Then the brain engages the body to hit proper keys on the keyboard to tell a coherent story. Follow along with my writing.

Getting lost in a novel means you don’t have to focus on your life. Well, yes a bit of reading, presently a Confederate soldier’s narrative of his war experience. As a fall back I just put off creating this tale. Tonight is a go.

Steve has been here, rode, then drove back to winter in Sun Valley. We rode Soldier Wash for his 1st ride. This trail system is on a very small piece of FS land with the town surrounding it. We started from Posse Grounds park riding piece of bike park trails, a piece of pavement, then church parking lot where tires hit dirt. We made a loop out there. Our ride was 9.9 miles covering 169 acres. There are more miles of trails in the system that we didn’t hit. To me what is impressive is the amount of trail miles in such a small area yet never being cramped by another trail. System trails with signs and a you are here map at each trail intersection.

Steve and I were able to score sleep spots at MP 4.

Doug from Canada has been riding with me. He is younger, faster, and more capable rider. Steve is almost my age. I rode in the middle. Steve rode some of the new western gateway trails. Outer Limits:

We rode Turkey Creek on Sunday. Such an under used area. We encountered almost no one on a beautiful day to be out. Challenging trails with bits of hike a bike on steep long climbs. We rode the same trails from my previous other rides. Sticking to what is familiar and found.

Tuesday I drove up to Flag to seek treatment from my primary health care professional. Gut issues. Beautiful day. I drove each way in the canyon which is now smooth unblemished asphalt. Slower drive than I 17.

Wed I soloed a Western Gateway ride as I wanted to ride Last Frontier. Trail is a mix of user created adopted trail and a newly constructed piece that traverses a steep side hill.

Last Frontier rejoined Outer Limits before descent to Dry Creek. After the crossing I pedaled up and up. At the junction of now named Ledge n airy, formerly Drano, a user created trail adopted. Shorter route out of creek but harder climbing. Finished off back to Gridner trailhead.

Later that day I sat in a dentist chair as he fitted me new appliance which when worn over my lower teeth it will position my lower jaw relative to my upper which will correct my damaged TMJs.

Thursday was another volunteer trail work day. Ground Control on the side of Cockscomb is now open. It’s a harry black diamond piece of work. I joined a small group to build the northern end to Cockscomb. Built the trail intersection cairn (?).

Laundry done later. Zags game start was 8:30. I was out in the desert inside my van listening to the broadcast on XM. Zags won.

Last fall out at Klondike near Moab I met Brian. Steve joined us on a ride. He recently arrived in Sedona. He joined Doug and I. I created the route which is my usual loop. I looked forward to the ride as it would be my first time on these trail. 11 AM start, still a little chilly. Ah, but clear blue skies warmed the day. Our route took us up to Chicken Point. Above high on an exposed slick rock face is the infamous White Line. we watched a rider negotiate the ride. I failed to take a picture of the ride with him in it.

What is hidden from view is the rest of the face. A fail on this would be a death plunge.

Just another beautiful day. Presently I am out at MP 4, I arrived late afternoon. Warm and sunny enough to leave the side door open. Mid 60s. Snow is forecast for Monday and colder, however.

One night Steve and I had a discussion about rationalization. When I was much younger life was pretty black and white, however with aging I learned that there is much shading. Sometimes we bend a little to gain something. The subject of ebikes came up. We both are against them. Steve has ridden one, me never. I have been riding with an ebike rider who has lead me on some amazing social trails here. I invited Steve along on a ride with the ebiker. Steve said he would not ride with him. I chose to ride with Steve and stiffed the ebiker. I was quite aware of my rationalizing. No more will I ride with an ebiker. It’s just ain’t right what the assist gives the rider.

That’s here in Sedona, AZ. I have to get over it. Trails are drying out, some rock faces are slippery from tracked on sand for excitement. Oh, and gouges from cat claw bushes at trail edge results in blood letting. But thta is a first world problem.

Steve from Sun Valley is here, he left snow and cold to red pow and shirt sleeves. The body needs to relearn pedaling and reflexes. Recently I was off my bike for a week, my first ride was like what Steve is experiencing. Just a week. So far he has ridden Soldiers Wash trails, did a trail work morning, Turkey Creek, and Llama etc today. He will be leaving Wed with just a taste of comfort and riding.

Nah, my life is pretty simple and routine of riding or walking, grocery shopping, driving to sleep spot, fixing dinner then clean up, read a while then sleep. Repeat. So nice to be in such a comfortable place. Sometimes writing about it.

That’s about it. I am still pedaling here in the high desert.

That is the name of the AZ state park we ride thru to get to USFS land.

Yesterday I had an appointment at the shop that installed struts and shocks last year. The work today was to replace what they put on last year with ones they really recommend. All for warranty, no charge to me. Sounded too good to be true, I was skeptical of free until I was handed my keys. True to their word. The shop was perplexed as to why they recommended what they did or that the quality of the OEM was not up to snuff. I left my van in their hands then rode my bike to meet Doug to ride the Dead Horse trails. 3 mile pedal on busy highway to meet Doug outside the park.

The tread here is mostly lime based which makes for an even nastier mud problem sticking to wheels gumming them up such that wheels won’t turn thru frame. Question was had sufficient water evaporated to eliminate that mud. $3 entry fee to pedal thru the park to get to the trails. We found that mud was on the north facing slopes and infrequent enough for our riding. Elevation is upper 3,000′ and drier than Sedona, mostly creosote bushes.

The invasive species bovine continues to lay waste to our public lands.

Doug created the route which worked for me. We pedaled 19 miles climbing only 1381′. Tread is chunks of limestone mixed in with red sand. Small system. Location suited my van service.

Pedaled back to service garage to pick up my van. Service required access to both front wheel wells which is where I store books on the passenger side and shoes on the driver’s side. The library underwent a massive shuffle, I saw books that I either have partially read or intend to… someday.

I drove the van off the lot while immediately noticing how much better the ride was. Put a big smile of pleasure on my face. The ride is way much better and at no expense to me. With the turbo fixed for more power and less Sprinter rumble strip vibration the van rides like a big car. Next is the coolant service and I will be more confident in health of van.

Our ride took longer than I planned as I wanted to buy coffee beans in Cottonwood and buy propane. The coffee shop was closed and I forgot about propane. I drove back to Sedona passing the closed hardware store where I buy propane. I parked at my in town spot. I opened my calendar to check propane data. Shit.. I counted the days since the last refill and did the math of 1 gallon burn per day: I figured I would run out some time during the night. My bad. I turned the heat down low and went to bed. During the night I woke to see the flashing red diode indicating the furnace did not light which I took to mean the propane was empty. I looked at the fridge control panel diode that I interpreted to not running. No heat, no hot food, and no refrigerated food. 3 AM. Hardware opens at 7. At 7 I slid out of bed and put the van in driving mode to drive to hardware which appeared dark. I ate restaurant breakfast food then returned to store. Their sign stated 7 AM open. I checked the tank gauge which showed fuel. Guy pumped fuel, I had a gallon in the tank. Chalk it up to another case of not paying enough attention to facts. I own it.

I drove back down the VOC to Bike and Bean shop which is usually lacking customers to have them replace my shifter cable and housing as shifting down to smaller sprockets lags. The resident wrench spoke highly of his repair knowledge such that I chose to steer my business to the shop. His knowledge is incomplete as at present he can’t figure out how to detach the cable from the gripshift.

rain started falling about 5 AM this morn and has continued off and on throughout the day. Forecast calls for sunshine tomorrow. Dirt will be just a bit more moist than hero dirt.