Today Sandy from Calgary and I rode a loop around Hogs. Bright intense sunshine, temp in mid 70s, low humidity and dry dusty trails. How great is that?

We rode Llama to Little Horse up to Chicken point picking up Broken Arrow down to Hogwash taking Peccary down to Mystic into the neighborhood snaking our way down to Bell Rock easy way back to Jump trail down. Amazing how much fun that can be had on a slight downhill grade. The day went longer than our water supply that each deemed was enough for the ride. I shared half of the little I had. Mystic was hot. Mystic dead ends onto Chapel, the trail now is on paved neighborhood streets. I was looking for someone outside to whom we could ask for water. Right away we spotted a guy and asked if he could give us water from the spigot. He said sure but he doesn’t drink it. Huh? I spied a house w/ a spigot right out front and no body home. Perfect. I walked down the driveway and started to the spigot when I noticed only the screen door was closed. Someone at home. Moved on. At what did appear to our parched delight was an empty for sale house and a spigot right out front. You gotta know where your water sources are in the desert.

Hogwash uses benches of slick rock mixed in w/ moves and some walking. Just typical Sedona riding

Sandy enjoying her time spent on her bike

We took a bunch of mainstream wide trails back going downhill in places negotiating hikers in courteous manner. The Jump trail was all ours. Dusty. Last Friday I rode behind 3 other riders in their dust. We passed hikers off the edge of the trail to let us go by and being dusted. Today I swooped. Back to the parking lot and the Bean. Sandy negotiated a ride back uphill from her bank by buying ice cream. Mighty tasty ice cream added to cake  that Carla made. I received requests for moonshine and I obliged, somewhere it was 5:00. Showered then out to Beaverhead while still light. Got the 2nd best spot.

Sunday’s old mans ride was just Jimmy, Ian, and I. Average age was in mid 50s. Trail choice was given to me sometimes. Along the way we dropped down the wash to the Easy wash. Ian chose an alternate line ahead of me. I heard a sound that a flat tire makes. Ian blew out his rear tire. The fun bolts holding the rear wheel on were over tight. Breaking them free was the first challenge. How to extend the reach of a tool on our minimalist tool kits. Broken free. Bead was broken. Tire was dry: no Stans. He put in a tube. He used my swell Lyzene quasi floor pump.

A challenging rock had been removed from the trail. It was replaced. It ain’t the FS dumbing the trail down. Riders who can’t make the move and are willing to expend the effort to mitigate the challenge rather than learn to ride it remove the challenge.

Sat was an all day USFS Red Rock ranger district trail meisters conducted an all day education session on how trails come to be then examples of 3 real examples of what was talked about. Sedona dirt is sand from decomposing sandstone. No clay to hold it together. It blows away, it erodes. It won’t compact. The FS material is same as IMBA’s design methods. Great compatibility. 11 people attended, most of them from previous volunteer work days.

I drove back down to VOC. Hung st the shop then took a shower finishing in time to catch the Zags playing BYU at home on big screen at PJ’s. Casey put on the big screen at the front wall and I scored a table right in pure straight line. Seesaw battle lead changing late in the game. Zags succeeded by 2 points.  They are tied for first place in WCC w/ ST Marys who beat them both times they played. Zags are number 2 seed in the WCC tourney starting this weekend. PJs is like a worn in comfortable shoe. Drove out to populated Beaverhead where I chose the tankside site.

White males are by far the largest population of mtn bikers. Riding here is burly which attracts those kind of riders. Lot of big hit bikes, dropper posts, body armor. Doesn’t lend itself to the lycra clad crowd.

Yesterday I undertook a storage solution for my new down sleeping bag. I wanted to hang it against the wall between it and the raised bed. I rigged a right angle bracket at each end using existing screws then strung a cord between. I laid the bag over the wire dividing down the center line. I then hoisted the bed to its closed position. No way block stop not go. Amazing what puffed up down can displace. No go. The bag needs to be stored uncompressed and this failed solution won’t allow fluff. I pulled out the wiggys bag from the cabinet over my bed then gently stuffed the down bag in its place. Amazing light sleeping bag w/ a temp rating of 20 degrees. I bought the Coconino NF map to study for backpack trips.

Tomorrow is PT and a rest day.

Today was Leap Year day.

Latest delivery date info from Turner is end of March. Still no word from producing factory. The bike is real, I’ve seen maybe 3 and touched them.

My last pair of Terraduros lasted 132 rides and 1736 miles while falling apart. Giro stood behind the failure warranting a replacement pair.

