On Friday I pedaled off on my bike after a 11 day hiatus. I performed pre ride get up with precision and completeness. Preride check of operating controls did what they were engineered to do. Pedaling legs remembered. Easy pedal uphill on sidewalk. I know my chest is still gooped up. Headed out bell rock to big park back to bell rock to baby bell circle to go down steep roll then connecting to LLama. I kept my effort below in check level. Once on Llama fresh horse shit, then caught up w/ 5 women 4 legging recreational riding said sources of fresh tracks. I hung back, then pedaled  and repeated the cycle several times. Not many patches of open slick rock to pass. They were considerate of me as they pulled of the trail. Before passing them I removed loose loaf of bread sized rocks kicked onto the trail from their steeds. Tread had been rolled in which prevents wind erosion. Shod hooves break up the hardened surface creating sand which wind moves around. Add in occasional manure. I turned left on Little Horse to ride down reworked trail I helped work on. Rock work rode easier. The rehab is still standing as a new line has been ridden in. Again the step up problems that I rode with sandy previously grew back to their I can’t ride this height. I will take a mulligan because of my health. Practiced trail love most places even when I had the uphill yield to line I stopped and kept my tread in the tread.

I have realized my reason for banning e-assist bikes from heart powered trails is about courteous, mannerly, and being nice to others when sharing a common resource. Ebikes are touted as putting more people on bikes which lowers the entry bar to uneducated trail love riders that will increase the incidence of user conflict of hikers and even bikers. In essence putting more self centered bikers where they have not earned their badge of trail love. I don’t want to loose what I have in terms of sharing and friendly interactions I have with most hikers.

In ready my new book I now believe I had not read it as it is full of make believe lands. But then I might have not recalled the same. I am following the story line.

Friday drove out to sleep spot off beaverhead. Jeep road passes by water trough  for cows. This is how they left our land

This AM I caught a color flash in my left side outdoor mirror:

Later I drove up to Huckaby TH for another volunteer trail work day. Normal FS staff plus the boss and maybe 10 volunteers. We worked on the trail heading towards terminus at Midgley bridge. This was my first time on the trail. There would be several hike a bike sections that would out weigh the joy. It can be used to ride  loop around Sedona. I don’t ride those long miles anymore to want to ride the trail.

2.1 miles each way. Sprinkles started falling while we socialized eating sponsor provided pizza. A volunteer provided beer which the on the job FS guys could only drool over.

Drove out to west sedona with intermittent speed wind shield wipers on. So much traffic and this is a tourist town with no big box stores or chain restaurants. You gotta want to be here, it’s not a thru city like Moab.

Still sprinkling down here in VOC. Pavement sleep spot tonight. Precip continuing on into Sunday. Monday will be good dirt day.

I will start putting effort into a travel plan as time to move north approaches.

Sunday the NCAA reveals dance partners for the big dance. Will learn where the Zags are seeded.

That is mine, not really the outside temp albeit warming today to in the 70s. This cold started coming on before the festival and kept gaining traction as my lungs filled up with gunk and my sinuses ran like a spring flood. Learned from pharmacist of over the counter meds which I have followed. I am now able to sleep at night while breathing thru my nose which allows me to wear my mouth guard.

The weather here has not been for me enjoyable for me to ride in, after all I can wait until conditions change. I have been waiting.

Wed was chilly as I drove up to west sedona for CT scan of my abdomen seeking cause of abdominal pain. Scan was performed next is DR review. Drove out to cultural park for internet coverage and consuming time until Banff film evening. About 3PM I started shaking / convulsing so badly I could hardly put the key in the ignition. My legs were shaking causing wild pedal pressure. Never had this happen before. I am thinking it is a reaction to the contrast I drank for the CT. Whatever, things ain’t right. I drove out to emergency room for treatment. Ushered into a room and issued a gown. Proceeded to draw blood and put in the plumbing hardware for IV. Swabs were stuck painfully high up each nostril for flu culture. A walk down the hallway with my bums exposed for a chest xray. Shakes were gone by then. Results were no flu, no evidence of bacterial infection, lungs clear as was my pee. Nothing to be treated for. The Tylenol broke my 102 degree fever. I spent the night at the Worm.

Thurs was laundry day. Clean clothes. This week there were no bike clothes hanging from the drying line. Drove back down to beaverhead for the night.  Temp is warmer at night requiring less furnace heat. Guy has posted up at favorite camp spot. Cow shit piles. Dry desert.

