Life will roll along. However, when genetics and life style choices manifest adversely life becomes curvy and bumpy. I believe genes are my downfall.

During DR exam on Tues I asked could my pain be a hernia? He said drop your drawers and I’ll check. Nuts withstood his manual manipulation. Turn your head to the side and cough. i learned that the turning of the head is to avoid hacking in the drs face. Anyway, suspected as such. Told me of possible intestine strangulation could occur. If pain gets worse get to the hospital. Gave me a surgeon referral as the surgeon makes the repair call. I called the office hours later. Yes, they had my referral, when would I like to come in? as soon as possible. How about earliest is June 5. I “celebrated” by later riding Campbell Basin trails sharing some of what I previously had ridden. Open P pine and juniper. What I helped build was never found although i saw where it might have been. The loop I rode was MTBP, the tread was almost sidewalk avoided nay single track. Met a group of women riders. As I approached one of them cheered “Arkansas” per my jersey. They were formerly of said state. Visited awhile bringing them up to date on the state’s trails.

Drove from east to west end of town along Route 66 to anytime for a shower. Cleaned I returned up Schultz creek where some one got to my previous spot first. i drove a little further till I found an acceptable spot.

During the night my stomach and perhaps hernia spot misbehaved. I diagnosed intestine strangling needing immediate attention. I prepared myself for surgery by drinking only cup of coffee, took a baby aspirin instead of anticoagulant and prepared a hospital stay bag. I drove to the hospital which is on this end of town. Walked into emergency, first in line, processed then ushered to  an exam booth. Questioning gathering data, repeat manual exam by a woman ER doc. She also suspects a hernia. Nothing to do but have a surgeon render opinion.

Friend Steve shared a DR office in Ketchum. After the ER visit I called to make an appointment. Voice mail said closed on Wed (today). I made the decision I did not want to wait around Flag for surgeon. I wanted to be seen much sooner. I called back on Thurs. When can you be here she said. I expected office visit weeks away. I said I was in Dolores, CO and could be there Tues. Fine, 11AM it is. I am now rationing time and body abuse to make Tues date. Got ahead of myself.

I left Flag for Dolores, CO and Boggy Draw trails making town before sundown. Route went right at Four Corners. Arizona dry desert. Once into SW corner of CO the land greened up from sufficient water. Irrigated crops. Trees taller than 2X my height. What water does. Stopped at local brew pub for a beer. Heartening to see the place packed, most attending  cover charge music concert out back. For dinner I shopped at Surprise Deli right on main highway. Surprise as the quality of food inside: not your regular gas station fare. Baked halibut pieces found the inside of my van. Fish starts to stink quickly once out of refrigeration.

I figure out a ride while sitting at my table. Sure, the distance and elevation makes sense. I fall asleep thinking about tomorrow’s ride. Next day I pedal away on the planned ride. Effort is expended, a trail to shorten the distance. Hmm, less is more, I bail. Not in Sedona as I understood what each trail demanded. This bail occurred on a Flag ride. For Dolores I chose to ride the McFee lake overlook trail for 9 miles as either as a connector to Bean canyon and a road ride finish or just O&B the vista trail. I rode from town, There seemed to be more downhills heading away which would have to pedaled or pushed back up. I committed to the Bean Canyon climb out and the road back. Last year I ride this part of Bean canyon. I remember pushing up some of it. Umf. Today I kept my gears lower to climb some stuff I previously walked. Granny is better. Been thinking about the Eagle 12 speed with a 50T cluster gear. Low gearing. The area is well behind in yearly rainfall.

Followed a previous slitherer

Ran into a 75yo solo male hiker. We stopped and visited. He told me about the lack of rain and snow melt. He said that zebra mussels are such a threat that the land manager requires mandatory inspection prior to launching but only on days and hours the inspection stations are manned. Shortened hours caused by lack of funding.

Ride was 13 miles of trail with 4.6 miles of road back. Trail ends up on top of mesa above town.Screaming downhill on pavement being buffeted by strong winds, reached 33 mph. 17.4 miles climbing 1545′. Was enjoyable and was able to complete the arm chair planning. The lakeview trail is hand built well executed.

