Friday morn. Van pointed away from sunrise. 7AM slide out of bed. Why don’t sleepers fall out of bed? My bed is 30″ wide. I have exposure but no kinetic energy. Great able to ride right from the cold beer. Klondike has 2 sides, one spinning and the other wished for some pedaling. The west side of the 4X4 road is pedaling which makes for a nice warm up before the hardship of the other side. Spin warm up to the end of this system then crossed the wash road picking up Dino Flo to EKG to Miners loop going around an old uranium(?) mine site. Challenging single track. I am not spoiled by my 6″ travel bike, I am rewarded for making its choice. It makes step ups easier and the roll downs super special. Point the front wheel where I want to go then verify direction with eyes looking past what I have already figured out how to ride. Bike is really stable. Been riding higher gears on the cassette. More power mashing the pedals versus lower gear spinning which seems to loose my breath.
Full on sun day with gentle breeze and low 70s, just what the body needed.
Spring is emerging. Occasional mock orange bushes send their bouquet notice to all who would help them make next years prodigy.
Stuck with the ride for 16.1 miles gaining 1696′ pedaling for 2 hrs 22 mins, I do exceed my aerobic threshold not by intention but by reality of climbing.
Fixed Country chicken with mashed russet potatoes. 2 pot dinner, lots of clean up.
Motorize crowd are populating this mostly mountain biking area. Trails are single track, ORV have the road running down the drainage plus some stuff on Baby Steps. And big rigs are displacing the dirt baggers. I climbed up on the ridge above the road to be above it all. For all the campers over all the visits there is no litter.
Yesterday I rode a good chunk of EKG trail. The elevation profile looks like a heart EKG and my heart rate monitor prolly replicated the ups and downs. Trail on slick rock is denoted by fading paint stripes, others natural items are placed to define the trail. It was punishment that I chose to subject myself. I beat myself.
Today was another ride from cold beer. Another blue bird day left around 9. Few riders out. To me a great thing about riding here is it doesn’t lend itself to shuttling, it’s earning whatever downhill you get. 17.5 miles pedaling 2 hrs 20 mins gaining 1352′ which is less than 100’/ mile Sedona average. It’s almost all pedalable. My wheel rims are 41mm which spreads nicely the 2.50WT tires. I am learning the grip of the side knobs. The tires hook up on the slick rock, the rear tire squashes onto the rock, can almost hear the tread wear away.
Sat night at crowded Klondike. A Sprinter backed into my space threshold. The night is young yet for after dark arrivals. Always a surprise in the morning to see who dropped anchor nearby.
Here the riders mostly practice good trail love. The ones that don’t appear to be rookies regardless of age. Seeing retirement age riders.
On todays ride returning on Dino Flow I cut a corner too sharply. Ouch! My left foot was trapped in a rock underhang which stopped my forward progress. My foot was rotated outward pulling my knee in relief. My bare knee was abraded by the rock it was jammed into. Couldn’t have seem the trap. I iced my ankle which appears normal but tender.