Gone

Age robs us of our get up and go. The desire might be to get up planning for a ride. However, when the rubber meets the dirt the go seems to blanch.

Yesterday was a beautiful early winter day albeit w/ no snow or low temps. I ran some errands in town like taking on propane as the furnace runs all night. 27 degrees this AM, 55 inside but I was comfortable after I put on a sweater. The plumbing doesn’t freeze. Battery power reads 11.8 volts at wake up b4 solar gains. Rest day. Last night I thought out the ride I did today which I considered for Sunday.

SO, this AM I drove down out of the hills into the valley stopping for a latte and reading the small daily newspaper. I let sun to warm things up b4 riding. As it was I wore a heavier wool underwear top that turned out to be just a bit too  much but the option of removing it would have been too uncomfortable. Another drop dead gorgeous beautiful day. The trails at Quail Creek are newer. I started out on the west side of the lake which is really punchy with death from a 1,000 cuts right from the start. Another mile has been added since I last rode it last year,

other side of lake, trail works in and out of washes

Looking across the lake to what I would next be riding:

trails on each of 3 knobs

Trails over there are collectively known as the Boy Scout trails as many are named boy scout themes. Lots of rocks lots of places for me to walk. I have 2 bad conditions, one might be fixable, the other a fact of age. I have not acquired sufficient tech skills requiring balance and an engine to propel the move. Maybe practice might make some of the moves doable. The second is age. Can’t stop it. My anaerobic pulse rate is 132bpm. Every older year decrease that amount by 1 beat. My heart exceeds the upper limit, there ain’t much more. Little pedaling for spinning. Incredible amount of work to build these trails on either side of the lake. All sustainable.

Look for Gooseberry:

over Quail creek lake with Gooseberry way back

So back into town to wash off the white dust and sweat. Back out at JEM after dark, furnace on 38 degrees. Head is slumping closer to the keyboard.

I am near the Bear’s Ears National monument that has been shrunk by executive decree. Utah wants the federal land for their use: read resource extraction and $ for the state. How few people can benefit from taking from all of us.

Tomorrow is a ride with Kevin and Morgan who built Gooseberry.

A joy of this living on the road lifestyle is I can be in places with better weather. Every now and then I check La Pine, OR where my run aground place will be, Presently air stagnation warning and 1 degree temp. Bare ground. But pot is legal and plentiful. Mt Bachelor reports 28″ base with season snowfall of 120″.

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