Thurs was laundry day, nearest laundromat was back in Cortez and also a shower. Drove back to town and completed tasks. Previously I stayed out at the airport parking lot. I could have stayed there but wanted the forest up Bogey Draw where I stayed last night.

Today I drove to Moab and desert and smooth slick rock. Stopped at grocery store and filled my water tank 1 gallon at a time from Gearheads. I will ride only 1 day here. I was tossed by Navajo Rocks or Klondike. each had their pulls. I chose Klondike as it is just off my northerly direction of travel. As I drove N I saw large gatherings of off road vehicle trailers. Still lots of visitors in the area. Drove out to N Klondike TH to find just a few campers along the road. Picked previous spot: full on sun and stiff gusts of wind. Tomorrow is a ride here then continuing  to Ketchum. Tomorrow will be a ride, drive, then camp day. Meeting Steve Mon AM for a ride at Indian Springs.

Doobie Sisters in Cortez satisfied my thc want. Bought edibles: 10mg dose left me under its effect. One was enough.

78 degrees, 4565′ at 5:47PM. Breezey.

 

 

Sunday per the forecast the winds were less. My ride started with the wind at my back that I did not appreciate. My loop finally turned back to home and into that wind which while not blowing dust was still an impediment to easier uphill effort. MTBProject was the source for a defined loop named Cosino. I attached the phone holder to the handle bar then followed the icon. Open P pine forest mostly flat, 15.2 miles climbing 882′. Rocks appear to be limestone. Trail went under I-40 2X and once under the railroad with a train above. Ran into a solo woman backpacker, we exchanged greetings. Good pedal effort. encountered fewer than 10 people.

Literal or figurative? To say I “ran in to” someone means  say “encountered”. Figuratively speaking that is, not the literal I actually came in contact. I prefer to describe encounters as run ins, context will determine the emotion index.

yesterday was graduation day at NAU in addition to Mothers’ day. My ride was east of town, I sleep N of town which means driving busy streets. Shower at anytime out by NAU. Flag implemented an electronic parking meter system for downtown parking. Many terminals abound. Credit card based. You enter your license plate which is what you pay for, this allows the car to be moved and parked at other locations paid for how much you prepaid. I plunked down 3 hours then did a walking short tour of downtown. Dinner at Lumberyard which is a brew pub. Back out to same spot on Schultz creek. Pick 1st spot in legal camping zone.

Chilly furnace night again, 37 degrees at wake up at 7536′.

Today I drove down to park at start of Schultz creek where I would finish on a downhill. I could have ridden from camp but that would have meant finishing on a grunt and not a smile. Schultz creek is very popular. I rerode a MTBP loop climbing up Lower Moto connecting to AZ Trail to Schultz Pass then downhill on creek trail. Riding at 7,000′. Little effort results in panting. I worked my gears attempting to use easier gears while climbing. I rode better than I did when I rode here earlier this spring. Again, hardly a person. My phone was on the handlebar for navigation reference. I saw the same woman backpacker approaching from uphill. I stopped and tread in the tread for her to pass. We just started a conversation about water from caches when the phone rang. It was the gastro office inquiring my health post procedure. This conversation was more important than the hiker who left. Learned that possible sources of pain were not viewed, meaning colon is not my problem. The conversation gave me a rest break.

Light: Tree cover is open P Pine  which creates shade patches mixing in sun lit places. My eyes are frustrated by sunlight shade mix, eyes perceive the sunlight. The shade makes it difficult for me to pick out the tread which here is pretty basalt rocky. I back off my speed when approaching shade while reading tread.

Trees are regrowth as old growth was clear cut long ago, prolly by first settlers. Slow regrowth.

Sitting at bottom of Schultz creek in the now shade with 4 bar signal. Sat in the sun while putting off climbing inside and “working”

Injecting 2X day anticoagulant med. tiny needle gently slid into what belly roll fat I can find. 3 days worth required to raise my INR value as oral doesn’t spool up as fast. In the evening I wait until I have finished liquid courage of corn liquor, my aim does not shake.

