This AM at 6:45 I walked in light rain from overnight parking spot wearing a rain parka with my sweat pants protected to the emergency  room entrance of the ST Lukes hospital for my date with a fixer team for left inguinal hernia repair. An ID band was created and then attached to my left wrist now bare of any jewelry, I took the elevator to the second floor then taking a seat in an open waiting room. Shortly a nurse emerged and called my name. Fun attention. She is just a few years younger than me, she and her husband just sold their Airstream trailer and bought a van. Big enjoyment difference she said. She rides her bike from Hailey to the hospital and back as a zen commute. She used a valve detector on my right arm to find an open good stick site. Once in the medical plumbing gets attached. My nerves were on placid. At present the worst I would feel  was the IV needle. The rest would be sedated and pain blocked. Pain might emerge after IV pain med wore off. DR visited, he said piece of cake: simple fast fix: make incision, separate facial, place a mesh gapping the separation, the sealing edges together. Next I remember I was back in original room with the same pre-op nurse. DR visited, said piece of cake and I be good. Follow up appointment next Tues. Final exit function was a bladder empty, if I peed I was ready to leave. AH, relief as I was hydrated by the IV. I stood up in balance. I was given a ride back to my van by a volunteer, a past ER DR who retired, in a wheel chair. My plan was to stay in my van letting the meds metabolize from my body. Pharmacy in Hailey called telling me they had the lovenox script filled. Time passed as my body cleansed to where I was just sort of groggy then drove off. Picked up med which is a one use injection. The drove to Steve’s for recuperation. Sat in the sun reading River Horse. Provides a model for my writing.

Monday dumped several hard T storms. No riding

Tues Steve’s ride plan was out of Adams Gulch just N of Ketchum. Potholes and mud puddles access road to almost overflowing parking lot. I passed a mtn biker going the same way. Steve pulled in just ahead of me. Shortly that rider pedaled to my door. He said HI and reintroduced himself: Kirk, a local photographer. We rode together up Fischer Creek. I remembered him by name. The 3 of us pedaled out Adams Gulch trail. In a short while Steve’s bike expressed a grind sound. We traced it to his bottom bracket. Steve said he won’t ride it as such. He turned around then drove into Ketchum to Sturdo for fixing. Kirk and I continued on same route Steve had lead me on before. Climbing. Kirk lead. He is 62, I’m 68, he lives at this elevation, I am working on higher elevation. He might of pedaled longer that I did before each hiking a bike. My breathing appeared to be comparable to another rider close to me age.

6.77 miles climbing 1328′ (196’/mile). Short ride but long on surmounting gravity. I went first on downhill. Lower the seat, load almost all weight on feet, look ahead, bend elbows which puts weight on front wheel which makes the tire to bite giving traction, then carving. Just smokes.

again

Steve texted his repair success from shop cleaning up bottom bracket of grit from wet rides.

I putzed around passing time till hospital parking lot. Visited at PKs with Zack. Accepted his offer for a beer.

Yesterday at Steve’s he shoveled manure into his turd hearse then pulled it behind his truck spraying a pasture.

Steve’s

Attempting pain management on cannabis edibles and not prescribed percocets. So far pain tolerable but hitting correct keys is impaired.

Appreciate how hospital worked with my situation, permission to sleep in the parking lot, then allowing me to keep my keys and leave driving myself in less than 24hr wait time. I did not abuse the privilege.

 

I have ridden at so many places on different geology flora and fauna. So many some drop dead georgeous. Newness, different. exotic. Spending almost 5 months in desert environment with its bare rock, towering buttes, slick rock, short trees, no water drought. full sunshine; picture coming into focus? Now, riding in conditions almost opposite for desert. Stunning as these pics capture. Next best place to ride. Here the routes go up gulches both sides of highway but biking only on the west side, lots of miles driving to rides. $3.54 / gallon diesel.

 

Forecast sometimes matched reality as rain was forecast and sometimes it delivered albeit not at the predicted time. Riding here means carry a rain jacket just in case. Sunscreen lacks appeal or need.

Yesterday Steve and I headed back to Greenhorn for a ride up Greenhorn trail and coming coming down Imperial Gulch. We judged the expected ride temp to the temp at Steve’s south of Bellevue meaning for me a long underwear top, knickers and knee socks. Rain jacket carried. The parking lot was not crowded. We pedaled up Greenhorn learning that we were overdressed causing / allowing a rest break to shuck a layer. Rain fell during the night filling undrainable depressions creating either slippery mud or just thick muddy water. Yes we left tracks but little dirt stuck to our tires. I was and am comfortable riding the trail. The area was burned over several years ago in their massive fires. Greenhorn was burned over,  now primary color is bare white trunks of fire killed lodgepole trees.

