Camped last night with Jeff and Glenn on BLM land north of Loma, exposed, no tree cover. Breeze arose that was tolerable until sun quit sharing its warmth. We retired to our respective accommodations. The furnace kept the frost off the nose. I parked with the windshield facing sunrise for the daily show. Took care of breakfast. Sun was warming and wind was nonexistent Us 3 older guys soaked sun while we continued to swap stories. They left heading to Moab. I headed back to Kokopelli to ride a new trail.

I drove west on I 70 to Mack exit and drove up to TH. Parking lot almost filled,great for a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I rode Troy built  to Lyons then climbed a bike up to Mack Ridge which runs along the cliff edge adding exposure to narrow single track. Hawkeye leaves Mack Ridge just before challenging down climb. I rode this trail this spring just after it was completed. At that time the dirt was freshly disturbed. Today the tread was rolled in hard. To me amazing. The trail had to find a break in the cliff face to drop back to TH. A hard turn to the right started me on the descent. A buzzard launched itself from a short juniper right in front of me, so close I could read its license number. I ain’t dead yet. Quite a squiggly trail. A short ride but a beater just the same. Today I made garmin record the climb up Mack Ridge which is just a little pedaling and lots of hike a bike, even some climbing moves took only 11 mins. Facts overcome emotional judgement.

Drove back to town. Shower at rec enter, groceries at City Market, and a beer at Copper Club then back out to same spot as last night. Colorful sunset.

Quiet night.

Bike back under butt. UPS 2nd day, 1 day shop repair, 1 day air back. OTE put all the pieces back together and I put final touches on. Bike pedaled well in the parking lot. Very windy and late mid afternoon decided Sat for my next ride. Dinner at Hot Tomato, finally able to visit with Jen and Ann. A couple beers at Copper Club their award winning amber ale. Spent night same town spot down wind from sewage lagoon. Brief hard sprinkle fell driven by strong winds. Parked sideways to the wind lulled to sleep by rocking van.

This AM I arrived at an almost empty Kokopelli TH. I listened to Wait Wait while letting sun warm things up. Geared up. Pedaled up Wranglers connecting to Mary’s loop to Lions turning up canyon wall to Mack Ridge finally dropping down to Marys for the ride back. On Mary’s I encountered 2 older looking men standing trailside. One said they finally get to meet JP. I stopped and we visited for many minutes. Turns out both of them are readers of my blog. Glen has been on the road for 20 years, Jeff is a student of this lifestyle. A connector trail joins Lions with Mack ridge climbing and dealing with tech features that continued to put me on my feet.

Wonderful fall ride day. Back at TH Glenn and Jeff were hanging. We visited without holding up bikes. They shared a closer in camping spot that I chose to join them at for the night. Living on the road was our common thread as we swapped stories. Windy and chilly drove us into our respective mobile living quarters.

Spent 2 nights out above Rabbit Valley where I usually stay. One day I hiked out from camp spot then dropped down thru  breaks in rock bands. I followed the wash down stream with out water then looked for a route back up thru the rock bands. Just below topping out I heard voices above me. I hollered to inform them I was climbing out. I faced the front end of a truck camper. Guy walks up to me and greets me by name. We visited this last summer at Oakridge.

Monday Mac Daddy will replace a thermostat / fan. From there I will head to Moab.

Feet above sea level in Fruita, co, for the most part the rest of the year i will below 6,000′, alas, less stress on my used body.

Last evening i happened to notice oil on top of my shock: not good. Next stop is Fruita. OTE enjoys my repair confidence. I called ahead from the road to book stand time. James thanked me for my bike service. He noticed that the shock was twisted off vertical which was wrong. Solution as he diagnosed the problem was to disassemble suspension parts. He discovered a bonded fitting had brouen free. I called Turner and spoke with David. Always a great conversation. Long story i am sending the frame back to him for expert repair. OTE is reducing my bicycle to a collection of parts. I am sending the frame parts back to SCAL for repair. I will be Turnerless till mid next week. Will find life experiences hete in grand valley till wheels ate under me again.

13 degrees sun AM in Gunnison, today a bunch of miles west it was 17. Fruita is forecast to stay balmy above freezing.