climb drag your bike up to Mack Ridge. Trails are on the N side of the Colorado River warmed by the sun. River is running muddy from sediment from recent rains.
Riding Macks is challenging w/ many tech features including several slither my bike down. I ride this route usually. I make more of the features each year which is a measure of my tech accomplishments. I am walking more however to protect myself from a fall. I am pedaling more in my 22T granny which is a better tech gear for me. Ride was 17.01 miles climbing 1989′ in 2 hours. On my way down Macks I encountered a woman pedaling uphill who showed her expertise climbing uphill over the chunks. Impressive.
Thursday was my van appointment at MacDaddy. Oil on engine is from slight leak in turbo hoses. Not an issue. However, my risk avoidance to a roadside break down is paramount I chose to have the hoses replaced. Hoses were ordered and to be in the shop on Friday. The rumble noise was suggested to be a rear end source. I made an appointment for Friday for evaluation at a transmission shop.
I deem the trails too wet yet to ride as there is lots of clay. Thursday was another rest day.
Friday I drove back to GJ for van work. The transmission guy listened and checked the rear end and evaluated the noise from the drive shaft that was replaced last year. He said no indication of rear end issue. He did not need to take my money. I drove over to Macdaddy for the hose replacement. They showed me the small cracks and said that they really didn’t need to be replaced just yet. I told him about the transmission guy’s opinion and was told that it is the rear end. I would like to get both guys together as a consulting team. Van still rumbles, I’m leaning to a rear end issue. I drove behind the transmission shop on my way out.
Mac got me out early enough for me to drive out to the Butterknife trail off Little Park rd. I parked down low at a TH which required 1.2 miles of climbing on pavement to the first trail. I parked here as it is just a short pedal up from the bottom of the Ribbon that I optimistically thought I would ride. My eyes are bigger than my legs. The trail starts off a jeep road where tracks from a 4X4 were cast in the hardened mud. No mud stuck to my tires telling me good to go. I dropped in on the trail which starts as a quad track till it joins Butterknife protected by a turkey shoot which allows only bikes, motor or pedaled. Today the trail was in great shape w/ few loose rocks like last fall. Firm dirt, no dirt bikes on it after the rain. Lots of tech features some I made others prudence dictated walking. Great hump.
Butterknife winds its way along edges of gulleys in and out until it joins a jeep road for a crushing climb out. I pedaled in baby chain ring working the climb. cast in jeep track. No mud until an innocuous spot that just grabbed my tires w/ so much clay that my wheels would not turn. The mud caked the front wheel so thick that the wheel would not clear the fork brace. Shit, what a bitch. Short section fortunately but long enough to get old of carrying my bike weighing several more pounds from clinging mud. I reached the dry end of the shit allowing me to pedal again. I made the paved road and a speedy coasting 1 mile downhill. The mud flew off my tires, the front one spitting dried mud out in front of me only to ridden into on the fly. Great tech trail. Oh, I left the Ribbon alone which was prolly good as the lower park goes thru a bentonite band that might have been even worse mud. Butterknife is usally enough of a ride, next time I will park at the start of the dirt to spare me the road climb. Ride was 14.37 miles climbing 2061′ taking 2 hrs 12 mins of moving time. I exceeded aerobic thresh hold by over an hour.
My Silver Sneakers program applies to Fruita Community Center for a shower. Even in colder weather w/ little sweat produced it’s still nice to be squeaky clean.
In the evenings I went to Hot Tomato for a social beer, sometimes dinner, then over to Copper Club around the block for their craft beer. Friday night was entertainment by a one man band who played either a metal guitar or banjo, his right foot was connected to a drum stick to wallop a small base drum, and his left foot had a tamborine device attached. His music was something I thought would be great Appalachian music. Got the feet moving. Lively. I left before his encore if any. Copper Club is a socializing center for some. Great local feeling crammed in a small venue.
So, its Sunday at 10:00 AM local, 42 degrees sunshine, no clouds, w a slight breeze. The frost is melted.
Several days ago I made a comment to a gut at the Copper about where to camp. He told me about this spot where I am off Kingsview rd. I checked it out during daylight, I didn’t see any signs saying no camping or overnight parking. Cool. I slept there that night. CXT outhouse, gravel surface. The next night I stayed here again. I drove in after dark, no one here. I watched a set of lights coming from the other direction while I was choosing my spot. It pulled in to the lot and drove up behind me. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a man w/ a sidearm holster: Law enforcement. He walked up to my window and shined his flashlight on me. He said that there has been vandalism to the outhouses and he was checking me out. He ran my plate but did not ask for my ID. I had used the outhouse earlier in the day and saw no vandalism, I did not report that. He did not tell me to leave so I took that as being vetted for OK sleeping here. I now believe that cops use some crime excuse to check people out.
Warm enough to drive back to GJ and ride some of the Lunch Loop trails.
I leave tomorrow for Moab.