Steve from Sun Valley left today after our “graduation” ride of what  will call Lower Hogs. We rode together starting the 22nd till the 29, taking 1 day off for rain wetted trails. Not saying that we rode everything but the H’s. We rode 6 straight days. Steve was a short timer and needed to squeeze in riding. He left Wood River Valley under snow riding only a trainer or XC skiing and sporting very white flesh as exposed because, well, it’s shorts weather riding. I’m sunburning the owie on my left shin which has a deep hurt still.

Sunday AM I left camp spot on way to social Sunday ride. I drank a latte that seemed to want to leave my body. I drank same shop latte this AM and no rdie but the feeling and response seems to be the same. Dropping espresso drinks.

Monday we rode the Soldier Wash trails wrestling with our own trail demons working on cleaning stuff and enjoying the ease of flowing over nasty stuff that we could ride which was prolly 98,5%. Jordan has several short nasty downs.

We planned Tuesday’s rides. I left for a snap shower, Whole Foods mega salad mess. hand at the Cultural Park till after dark then slept in town at uhaul lot.

Tues. AM was a standing PT session working on my rib and back which affect me left knee. Our ride was a shuttle. I met Steve out at Boyton Pass where he left his new Dodge Promaster van for the return trip. We loaded him and gear into my van then drove back to the Cultural Park for our start. We rode down Drano, crossed Dry Creek which had shallow flowing water from last Thurs rain fall.

Last Frontier is a challenging Sedona trail even though it is down low. It is bench cut on steep slopes carved by Dry Creek. Exposure: a rider would never fall very far but the ride to stop would be fraught with potential body damage. Pay attention. Last Frontier joins Western Civ which lacks exposure.

Steve, your pic captures me not looking as far down the trail as maybe I should.

Next was a section of Cockscomb to the start of Aerie which shows the effect of water eroding away the dirt between the rocks. It’s sustainably built. Every year it becomes more challenging as rocks grow from the ground and some even leave their temporary hold with earth. We hit pavement then pedaled to his van for the return shuttle.

I ride a 27.5 and Steve rides a 29. I am faster than him downhill and here mostly staying ahead of his wheel on the climbs. We have I9 hubs and wide carbon rims.

At Steve’s van that I am entering for the first time to sit in the passenger seat. I walked to teh seat thinking head clearance as in mine. WRONG: I smacked my head almost laterally on his lowered ceiling. I heard the crunches of joints shifting. I was severely out of plumb.

I drove back down to Beaverhead hoping to catch my now accepted favorite camp spot. A guy, a tent, 2 dogs, and a car beat me leaving me with the fail safe place across the desert by the tank. I wanted to lay claim to the spot with my stuff to save it. Yesterday morning I waited and waited while I watched him pack up and leave. His tent came down saying I’m not spending the night here tonight then it became a wait until he drove away. Once he left I pounced leaving my table and chair and traffic cones. SO far these items have prevented unwanted occupancy.

Steve parks beside me down at the sheriff’s office. Yesterday was our lower Hogs ride. We rode Llama to Little Horse climbing to Chicken Point. We did encounter other trail users. There are several spots on Broken Arrow that have been armored which creates a non erodable tread. I rode 2 places that I failed for years on because the pitch was rutted. So much better now, some could argue it was dumbed down. Garmin Connect reported average temp was 84 with a 96.8 high. Steve was over cooked, it takes time for body to adjust from long underwear to shorts.

On Hogs Steve stalled on a slick rock off camber climb. He put his feet down but his balance point changed to the out slope which was a straight line sliding down. He fell on the dismount not on the move. I watched gravity have its way with him. Whew, just aches and pains.

After our ride before dinner I sought Dr. Dave’s magic chiro adjustment to restore plumb. Ahh, success. Lots of movement.

I put on my new Maxxis Minnion DHF 2.5wt tire on. The Ardent is a faster roller but loses its shape when put on my wide rims. Steve put same tire on the front of his bike. As our ride progressed he commented with a big smile on how much better the tire allowed him to corner.

We ate at the Thai restaurant. Afterwards I drove to my camp spot finding my stuff there and unoccupied.

Today I was on the road just after 8AM to west Sedona to do my wash. The traffic backs up as the day goes on till perhaps mid afternoon when it reverses flow back down. I left uptown before the downhill crush while passing slowly moving rigs heading into Sedona. Gotta know local stuff. Living in a tourist town with just 1 route in and out.

Out to camp spot where the internet is not home on the range.

This is my idea expressed by a graphics professional. I will be selling each for $5.00 which should cover my costs plus mailing. Be the first to put one on your rig and buy one for your neighbor. Speak out!

