Tuesday was a rest day. I did hike more than a half mile on the Hurricane Cliffs trail from the overlook experiencing the thawed freeze thaw mud. Just way too much moisture to ride. I drove up to the upper JEM TH which is higher elevation into snow, the road going in was marred by slime tracks. No way going in there. I slept again in the building canyon.

Wed Kevin and I made plans for me to pick him up at 11 on our way to the Santa Clara trails. Today I wanted to ride the trails on the other side of the Cove Wash: Rim trails: Reaper, Ramble. The ground on the north face of the climb up was frosted keeping mud in its solid state. Beautiful day, still chilly. N o pics. We finished the day with a climb up Precipice and beyond for a bomb down back to the van to put the bike away.

Kevin revealed the ride plan for Bears Best ride outside Las Vegas: Morgan is to pick him up at 8 in ST George. I had mistaken the day to be Friday. I decided that i would drive towards Vegas and sleep somewhere and then meet up. I drove west on I 15 dropping thru the Virgin River canyon crossing into AZ then into Nevada. I stopped at Mesquite to shop for Moonshine at Lees. Small choices. i picked a craft bottle made from legacy corn. Expensive and tastes that way. A shower at anytime nearby and a mexican dinner. I got back on the interstate now in the dark. I exited at Glendale hoping to find a primitive spot. darkness prevented me for seeing choices. I continued to Valley of Fire state park.

I put off buying diesel before driving way out into the toolies to the state park. I watched the fuel gauge drop closer to E. More miles of toolies driving awaited me to the interstate. I hoped that there was a fueling station at the exit. Score. 22 gallons on loaded. capacity is 26. i had more than I realized which would have eliminated the stress of running out of energy. Kevin texted me saying Morgan’s wife fell and broke her hip and he was needed at home thus no Kevin.

I drove out to Blue Diamond. I parked at McGhees and reacquainted ourselves with Chris. Warm reception. He will be leaving the desert soon to return to Illinois. He gave me a Navajo silver bracelet. Thanks Chris. He gave me a suggested route to get 3 down hills will little climbing pain. My memory couldn’t contain his suggestions. I relied on MTBP again, this time on the handlebar to ride the loop. It worked, I stayed found. A couple who left ahead of me and following the same MTBP route shared navigation solutions.

Internet is spotty causing long waits for action.I waste too much time waiting for the screen to blink. On to Village of Oak Creek (VOC) for more speed and watch football at PJs. No editing here, just spew.

 

Jan 2 update

I spent Sat at PJs watching first UW beat then Ohio State creamed. The Zags did win later. Crowded PJs for new years party. The person I sat next to at the bar finally expressed his preferences for the winner of the UW game: he was a sociologist prof there. Once that discovery was made we engaged in socio political conversation. Neither of us know of a person who voted for trump. He pressed me to explain why I want to be an example to people to follow my lifestyle of getting some for yourself. Perhaps it’s about courage to be what you want to be and make it happen. Freedom.

Going back to Blue Diamond. I stopped at a liquor store seeking craft corn liquor. What they had was distilled neutral spirits which is junk. I voiced my comment which was joined by a store person. I engaged him in a discussion about “moonshine”. He said he knew about moonshine, he came from Harlan county, scene of Justified. Conversation lead to him writing a phone number on paper and told me to call him after 5: to make arrangements to procure a 1 gallon gas can of 100% proof moonshine. I called over and over again the call finally going to “operator” saying person not available. Snookered. I was so giggly to procure actual moonshine.

I drove the Vegas expressways to Boulder City stopping at All Mountain Cyclery kinda at the bottom of Bootleg Canyon trails. Right next door was a laundromat, I cleaned my clothes and filled my mind with shoes, pedals, and handlebars from Mike who said he works for 5.10 and helped develop a canfield pedal. I told him about my shoes breaking. He said the break was an actual good thing as the shoe is no longer constrained by the footbed which allows actual toe gripping of the pedal. Perhaps a good thing. I will ride my shoes anticipating the break to learn myself. We talked about the Catalyst pedal. His belief is the design is an attempt to create a rigid sole much like clipless pedal shoes and that the length precludes gripping the pedals with your toes. He wanted to put a pair of canfield pedals on my bike for a test ride. Perhaps. I asked about places to sleep, I asked about behind the shop but he said the cops are brutal rousting sleepers about 1AM. He said go up Bootleg even though it is signed closed. Perhaps there is a city part that is closed then the outback is another jurisdiction.