We recouped energy at the above intersection. 2 groups of riders arrived fro the Imperial Gulch side and reported horrible muddy conditions advising us to avoid. A section of that trail is on clay type of dirt that just turns gummy with all the rain. Bummer. We rode to high point on Imperial then turned around to ride what we rode up. Pedaling up is strenuous but doable. Climbing the angle looks different. Upon riding down what we climbed the angle seemed steeper than the climb. We zoomed down on narrow hand built trail on steep mountain side. Carrying speed sharpens the end of the rope so to speak where climbing is much slower and less exposed to same danger. We encountered more riders that I have ever encountered in all my days of riding here. We practiced trail love. We shared what we had learned about Imperial with almost every group of riders were encountered. One group we deduced that they might be lucky to make the intersection so we did not brief them. Perhaps it was snobbery. Steve saw 1 ebike rider. It took us 1 hr 12 mins to reach the turn around at 5 miles and 1568′ elevation gain (313’/mile, 6% grade), it took only 26 mins to return. The puddles seemed to be shallower. The descent was a hoot.

The stubby fender kept enough mud off me to pay the weight penalty of a thin sheet of plastic. Steve’s bike lacked a fender. I found one for him. He put it on b4 our ride. He was pumped to perhaps have a clean face. Unfortunately for him in a short distance the fender rubbed his front wheel that he had to remove it. Back to the installation drawing board.

Parking lot was not crowded yet it seemed that almost every rig had bike riders.

Visited with several riders. This was special:

Rain did not fall on our ride. I stopped at Sawtooth Brewery for a pint. Cloudburst dump with gusty winds. Drove back down to below Bellevue to Steve’s for dinner and sleep spot in his driveway.

Forecast for today was more precip starting in the AM becoming more probable and severe as the day progressed. We could see rain clouds up valley. At present this is a rest day after 9 straight days of riding. However, at Steve’s the clouds are yielding to broken patches of blue. Dunno yet if we ride later.

21 more rides to reach 2,000 rides in almost 10 years, anniversary 7/18. My imposed goal.

In the steep desert terrain in Sedona the gullies are called washes, here the gullies are longer and wider, here they are called gulches.

Hernia repair at 7AM on Wed. Hospital has on site RV parking. I will stay there Tues night then walk the short distance in my pajama bottoms. Followed by another go of self injected lovenox.

Plural: cow and calf Moose and Mosquitoes at Greenhorn TH today.

Today I mostly retraced the ride Steve lead up Mahoney then down Cow. I changed the exit to ride Cow Connector which shortened the ride. I ride behind Steve on the climbs staying on his wheel. I ride differently when I ride by myself. I climb more with Steve. Parking lot had the most number of cars I have seen until my return to a crowd. Anyway, climbed up Mahoney pushing my bike and or resting as required. I do pedal. The on to Cow Creek which undulates on the mountain side: short downs followed by slight uphills. Tree cover is scattered aspen and scattered conifers. I entered a meadow which caused a burst of dark color to bolt. I stopped and it stopped. It was a moose yearling. Its mother just became alert. We watched each other till she lead out off the downhill side of the trail.

Their path went over a slight pass, the back side leading down to a small pond(?). I watched them enter the basin then quit moving to my eye. Moose to water.

Downhill grade is almost climbable. Below grade with short vegetation that blocks seeing around the next bend. Sometimes an embeded rock bounced over. My finish on Cow creek connector was nowhere near as much fun if I would have finished on Greenhorn. Next time.

Yesterday Steve lead a Fox creek area ride. We picked up a shorter loop of his trade route. Woods dirt with sage cover, some rock, what goes down came from climbing up. Big 175′ per mile. Tree cove of groves of lodgepole and doug fir. Very pleasant.

Bridge over Fox Creek is still washed out from last year. Walked a log while shouldering my bike. Steve jumped.

Dallied at parking lot then drove to Y in Ketchum for a shower then down to Hailey. Dinner at KBs then a beer at Power House. I slept at Hailey visitor parking lot. which is right at the end of the runway. Undisturbed sleep.

Down at Steve’s for the night.

Short rides with big climbs. Sedona trails challenged with constant tech features, short uphills. Here the trails are not technical but have long climbs steeper than Sedona. Woods dirt vs slick rock and sand.