Fruita

So I made Fruita yesterday ahead of the rain and winds. Tuesday night up above Rabbit Valley I sweated rainfall that would have made the side road and official road greasy because the rain would have softened up the hard packed dirt turning it into wheel sucking deep mud. The night was dry.

Forecast for yesterday was high wind. I drove down to the Kokopelli TH which is right off I-70. 1 car in the parking lot. I geared up and pedaled away. Once up on Mary’s trail and exposed to the wind which was blowing dust. I baled as I did not want to inhale the dust. One of my shortest rides. The rig owners are from NY who came over to talk w/ me about my rig. Great to share info.

I drove into Fruita and visited Hot Tomato and Over The Edge bike shop. I had a short visit w/ Anne and Jen who own the Tomato. I suggested they have a contest to see where the furthest Tomato sticky has been stuck on. Jen said one is at the North Pole. I ate the killer Sedona salad while visiting w/ other bar sitters. Suggestion was made to move over to the Copper Club, a local micro brewer. Just around the corner. I followed their advice. Visiting w/ strangers is a dance of finding acceptable subjects to engage in and the willingness to talk w/ someone I had never met. It’s a skill I have been honing on my odyssey.

Rain was forecast for last night. Choosing a sleep spot is dependent upon the road I drive. Friend Max at the bike shop at his former living location had a big side yard to park in off pavement. However, he moved out to join his girl so that place was lost. Next was a spot I found previously. I hung in town until bed time then drove to it. The place is in the dirt off pavement. My headlights shone on cast in mud ruts. I was about 10′ off the pavement parallel to the road such that if rain made the dirt greasy I would be able to slither onto pavement. Rain fell sporadically and lightly I heard hitting the roof. I fell asleep believing I would be able to get out. I got out of bed when the sunlight would reveal how deep the mud puddles were. There was standing water. I fixed b-fast and cleaned up while monitoring the shrinking puddles. Time came to leave. I warmed the engine then backed up on dry dirt to set my turn radius to hit the pavement w/ the least resistance. Strategy paid off as the wheels sunk into the mud but I had enough inertia to slither over the mud.

Today the forecast was for more rain. I baled on riding today. I hung in the bike shop in the morning talking trail advocacy.

Tomorrow is Grand Junction and a physical for my van. The results will determine when I leave here for Moab. Forecast still calls for rain and several nights of below freezing here and Moab.

Another night in Fruita.

I am seriously considering converting to a 1X10 drive train. Sheldonbrown created an online gear calculator that allows inputting gears and the program crunches to numbers. Presently on my 2X10, 22X36, my lowest gear moves the rear wheel 15.9″. The lowest 1X10 I can create is a 30X40 which is geared higher at 19.5″. I have been using the baby chain ring more, however every down shift is fraught w/ a possible dropped chain. I need to ride the gearing to learn the higher gearing effect. Next problem is the One up parts are available on line and my shipping addresses are bike shops. Buying parts on line and shipping them to a bike shop is a moral dilemma for me.