I drove into BC proper picking BC Brew pub for dinner. I sat at the bar beside a guy allowing me a good view of the TV for football. He like me were dressed in street clothes with no badges indicating what we do. I asked if he was a mtn biker. Yes he said which opened the door for conversation which progressed to him telling me he rides a Turner Burner. Encountering another Turner rider is rare.

I left to drive up to the park but I checked out nearby streets that serviced business district. I found a dead end road in front of a building that appeared to safe. I slept on the street and was not noticed by anyone objecting to my parking for the night. Years ago on a visit I seemed to remember parking in the business park.

Morgan is to be building a trail named Bear’s Best that he and Kevin were going to share with me. I searched the LV trails on MTBP but came up empty. The guy last night told me he was going to ride something. I checked it out when I connected to BB. Cool. Today I got up and left the street side and drove to BC trail head to fix bfast. Afterwards I input the TH location into gps and steered my van back towards Blue Diamond. I found the TH. Small parking space almost completely parked full. No riders. I called up the route in MTBP, attached my phone to the handlebar mount and locked it down the pedaled off. Wide open empty desert trail system. MTBP kept me found for a loop ride.

The trail crossed a pipeline right of way

This is what a pipeline company wants to cut across the AT on a designated protected area.

I finished my ride then drove back to BC. AMC was closed when I left for my ride so I did not take Mike up on the pedal test. I decided that the Catalyst pedal has something going for it and I should acquire skill on these pedals. I took a shower at anytime then headed towards Sedona. Mass traffic heading into LV yet going away was less dense. Kingman was a tied up mess with drivers getting onto I40 and others heading towards LV. Darkness driving on I40 dropping into unseen holes in the pavement. The weather forecast did not call for precip and sort of above freezing temps not favorable to snow covered road. As I neared Flag at 7,000′ elevation I saw snow on the land but not on the road. I turned S on I 17 dropping elevation to Sedona at 4500′. I climbed Beaverhead Flats hill to the overlook which is paved and firm vs the rain softened dirt elsewhere. Several rigs shared the spot including a big motorhome parked on the most level spot. I slept head down as I did not have enough leveling blocks to raise the rear end. The next day the motorhome guy was outside. Turns out his group is from Spokane south hill. Rained all day off and on. I walked out the closed road learning that the ground is like a quaking bowl of pudding: just water softened. No way for off road travel for many days ahead as the forecast calls for continued rain. At least the temps are above freezing preventing freeze thaw.

Yesterday I made my presence seen at Bike and Bean and entered into that less than intellectual exchange gathering. I learn more and participate in better discussions at bars than I do at this shop. Puerile subjects. Brain waste. I dropped my bike off to service the fork. I made my way back down to PJs to watch the Seahawks game then drove back out to the empty overlook and scored the preferred spot. Rained off and on thru the night. I ran the furnace which keeps we tolerably warm when outside temps are 40 ther abouts.

I am now caught up as of 11:54 AM.

So much water in the dirt, too wet to ride and the forecast calls for more. I found on the NOAA site that Sedona received 22″ of rain, more than Spokane.

 

 

 

However Mr. Brown delivered a package that was too big for my combined socks: Baked goodies from my sister Lynn using family recipes. I have been making a dent in the contents and bulges on my clothes.

Sunday was a blustery day with snow squalls b4 11, 20mph winds and 39 degrees. That was for Hurricane. Last weekend Quentin lead a ride out at Church Rocks where the weather was stellar while Hurricane was very hard winds and biting cold. I decided to give Church Rocks a drive to go and if conditions were tolerable I would ride the loop. Clear skies, snow clouds way upwind, a tolerable breeze and my nose didn’t turn red. I pedaled off making first tracks. I expected to see riders out riding gifts, I saw only 3. The 3rd guy said that he was wearing a gifted jacket. He gave his wife a pasta attachment to their stand mixer.  He said she is a runner and asked for the gizzmo. The ruts in the sand were still present however I got to ride firm sand in the rut. I did get warm enough to remove my windshell jacket. Underneath I wore some serious warmth that almost overheated me.

