Tuesday I left Sedona for the Black Canyon trail down south. I’m paying for a posh camp site at FT McDowell mtn park near Scottsdale and visiting w/ Dave and Rebecca from Green Bay.

Gotta go ride some McDowell

Last Monday was the last day to ride until trails dry out and night temps suck out the freeze thaw mud.

Which left me consuming time as only a practiced person can…. don’t try this at home. I have 24 hours a day 365 days a year to do what I want. No pressure to cram what you want to do in so little free time. Mine’s free. Time does slip away. Spending 4 days inside because of rain, some times heavy, sometimes nice sucker holes, and just a little snow down here in VOC. Well, there was Thursday laundry day up in west Sedona. How can a person go to work all day and come home and say nothing? I spent time inside at the Bean. I visited The Worm bookstore and bought a book, Sam, the Miracle worker, written by a local guy and Sam, the dog live down here. After 30 some pages I finally rebelled at his tale and returned the book for another. I have become an impulse reader. Mike at the bookstore displays books cover side forward which encourages enticement. I picked another one, Sharp Objects, and have actually been reading in bed. I am enriched as time passes by.

One of the days I drove down to the bridge over Dry Creek which is a wash that runs when more rain falls than the ground can absorb. This can be from rain here and or enhanced by snow melt up on the Mongollon Plateau.

Sat I helped at a USFS trail day building new trail behind the new Hilton hotel. Sustainable trails that replicate route of bike path, built dug in less technical than the old route that was fraught w/ sustainability issues which usually make for a more technical ride. Not ying and yang, hard to have both which puts a curse on sustainable trails. I worked the pounder, a straight handled footed by a 10″ square steel plate that I raised and smacked down on the fresh dirt to compact the tread. Dirt was freeze thaw, maybe it will be really firm once it dries out. The FS has adopted and making new trails to replace Bike Path, Sketch, Special Ed, and the likes. I worked w/ Phil learning from him how to build No More Shitty Trails per his desire.  Trail Doc walked by and I enjoined him in conversation. The FS is doing the work w/ volunteers from community, today it was about 20 people with just a few bikers.

Pretty in the snow

Sat night I sat at PJs bar to watch wild card football games, eat dinner, drink 2 beers, and socialize. I mostly spaced on the TV. Zags played during the Pittsburg / Cinn game that I followed on my phone. Heavy rain during the football game and just website text Zag coverage. I left after the Zags won and the early part of 3rd quarter. I go in and out of the van side door which was locked as I selectively do. I put the key in the lock and turned the key: no lock turn. WTF? I reinserted and tried again: same result, seemed that the key wouldn’t bottom out. I tried the driver’s door lock same result. Okay, there is a hide a key under the van that I reach by laying on the dry pavement and feeling my way to the key box location. It was further forward than I remembered, parking lot distant lights hardly made shadows. I found the box. I inserted that key into the side door lock making sure it bottomed out which it did. I opened the door. Upon examination of the failed key it appears that I twisted it perhaps while turning it before it bottomed out. A Dodge Sprinter dealer that no longer exists is the source of a replacement key. I am antsy when I use the spare key and have no backup spare.

Spent the night at the overlook again: dry pavement.

Battery charge is lower from lack of charge, taking is greater than adding from cloudy short days and not enough driving. I still have power the next day before the sun bathes the solar panel but prolly less than is suggested for battery long life. I never draw below 11.6 volts.

Weather forecast here is for sunny skies temps high in the 40s and in the 20s at night. Freeze thaw reigns superior. I’m thinking now is a good time to road trip south. Dave and Rebecca from Green Bay are down there somewhere that I will go visit.

No word on RFX delivery date. I’m the product manager on my new bike as I am making all the component selections. There are many variables to consider as to how the pieces perform as a whole. I have sorted out the bottom bracket crank happiness. Last week it was the wide rim tire width clearance in the frame. No issue. In the ordering process for I9 spokes I heard from Heather whom I know from Pisgah days. Spokes and end caps some forth coming.

Seahawks are wild card game in Minnesota against the Vikings in somewhere near zero degrees. I’ll be comfortably numb sitting on a bar stool at PJs.

Gotta go.