Tomorrow I have a DR appointment with for me a new DR to further analyze my discomfort. Plan then is to head to Cortex, CO afterwards.

Making black beans and rice for dinner, need to drive short distance to bashas grocery.

Breezy day.

The earth rotated daily counting down the days for my visit to Flag for my colonoscopy on last Friday.So long to Sedona for this visit.

On Wed I picked an easier ride of Soldier Wash trails. 7 Sacred Pools trapped water from last rain event. I rode an up and down loop on Teacup experiencing how the trail has bedded in which it has. I stopped to view my rehab work which is still standing. What we closed off was not a social trail so it served only to add more distance to the trail. I scooted down Javalina down to the bottom of Cooks Hill. Purpose built single track which remains mostly narrow as trail design satisfies riders or it is constrained such that go arounds can not be effected.

I will miss the red rock trails.

Wed started the prep for Friday. I parked out at mp4 spot. I dug a deep hole to contain the results of flushing. Thurs AM started with drinking about 2 qts of prep then waited for the results which were captured in the pit. Just part of the crappy process. I waited for a lull in elimination then headed up canyon to Flag where I booked a demand raised hotel rate for the next drinking session. Moved into my hotel room. At 7PM the last consumption was started. Glad i had a sit down vs squat as not many minutes expired between sits. A bowel spasm was not necessarily a fart and had to be treated as squirt. Damn, couldn’t tell if sounds of liquid hitting the water was either pee or squirt. I propped myself up on the king size bed on the top floor of the hotel with a window view facing north looking over railroad tracks up to snowless Humphreys Peak, the highest point in the state. Bummer spending the night holed up not far from a toilet instead of enjoying Flag. At 9 the Comfort Keepers driver arrived on time and drove me to the hospital for the procedure. The hospital was needed in case bleeding might occur because of my being on anti coagulants. First step after dropping my drawers was inserting an IV for the introduction of the knockout drug. I was in trusted care so I was not concerned if it was a date rape med. The first stick was a dry hole as my veins were affected by dehydration in spite of all the water I drank when allowed. required an ultra sound tech to find a good vein. He succeeded. Blood was drawn to check the clotting figure which needed to below a value for the procedure. The testing machine went down thus causing me and the staff to wait for several hours past procedure schedule. Concern was my value would not be low enough to look inside of me. If so my prep would have been for naught requiring a prep redux. Machine came back on line. My results were below the threshhold permitting the looking and severing from my body any growths. The staff had to juggle their schedule to make the exam happen. I was put under long enough to not respond to a snake snaked in the back door. The anesthesiologist timed the dosage such that I woke up as the staff was putting the room back to order. Clean bill of colon health so to speak.  Driver was waiting for me and drove me back to hotel and my van. I was sufficiently straight which allowed me to scoot to Whole Foods for dinner menu items to make shrimp scampi. Drove out to FS land picking a spot on Schultz creek rd. Great to eat food again and be inside my home. While in my room I succumbed to the temptation of a big screen TV. I watched several episodes of NCIS which was punctuated by commercial breaks that lasted almost as long as the actual show. i have had enough of j c pennys.

I weighed 146#s. Back bacon and abdominal roll are gone.

 

I drove a ways to a laundromat I had used on a previous visit. One day off schedule. Clean clothes.

Wind event up here, gusts to 50 mph. Sleep spot was protected by P pines. Elevation is 7536′, 4000′ higher than Sedona and chillier. I ran the furnace this morning as it was 45 degrees out. I planned to ride like Campbells basin east of town on the flats but winds continued today. Today is another rest day. Visited REI and bought a pair of Smith sunglasses which are polarized. Looking thru them made a difference as polarizing does. Impressive as was the price. I deemed it too windy to drive north.  Just windy but little if any dust.

Found a bottle of corn liquor from a new local distiller. Tonight will be sweet.

So much happier in my own house.

Now that my exhaust tube is healthy I am now free to move about the country. My next visit will be Cortez, CO and Delores nearby.

Haven’t solved the placement of pictures to match text.