I drove back to Hurricane for a shower then drove up to the overlook for living time then drove back down to the building canyon for the night.

Today went with getting up, putting my bunk away, getting dressed in cold temp riding gear, and making the van ready for way. Windows wet fog but no ice. I backed out of the canyon then made a loop around the block to sort of warm the engine for the climb right off the drive and to get a bit of a running start at it. Up at the overlook for the above views for Bfast. Latte at River Rock then drove down to St George to pick up Kevin to go ride the Zen Trail.

Beautiful chilly day. I am adding the Zen trail to my short bucket list of most quantity of tech features. I walk a lot. Kevin makes almost everything.

Short mileage ride but much work.

The Catalyst pedals work my leg muscles differently. Today my right glute is barking. I hit my left pedal on a side trail rock that knocked that foot off the pedal that my shim soon found.

Back out at overlook then drive back down into the valley and the building canyon. They might be dancing tonight.

Kevin is working on a trip to Vegas to ride a trail that the Gooseberry builder is building.

Temps are warming into the 50s during the week but below freezing at night. Anything with clay will be slippery freeze thaw.

Planning on making Sedona for Sat night.

The forecast delivered as predicted that is rain and dropping temps. I have been slippery slimed out of the JEM TH. I am presently parked at the overlook of Hurricane, UT. All the heated buildings and not a chimney spouting smoke. What electricity and petro products have done for environmental modification. How the quality of our lives have improved by eliminating burning of like wood and coal. Hurricane is in a sink hole that would hold in the burned products.

So the overlook surface is crushed rock allowing offroad driving during wet conditions. 4 bar internet connection. Burning the catalytic heater which puts out more heat. I ran it last night on low eliminating the doubling of the down blanket. Still water vapor build up but not frozen. Q. networked w/ adjoining property owner for permission to park in the 1 car wide gap between his shop and next door. Legal place to sleep. No dancing last night or this morning.

Yesterday was just overcast, the air was heavy w/ moisture but kept it all to itself. I put the catalyst pedals on and wanted to experience the pedaling “revolution”. And the forecast was for wet weather until Monday. Ride now or put off excitement. I drove out to the Quail Creek parking area. Good to go, no drops on my new glasses (thanks Steve). I pedaled a bit in the parking lot checking the pedals. My feet seemed happy. I am using the standard installed short pegs which provided sufficient stick to the pedal. Dunno about need to switch to longer pegs. I picked up the newly built trail evaluating the stickiness of the new tread. Soft, it made for slower speed for increased amount of effort but nothing stuck to my tires. Cool. I picked up the Cub Scout loop around and up on the first massif. Lots of chunk to make correct decisions and proper execution. I dismounted several times to hike several sections. Getting back on the pedals takes leaning to place the arch of my foot directly over the pedal spindle. I rode all the way out to the end of the built trail then retraced the now ups and sped down the new downs. The only place I picked up mud was on the old road. Q. said the trail design was for a mesa experience when a rider could not make one of them and that it would withstand riding in the wet.

The catalyst pedals worked my legs differently as it seems that I can push forward at the top of the stroke. So far the assessment is to keep them attached.

Yesterday I opened the front door of River Rock coffee shop. A line was at the counter and the restroom door was open. First things first. I walked out and there was my single shot latte and my name on the cup. Connection. Cool as an expression, the coffee was just right.

I made eye contact w/ a man at a corner table. Shortly he walked to my table carrying a laptop. He said he writes poetry and asked if I would read what he had created. I did. Told a story. We engaged in conversation. It turns out he thought he had met me up at the JEM TH years ago. I recalled that he was from the FLDS community etc. My bearing singled me out. He asked me to post the poem I read on my blog. I said yes. Roman, space is ready.

Interstates and traffic jams are replacing taverns and bars as reasons for parent / child separations.

trump has sole authority to push the BIG button. When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.