Several days of wind events. Thurs the winds stirred up a massive dust cloud that hung over ST George. In the morn after weekly laundry I drove to ST George to run several errands then a ride out at Barrel Roll. Errands went well: dropped my new percale 400 thread count sheet at Pam’s to be cut to size. The GPS missed her building address. A mailman was delivering mail to a outdoor mailbox. I asked him if he could help me find Pam’s as he would prolly deliver mail to her. He pointed up higher than I looked on the front wall of the building in front of me: there was Pam’s sign. I asked him if he wanted to give a message to her. He said that the PO workers miss her. I shared that with her. Sense of connection. Sheet to be finished before I leave. Dropped my shoes off at a shoe repair to put in new laces as I have not been able to figure out how to snake cord thru the blind spots in the lace routing. Scored a bag of large tree ripened oranges from the orange man in Santa Clara.  Deemed dust count still higher than I wanted to inhale.

Tues Kevin and I rode Church rocks after he finished work. Finished in deepening darkness, We made a weekend camping plan to  camp out off Gooseberry road Fri night.

I made arrangements with the local library for me to view Ken Burns’ Vietnam. Friday I arrived at opening then watched almost 2 hours of video. I asked the library to hold the dvd for me till Mon for more viewing.

My Raceface Turbine dropper is still not quickly and not full extension in spite of what has been tried. I have my new micro ratchet set with the proper allen size to back out the seat binder bolts and using Phils shock pump gift I checked the air pressure: 3psi, not 30. The other 27 psi joined the atmosphere. Before the last 2 rides I pumped the thing up to 30. Sat was a 3 1/2 hr pedal ride its length was greater than the leaking seals could hold in which meant that the post had to be hand helped to return to full height. Today I dropped my bike and my KS LEV dropper. They said that the Turbine release lever can be used with the LEV which is cool. The LEV is not as fast a return. The Turbine will be sent in for repair.

Friday I rode the Lakeside trail on the W side of the lake as an out and back. Remarkable amount of work required to cut bench cuts.Kevin moved the camp out to Sat. Having free time I hiked up the Goulds Rim trail that Quentin was involved with creating. I helped one afternoon. The trail climbed up out of the valley requiring route finding to climb thru the cliff face. 1.5 miles each way. Another fine piece of work.

The Smithsonian road has been reworked into a very passable all weather road. And the road to Gooseberry has also been improved. Our camp spot was somewhere off Gooseberry but before the nasty road climb up to the mesa. I found a spot Fri night and Kevin joined in the morning.

Sat’s ride plan was similar to last Sat’s ride of riding up the mesa road then Kevin leading the Gooseberry trails. He said tjhat the slick rock is fossilized volcanic ash.

We made a long day out of it enjoying the mesa, views, weather, and friendship. 22.9 miles pedaling 3 hrs 30 mins . We finished after sundown at our camp. What was so cool was we were staying here and not driving away like most other people. My energy and skills were rapidly being depleted while on Gander return trail.

Kevin brought firewood as he wanted the heat as he was living outside. I joined him at the fire.

Today our plan was for the sun to heat the environs then drive down to Wire Mesa ride. 43 degrees but little wind. Morgan’s rig was at the TH. Wire Mesa is the easiest of the mesa rides. We ran into Morgan which meant a long visit. I asked him what his favorite trail building tool is, he said a good leave rake to which I concurred.The wonderful radiant sun energy did not thaw out Kevin’s joints, we made only 1 lap around the mesa.

Still no forecasted precip. Temps are lowering into highs in 50s. The furnace runs all night establishing a comfortable 55 degrees when I crawl out from under the warm covers. Better than being outside.

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,

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

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:

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″.

Gooseberry and Gander with Kevin.

Furnace ran all night keeping me toasty outside just above freezing. Body is adjusting to lower temps as I slept almost too hot under the light weight doubled over down blanket. Battery power kept the blower going. Looked outside to see 4 rigs parked behind me, never heard them pull in. They left before I finished dishes.

Headed out to Gooseberry stopping right across the cattle guard on Gooseberry rd to meet Kevin at 11:00. Road in is now all weather almost paved smooth which pleased my van. Road has been reworked since I was here last winter. Parked at cattle guard, we rode from here climbing up onto Gooseberry mesa 4 miles away. We rode a bit of Gooseberry following white paint stripes indicating the trail. At least I did as Kevin made numerous his line choices for fun I needed to stay a bit behind him so I could make my informed decision if I wanted his line or perhaps walking. Disclaimer: I affected my sensory and coordination capacities before starting out which stayed with me all day. I was way off my game. I found that talking distracts me, social rides don’t improve my riding skills.

Our ride plan had something for each of us: a road pedal to Gooseberry for Kevin and Gander back for me. We got a lot from each. Gooseberry is Kevin’s long time back yard. Gander is maybe 4 years old and he had ridden it only once before. Mesa riding lots of rock. Gander rides right along the mesa rim. I hit a tree with my right hand that shifted my line to the left which I corrected inches from a long way down.  Long day with many stops. Finished late afternoon with low sun angle and crystal clear skies. Just beautiful.

Decided to just stay at JEM and not drive down into town then back out. Propane is iffy. I stopped at Apple Valley store after official sundown as they had propane. I asked for filling and she said after sundown can’t do.

No precip in forecast, just dry trails talc like dust.

Last night I ordered Endura 3/4 shorts which are like knickers. I like their shorts way better than club ride. Extra length keeps some warmth from escaping my knees. I also ordered a king sized Egyptian cotton flat sheet that I will have resized for 2 sheets. Look forward to both new fabric things.