Spent the night out at Beaverhead spot, snow was clear of the track.
The side door was and will soon be back to being my primary in and out. The ;latch parts are on their way, maybe by weekend. I figured how to engage the lock from the inside and I can lock the driver’s door so my van is locked up, as tight as a rock thru a window is. So, to use the side door from the inside I unlock and exit the driver’s door then walk to the unlock side door and open it. To lock up I lock the driver’s door then engage the lock mechanism from the inside and slide the door shut. This lock plays well with the key. A work around. Need to make arrangements with shop to wrestle the thing in.
I have no evidence but my own conservative trail care view to not ride in probable possible freeze thaw mud here. Decided Fri night to drive down to Black Canyon Trail at Bumblebee, plan was to drive down the dirt road to find a sleep spot then access the trail which is above the road. Road is quite popular with internal engine crowd. Picked first open place right on a gas pipeline where there was a clearing for a line valve access. Level and legal, at least no sign was seen. Other places were trashy with broken glass, some litter, and filled with gas crowd. Chilly, windy. Wore sleeveless mid weight merinowool under a mid weight full on merino wool jersey under a wind shell, knee socks, knee warmers, regualr shorts and gloves. A christmas gift to OTE helped me see my way to purchasing a pair of Smith glasses that provide way more eye coverage which I hope will prevent my eyes from tearing. Geared up, check then pump air into tires. I pedal a bit at the TH running thru the moveable able things checking their performance. Check check, wrong: seat dropper is back to almost as slow as ist go. ***** I need the seat to move under my command like right now. I rode like the post was fixed, only lowering it and waiting for it to return at the most demanding spots. Started out pedaling uphill on road. Humph, the engine is sluggish. Umph some more. Picked up the trail at the top of the nasty each way, some hike a bike on return is derigor. My engine was really struggling. I planned on turning around at Bloody Basin, plans change: I promised myself to pedal for an hour before turning around. Like 60 mins and 15 secs. 6 miles climbing 922′. Started down picking up speed faster than my uphill. I sensed that I was hearing a soft tire. I stopped and checked: rear wheel was considerably soft, not yet flat. Searched the tire seeing no white Stans seeping. Pumped the tire. A previous christmas gift gave to me a neat Lyzene minifloor pump. Makes the pumping much easier and no possibility of snapping a valve stem which is bad. Rode some more, stopped and resqueezed the rear tire. Soft. Pumped way air in pedaling paying more attention to no pointy rocks. I pedaled the road back instead of the nasty hike a bike. Horses have been using the trail. Trail tread is broken loose rock.
Back at the van I checked the tire : no indication of a leak. I pulled the valve core then injected a 2 oz bottle of Stans. The valve core stem was slightly bent which didn’t allow the nut part to completely pull down the inside part which blocks air escape. I think the valve was the issue but more Stans just adds weight and security against the maybe bigger holes. And I screwed on a valve cap to protect the stem.
My phone rang but I ignored it per usual. Rang again, ignored again. I hear voice shouting perhaps my name? I look around finally to the trail above and see 2 riders. I check my phone, a message from Jimmy, I call him: It’s he and Christine above on the trail. Cool. They drove down to join when they finished. What a happenstance.
Spent the night. My engine lacked its let’s go ride vibe, no ride day. I drove back to VOC. Ran into a bunch of local riders who were heading out for a 12 ride. Exchanged welcomes. Drove down to PJs to socialize, watch some Seahawks football and drink a beer. Greeted familiar faces. Didn’t connect. Drove out to Beaverhead.
Forecast for today last night was 100% probability of 1 to 3″ of snow starting at 11. Today my plan was to get up and get gone by 9 to drive up to west Sedona to buy propane, grocery shop, get water, then ride like Skywalker and finish before predicted snow. Started snowing heavily just after 1st stop. No ride. Bought groceries. Plan was to drive to Uhaul place and hang out. Snowing. Sedona OTE was on the way, their parking lot was empty. Score. I walked in and told the dropper tale. Said they could get after it, bring it in. Wrench pulled the post apart and determined that the cable was still too long which did not open the valve to make the post move. He shortened it and now it is back to rocket launch speed.
Snowing heavily and building up. Turned onto 89A heading to Uhaul. Traffic became backed up stop shortly. Road surface was wet with packed firm snow wheel tracks. Many minutes later I turned into Old Sedona snow covered parking lot, several blocks short of Uhaul. Get a spot off the jammed road. Worked out as I watched some bowl football and a basketball game for 2 beers worth. Traffic was stopped at Airport drive: no downhill into town. Pink Jeep tours ran aground at WholeFoods till the traffic started moving. The road became passable allowing me to finish my drive to Uhaul spot. Maybe strong 3″ of snow fell. I took a walk picking up a piece of Airport trail snow covering up the basalt rock tread. Walked into a neighborhood, I walked down a maybe 6% snow covered street where 3 young kids were giving sledding a whirl. Only people I saw out playing.
Snow will melt into the ground, temp will be below freezing and above during the day creating freeze thaw mud. No riding.
Zags game on XM.
In this year I rode 2830 miles on 212 rides. about 13 miles average.