The forecast has been calling for days of rain starting last Monday. Monday AM I studied the skies from my Beaverhead spot. Clouds said rain could drop from them but inklings of sort of clear sky spot of a sucker hole, I accepted the bait and drove up to west Sedona to ride Chuck Wagon and Mescal etc before rain fell. I replaced the wind jacket for the rain shell and pedaled out under increasing threatening skies. Great trail conditions sort of hero dirt and not a hiker to be encountered or anybody for that matter. I made the early part of Mescal which gave a view shed to the incoming weather. I saw the fronds of rain dropping from the clouds. Rain is coming soon. I paused to consider my shortest option back to the dry van. I turned around and rode back to Yucca, a newer trail, that connects to Canyon of Fools. Yucca is like a flow trail using a narrow wash as its berms. CoF is a narrow deep wash carved in sand. I rode up one of the side walls then back down that almost felt like a fall off the steep bank. I crossed Boyton canyon road picking up OK to AZ Cypress to Snake that climbs out of Dry Creek. Rain hit before I hit Snake. Serious sprinkles. I put on the rain jacket. Below the rain jacket hem line was dampened. I made the van before the real stuff started. Sucker Hole, a short ride, the last for quite a few days as the weather calls for rain the rest of the week.

Monday night I stayed at the Overlook paved parking lot because it is paved. My favorite spot is on dirt. A bit of rain will turn the solid mud into greasy mud which would make for a slithery slide back to the pavement. I chose the prudent safe location. Tues. AM rain continued. I drove pavement back to the Bean. PJ, the new shop owner, does fire for his real job. Yesterday I learned he spent time at Toketee ranger station on the Umpqua NF last summer which is where I was based out of for my summer employment of years 1969 and 70.

Tuesday night I returned to the overlook. Sometime before dawn I was awakened by rain drops pelting my roof. Sort of melodic but not soothing. Then silence. That could mean the rain quit or it changed to snow per the forecast. Snow it was, wet. Didn’t last long and the warm pavement turned it to liquid.

I looked to the favorite spot and spied a white camper shaped object. I learned that Dirt Rag column rider Bama perfers to get way back off the road and I thought it might be him and I was concerned that he might be stuck in the mud. I drove his way but parked on firm broken brick surface. It was Bama and company. He was not stuck. His tires were covered in mud.  Later he made it to the shop.

Tonight I’m back at the overlook and pavement. Forecast is for days of wet mixed in w/ below freezing several nights. Trails are going to be too muddy to ride for days.

I spent most of the day at the Bean for companionship.

Dropper post saga: Years ago I bought the first generation Reverb and endured its warranty failure issues. The 3rd new dropper worked. maybe 2 years ago its rate of return seemed slow. Scott told me it needed to be overhauled and it would be expensive. Because of the failure rate I researched posts then bought a KS Lev in Bend. This last summer the LEV lost its erection. Sunnyside in Bend sent it out to be serviced at a non KS shop because it was out of warranty. I installed my rigid Thomson seat post, I did not like riding a non dropping post so I didn’t ride much. Back in ’13 I placed the Reverb in storage at my former neighbors’  barn in Spokane. Doing me no good there. In September I drove up to Spokane for my dentist appointment and picked up the Reverb. I returned to Bend and sent off the Reverb to be serviced to be used as a back up. The LEV was back on the bike. The Reverb came back before I left Bend. At Hurricane I was just riding around (famous JRA syndrome) before starting my ride. I triggered the LEV to perform. It dropped for a last time and just failed. Back up plan: Remove the LEV and install the Reverb. Short story lead me to call Sunnyside who said that I needed to send it to them and they would send it on to repair center to fix. Sunnyside called me last week telling me they had a new LEV for me as KS had never seen my kind of failure. The new in the box LEV arrived today. I prefer the LEV over the Reverb. The LEV failure started me researching other posts. 9Point8 jumped out as my next post but it was only the stealth cable routing that requires a pass thru hole in the frame for the cable, there is no pass thru hole in the 5 Spot. I emailed Turner asking if I could drill a hole in the frame. Dave gave me instructions. In conversation he mentioned the new RFX that so excited me to make a savings account drain to buy one. The RFX has that hole molded in. I’m thinking seriously of selling the in the box LEV and buying the 9Point8 for the new bike. The Reverb is slower than the LEV and the actuator sucks. That’s the dropper post saga.

Another product failure is the Terraduro sole separation. Mine are peeling away but not like the process failure originally experienced. Giro is still warrantying the shoe.

Dry Beaver Creek is roaring foamy muddy brown.

Tonight the left lens fell out of the frame again and I can’t find it. Tomorrow I start shopping for new frames and lens, haven’t found a one day lens crafter down here. Perhaps Flag which will mean prolly snow driving. I am wearing cheaters that aren’t the same prescription which makes typing this challenging.

My chronic headache is not being lessened from the sinus clearing protocol. I’m not sleeping well because of the pain.

So, no pics to share.

I have made several dinners I found recipes for on line. I added left over coconut milk to the left over feta cheese. Hey Abe, what can I make using feta and coconut milk?

You can’t always get what you want but if you try you might get what you need.

next up is electric homemade nutella.