Today I gave a ride a whirl, gently, to learn of body’s response to stimulation. Mentally I was flat. I did ride the entire route. I was curious how the trail work I helped on would ride. The rehab pieces are still in place. The rock work rode well. Users are following the directed line. Quite a few hikers out today, older people, too old for spring break from school.

Tomorrow is another trail work day. Sunday is the announcement of the dance partners for the march Madness.

Bought book, ” my grandmother asked me to tell you she’s sorry”. I am believing that I read this previously but memory recall comes up empty as to its point. Frustrating because I think I remember passages but can’t connect all the dots. It is a pleasant read while sitting in the sun out in the desert. The Strongback chair provides wonderful back support for extended sitting, however the seat material is unbreatheable which after a time feels like wet britches.

For a tourist economy. Fri, Sat, and Sunday was the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival. Define scads as the quantity of mtn bikers injected into the community and onto local trails. Today I saw several of the branded box vans around, hangers on, perhaps their job schedule allowed them to mix work with extended stay for play. Dunno. Sunday dawned puffy jacket chilly for warmth and wind block. Conditions continued into today except the temp is rising and will continue thru the week back to the 70s. Didn’t ride today because of both internal and external conditions. I am working thru a chest cold which causes hacking racking coughs bring up gunk from the depths of my lungs. If the cold is above the shoulders it’s ok to ride, below, wait healing out. Tomorrow body effort is going to happen. I spoke with the promoter to learn if they had population data from entry forms which they do. I have no need for the data but to me it would be informative to learn from where the riders come from.

Friday afternoon I worked the first shift at the VVCC booth swapping US funds for circular wood tokens used to buy beer from the beer vendors. We solicited tips / contributions for the western gateway new trails, raised $6,xxx towards construction cost. Again, consumers were my audience, they chose to be captive. I chose taking cash as I didn’t want to do the card swipe thing which turns out took less thinking than making change from a $100 for 2 beers at $4 a piece. And the bills were mixed up, it was windy such that a rock was placed on top of the bills, my fingers were dry decreasing my grip, and math skills as simple as they were did not come readily.

Turner did not attend for reasons that I understand. It was 2 years ago I drooled over a demo RFX as mine was yet to ship. The frame remains the same which is less attractive than the big box bikes who make a slight change and market as sliced bread. Lots of bike manufactures were in attendance.

Drove back down to VOC then out to uncrowded beaverhead flats. The guy with he trailer has returned and posted up in my preferred spot.

Check out the health of the vegetation, in the lower left corner is a played out prickly pear plant. I wonder the recovery. Cows grazed down dead grasses and left shit.

Sat in the afternoon I hiked Slim Shady from the VOC entrance in my normal street clothes. My purpose was to gather experiences from mountain bikers. Only 1 rider scored a perfect for for trail love: Stopped with his tread on the tread(1) and (2), smiled(3) and (4) is escaping memory recall: “yielding to hikers”. Others appeared to believe that they had inalienable right to own the trail such that hiker (me) had to get off the trail. I am working on a trail love idea to provide knowledge of conduct for bikers which will help make hikers better friends.

Sunday I drove back to the festival and visited. I ran into a few people I had met previously. Chilly. Cold beer. Watch men’s pose when beer is available: i had holds the container, the other is in a pocket. I waited till mid afternoon before I assumed said pose.

Zags play conference semi finals tonight, bar front seat right under a big screen TV and bartenders who know to replenish my beer. I normally drink a beer per half.  Tomorrow is the final which I hope they make as they have cred to do it. This AM I realized that I bought a Banff film ticket for Tues. Can’t be in 2 places at same viewing time. I asked to change the Banff night to which happened. One night of award winning videos is enough stimulation for this cowboy.

I am reading Edmond Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom. He reveals slavery by the Spanish before the English who hoped that they could build an equal society. It is chronological. The stage was set for negro slavery yet to come because many of the English settlers were wealthy and did not work but not enough workers came over. Workers who should have been growing crops were consumed as servants to the wealthy and the wealthy persons measure was how many servants he owned. They cooked the books for infractions to mandate workers to remain in slavery servitude under conditions worse than what they escaped from back in England. Makes for non literature reading that I prefer. I am reading the root for the literature.