Wed was a beautiful day, another one. Winter is lurking out there somewhere. But today it is not in my thought process. I rode the Hurricane Cliffs IMBA epic ride from the upper JEM TH, a first from this start point. I started downhill on the JEM kinda sorta warming up for the pedaling on the cliffs. Up down and around as the trail worked its circular magic. By the time I reached the nasty climb up to Goulds wash I was warmed up. Big hump. I’m riding a 1X11 11X42 cluster and an Absolute Black 32T chain ring. This climb is a test of the gear choice and matching it to my body’s out put. I needed the 42T right at the top of the climb off the hwy, from there to the top I rode in either 2 or 3 down on the cluster. Plenty of gearing. Last year this climb was the proof of the same cluster with a 30T round ring. And I rdoe the ride back on clipless pedals. All by myself again. The joy of riding during the work day. 20.95 miles climbing 2188′ in 2 hrs 36 pedal time. Once the big climb was over the rest was a mild grunt back to the upper JEM and a refreshing recovery drink. I drove down to town for a shower etc. then drove back to the same TH parking lot.
Thurs was a rest day. Laundry at the same laundromat, the woman attendant is still there. That evening the Seahawks played w/ TV coverage. I drove up to Springdale to Jacks to watch the first half. The weather forecast was calling for big rain. I watched the first half, at half time I looked outside seeing falling rain. Good enough for me to split. My sleep spot was on Sheep Bridge road outside of Virgin. The road is an improved all weather road which should be firm enough to drive on after a rain. In the dark I found a pull out spot on the road. I was about 15′ off the road. Turns out I stayed the same spot last year under similar conditions. Rain fell pretty hard as the drops beat on the roof. In the morning after Bfast and clean up I started the engine letting it warm up a bit then shifted to going forward. The dirt was rain softened. I was either going to make the road or spin out and if so I would stay till the dirt firmed up maybe the next day. The van body sheltered the dirt from direct rain. The van is rear wheel drive. Going forward the rear wheels, traction, had the length of the van before hitting soft dirt. Inertia was my friend as at the time the wheels started slipping in the mud I made the hard road. OK. I’m on my way. I made first mud tracks, in several spots the positraction light lit signifying a slipping rear wheel. Inertia again got me over those spots. I did make Hurricane.
I putzed around town till dinner time then drove up to the overlook over town for dinner. I had permission to sleep in the OTE parking lot which I took them up on after dinner. The dirt would be too soft to drive on. OTE is located right at the edge of town, at the bottom of the hill climbing out of town. Traffic noise. Temp dropped into the 20s. The furnace ran all night never reaching the low setting I set it at. Cold. I left about 7AM driving back to the overlook for Bfast and to spend the day. Winds picked up which just viciously rocked my van. The catalytic heater fuel valve opened allowing the heater to run. I was toasty. Late in the afternoon I drove up to the JEM TH climbing out of the valley and to lower temps. Snow fell last night. I made the TH and restarted the catalytic heater. I ran it till bed time. I did put my sleeping bag on my bed. The catalytic put out hot heat to make the sleeping bag cover too warm. I shut it off and turned on the furnace which could not match the 21 degrees outside. Just after 7 I crawled out from my warm bed, 21 degrees outside and 50 inside to see my breath. The catalytic would not start, the valve would not open. I put on a long underwear top and wool sweater and went about fixing bfast. The sun climbed over the shoulder of Gooseberry Mesa drenching the van in solar gain. I pulled off the windshield curtain to see complete ice up of the windshield from the water vapor from the catalytic. I ran the engine for 30 mins to melt the ice which turned to water and ran down the inside of the windshield and dropped from the headliner. beautiful clear cold day.
I drove down to town. Quentin said the weather Sat out at Church Rocks was calm and sort of warm. Still too cold to ride and the dirt is sticky. Beside the Zags played at 2PM. There is no sports bar in Hurricane, my choice to watch the game was ST George or Springdale. I elected to the non tourist crowd of Jacks. The Zags won going 11-0 for the first time in their history. I left at the end back to Sheep Bridge road. I found another pull out for the night. Still cold, below freezing, 26 degrees at 8:25PM. Going to start the catalytic heater. It started.
I bought a pair of Catalyst pedals which are longer than the Spikes I now ride. Benefit of length is that the foot is used as it should be used. bikejames.com flat pedal manifesto. Will be here early this week to go w/ my new shoes. I do like flats.
Nearby is a pistachio orchard, I found a place where they sell their nuts. fresh, this year’s crop. Buy locally.
Tomorrow is a ride at Church Rocks where I fell 2 years ago. Riding w/ Dolly whom I met in Sedona and is now living in Virgin.