I wore the new on yesterday’s ride out Last Frontier way. New shoes pinch.

Yesterday I rode from the Cultural Center dropping down Drano then connecting to Last Frontier and the climb out of Dry Creek which is always less fun than a sharp stick in the eye. Last Frontier connects to Western Civ and continues to Cockscomb. In past rides I noticed a social trail leading off WC. Today the trail was way more worn in and I decided to learn of its riding. Crazy. It finally dropped down parallel to dry Dry Creek then ended in Sedona Winds mobile home park. I wound around residential streets till I found 89A west of Sedona and at the bottom of the hill to climb back to my van. I pedaled about a mile on the nice shoulder being passed by rigs going 65mph till I hit Red Rock road then riding a short distance to the TH for the Red Rock trail that is an old right of way but on dirt and out of traffic. This took me back up hill.

Steve came down w/ a 24hr bug that laid him out for any rides. Last night he treated me to dinner at Picazzas.

I drove back down to Beaverhead arriving in time to tune into the Zags game on XM which they won.

Temps at night are in upper 30s, daytime in the upper sunny 70s and the trails are dusty.

I called Turner on Wed speaking w/ Jarret. Word is this batch of bikes is not complete in the factory and faces completion and about 3 weeks of transit before it hits Turner’s shop. Turner will be demoing his bikes at the bike festival. Would be a hoot to ride what I will be getting….. someday. I won’t ride one because I will not be able to manage my impatience. And I would deny a rider from enjoying the bike and a potential sales.

The parking lot battle ebbs and flows depending upon who has joined the fray. This is the sign

During yesterday’s massage Sarah said that she has noticed an increase in muscle development in my damaged right shoulder. PT has been new exercises and repeated old ones which is having that effect. I still can not raise a pint of beer w/ my right arm.

Today is crazy shop ride at 3.

Tomorrow is an all day Trails maintenance session where the FS folks will educate us on why they do what they do and how they do it. Those that won’t get educated will remain uneducated.

Bama writes a column for DirtRag mag hangs out here every now and then is here again.

New issue of Bike mag has an article about Kelly Emmett, a world class enduro racer. She visits Sedona in January.

Friend Steve from Sun Valley is visiting. He drives a black smaller version Sprinter. yesterday we drove up to west Sedona to ride the Soldiers Wash trails. Each drove their rig. I picked a gravel parking lot in a business behind Whole Foods as our parking place for our ride. No signs and we were plenty away from other rigs. We pedaled off. As timing worked out just after we returned a woman approached us and told us that the owner of the business does not want anyone parking there.

The ride was enjoyable. Steve is 62 who is into appreciation of the effort as I am. We stop for catchup breathing then pedal off. Blow spots are becoming more frequent. Walking something that we aren’t willing to take a risk and fail resulting in probable injury. We have reached our age as a result of decisions we have made, something that is not guaranteed in life. Could it like be the Hare and the Tortoise? You younger hard chargers are fast now exposing yourself to physical injury and recovering to ride again. It’s easy to quit, getting back up speaks character whether you get back on the horse or make the decision that I’m moving on. Steve and I and other similar age riders could be the tortoises still in the game. We perhaps have recovered from serious injury because of a decision that didn’t plan out. I am envious of younger and more skilled riders. I would like to meet them when they get older.

So anyway Steve and I rode the Soldiers Wash trails. Ones that were social trails which in some cases adopted by the FS and brought into the “System”.

Pedal trails require attention, just because you don’t lift your front wheel doesn’t make it easy. Corollary lifting front wheel equals more technical skills required.

We finished in time for me to shower before my PT session. I am showing signs of strengthening within my limits.

Today Steve and I set out for our eyes are bigger than our stomachs as the ride progressed. It was to be my Hogs route. Before we got to Little Horse we each had felt physical discomfort such as this isn’t fun anymore decided on a shorter route. It was OK. Sunny but chilly temp lowered by breeze. Trails are well dried out some to sand. Lots of use on the trails. Encounters w/ other users has been pleasant and courteous as it should be.

I ordered a Flicker 20 Nano Down Quilt Sleeping Bag from Feathered Friends soon to be in my hands. It is the last piece of my backpacking gear. I really enjoyed my last summer’s trips and think I should do more.

I signed up for 3 shifts of working the VVCC beer stand at the Sedona Mtn bike festival the first of March. That’s what the license was about.

The brownie I ate about an hour and half ago is really kicking. I’m parked in a lot shared by county sheriff like sub station. I’m cool. I want to drive up to take a shower. Perhaps later.