 

Today on  the Sunday social ride I misjudged a rock / tire interface which rewarded me with a short distance slam drag fall landing on my left leg, right on the knee cap and a impressive scab on that shin. Red from the rock and a darker color of flowing red blood. My right shoulder is tweaked from the rotation. I finished the ride which was up Old Man’s wash over to Rabbit ridge descent the along the front side of Horse Mesa. Mostly loose basalt rollers, lots of walking over the rubble. My crash was about 100 yards from the church of the rotating something and a stashed tequilla bottle. I carried my bike to the gathering. I started converting tubeless to tubed when jimmy jumped in and pretty much took over the change. Better proficiency. I pulled out my slime tube last used back riding the Back 40 at Bentonville. I put the valve stem between my lips and blew to start tube inflation. Mr. Eck, nasty, the taste still haunts my taste sensation. Pumped the tube up and finished the ride ending at Mark’s house for end of ride beer.

There were 9 riders including 3 newbies, the remaining 6 are the standard cadre of locals.

Back up to go forward.

Friend Steve from Sun Valley is here and we ride together mostly. Friday we rode what I call the Llama loop which is more than just Llama trail. We encourage each other. He usually climbs better than me but i am faster downhill so we swap leads. Hero dirt after Thurs heavy rain. The sand was tacky. We finished at the Bean as the Friday social was starting. Steve left to move to his new BnB Airstream trailer domicile. I parked on the road shoulder. I put the bottle of corn and walked to the shop. I put the jug on the counter for sharing, I kept a splash in my cup. Gathering stayed till maybe 8. I packed up not needing to take the empty jug back. I drove out to my now preferred camp spot on Beaverhead. Only after almost arriving at the spot is it possible to spot occupancy. Damn, occupied. I pulled onto the desert over previous tracks. A van pulled up behind me and a woman greeted me, a mountain biker. Some exchange took place such that she invited me to join the camper in the spot as they are friends. Later I walked over and socialized inside their canvas cover pop top camper over their truck. Liz and her friend Sabrina and husband. Liz is a professional mtn bike racer, world wide. She wrote a story about volcano riding in Guatemala. I seek to learn from people about why they do what they do. I think it comes down to doing what I want then making it happen. Not a carefree life but with enough freedom to overcome little money. In the morning I hung around. Liz set our 3 rigs up for photo shoot for an article she is working on for a magazine. I left to meet Steve for our ride.

We finished our ride in time to make PJs for the Zags Elite 8 game, wining it will put them in the final 4, the team goal for the year. The Zags smeared Xavier to make the Final 4. I ate a turkey dinner at Mileys before driving out to Beaverhead. This time the sun was still up. rats, vehicles parked. I looked harder to learn that the same people were still there. I parked in the same spot.

My rear brake was not performing. Observation revealed that both brake pistons extended equally. I pulled the pads and scrubbed the pistons with a q tip wetted with alcohol and messed with the pad wear adjuster. i put the parts back together the squeezed the brake lever, just movement, no pump up pressure. again and again. Brake suffered my attention. Dunno how to fix. No problem other that the remove and replace this brake with my new spare, working in gathering darkness. Got the brake on which worked with power. Success. I joined the group for an outside visit. I was wearing sandals and shorts and my thin Pisgah jersey. They were bundled up. I am refusing to change my warmth clothing due to cold temps.

Today i drove into VOC parking behind the sheriffs office. The supervisor rolled in and geared up for a mountain bike ride. We chatted about bikes and such and he rode off as I did later. back to the start and you will be fine.

This morning I drank a latte at village eatery before the ride. It did not set well with me as it seemed to be almost free to leave my stomach. That felling caught up again with me at dinner. I bailed on an unfinished plate for the floor of my van. Why or why did he swallow a fly? I guess he’ll have to die.

Sleeping behind the Uhaul yard snug back among the trailers, trucks, and vans. My van does not match the Uhaul fleet color.

A banner appeared on my computer screen at start up informing me to delete and reinstall the software. It appeared to be real as I checked for performance but a concern struck me that I should check with software support. I called and was sent to a technician named Frank that didn’t speak a language that frank would come from. He took over my computer and did a bunch of stuff. He said that the service would cost $19.95. I repeated the amount several times and he agreed. He tied my computer up delaying me for socializing. He said he would call later for the billing charge which he did. He said the cost was $99.99. I yelled we both said $19.95. Problem was not to cleared up at our level. i hung up and called customer service as his calls came in which I pressed ignore. The customer service person tripped all over himself to correct a business mistake as the tech was not following protocol. He extended my service contract and threw in some lifetime security features and said that Frank might be out the door at cob. Computer is protected again. You gotta know how to solve problems at a greater level than where they were created.

Friday chiro DR Dave set my back straight. The 3 falls landed me hard on my right forearm which twisted my back out of alignment. Leg length didn’t match which caused a very stiff back. 2 twists and I stood up straight with a smile on my face. relief from pain.

 

I wrote a bunch today enjoying faster internet speed behind the sheriffs office. I included several pics. I know I clicked Publish. Later I checked not only was there nothing in the cupboard, there was no cup-board. Out at sometimes 1 bar 4G Beaverhead. Unable to find the missing post.

Firefox is displaying text that my site lacks security. Maybe the post is out there in arrest land.