And drowned. I put a 2 gallon pail under my sink drain to capture the used water. Upon occasion I have emptied drowned mammals who crawled up the plastic side then fell into the drink. They can’t climb back out. I suppose they swim until exhaustion overtakes their last breath. Today Three bodies were poured out.

Yesterday I drove back down to town. I scored an appointment with a PA-C as a returning patient to discuss my unresolved gut issue. Decided not a hernia nor irritable bowel, it must be from constipation from eating this SIBO diet which is low in fiber. I’m bound up and so far I haven’t really cleared the tube. Whatever it is I still do not escape the discomfort. Grocery shopped, filled propane and water then drove out and up to Horse Thief area at around 5700′, town is 4200.

Horse Thief area has a BLM campground, lots of dispersed camp spots,  and access to a trail net work. I drove past almost deserted camp ground to an exposed view spot up on the flat. Exposed to wind and views. It was empty. Pulled in. I thought I could ride a fast loop on Rodeo and arrive back at van before sunset. Chilly. Pedaled down past other camp spots while seeing just 2 campers back there. Picked up Rodeo loop which is 8.5 miles and 517′ of elevation change. Typical of this area of Moab trails with pieces of slick rock, mostly , and rolled firm sand. Really scooted around the loop to stay ahead of setting sun. Again, the joy of pedaling an almost zero degree engagement freehub. I know I pushed my heart but I had no data gathering tool as the EDGE had taken a holiday and was resisting rebooting. I spent about 45 mins attempting to bring it back to life and waiting for help desk call. EDGE came back to life. Made it back in the light.

Camp spot is exposed in all directions.

Stiff gusts during the night rocked me. Large surface area of van is a wind block, wind lifts the windward side, speed slackens causing van to return to level with a sudden stop. The harder the wind the harder the rock. But, I was sheltered inside, not toasty but my heavy weight wool sweater compensated.

From my spot I could put several loop rides together. Today is Sat, prime day for shuttlers on Bull Canyon so I would expect crowds. Navajo Rock loop is non shuttling but it could be crowded also. Went to sleep with no route.

This AM I woke before 6 then caught Wait Wait don’t tell me at 6 while snug in bed. Forecast for today was for 20 mph winds and chilly. Up here the land doesn’t affect the wind speed, question was will it be a head wind?

Decided to ride Chisholm from camp spot riding 1 mile on recently graded hard sand road. Wind at my back. Once on Chisholm the wind was cross. Again, trail is typical. I did not know if I dressed warmly enough and what my body would say. I wore a helmet cap, 2 layers of wool tops, and knee warmers. 36 degrees at start. Up here patches of last snow are shade sheltered and the ground could have been frozen. darn right chilly. Arrived at Navajo Rocks loop where Chisholm quit. I sat in the sunshine behind a juniper blocking the wind, sort of pleasant. Pulled up TrailForks and evaluated several choices. Last year Steve suggested we put a loop together by riding a piece of Navajo Rocks, Coney Island, down to connect with 7UP and pedal back up thru Mustang loop. I repeated that choice.

I encountered maybe 25 riders on Navajo but just a few once climbing back out. Parking lot where Chisholm crosses highway was crowded. Chisholm dumped me on to the same dirt road and into a cold head wind. 18.7 miles climbing 1506′ pedaling for 2 hrs 27 mins. My nose was cold.

Still chilly wind at van that I chose to shelter from inside the slightly solar warmed van. Fixing black bean pot luck using dried beans that I have been simmering for almost 2 hours creating steam which needs the overhead fan on sucking vapor and furnace heat. 34 degrees at 5:15 PM, sun is working on colors.

Will stay here tonight and ride here again tomorrow. Wind is forecast to be less and temp will be 48 higher than today.

Shorter days and colder nights are a seasonal fact. Sunrise is like 6 AM as is sundown. 23 degrees outside before sun rose, 57 inside. Furnace runs from about fixing dinner time to drive away time around 9 AM. Warm daylight hours are treasured.

Willow Springs is about 15 miles to town on US 191, a 4 lane highway. I visited Moab back in 1992 when the highway was 2 lanes. Over the visits I have experienced the making of the 4 lanes. Allows 65mph plus drivers to pass slow me at maybe 55.

Plan today was to do wash in town then drive back to Bar M to ride at maybe 1 PM for a 2 hr ride. Drove to town driving w/o road construction delays as has been every trip thru the widening road to 4 lanes construction making the short 2 lane piece between the edge of town and the bridge over the Colorado, maybe 3 miles. It’s 4 lane thru town, which located on the main street that became the Main street back when it was settled in 1878. Horses were the locomotion. Anyway, clothes are clean and stowed inside. Riding clothes hung up, drying time is longer because less solar gain which heats the van which dries the clothes..

Drove back up to Bar M trailhead. Wheel was gone hopefully reconnected to its bike. Maybe 25 rigs in the huge parking lot. Checked outside conditions: temp, chilly, slight breeze, 47 degrees in the sun. Knickers were still wet as was preferred wool jersey. Dress arounds of light weight wool long underwear top under a long sleeve synthetic jersey, figured this would block wind heat loss. Exposed knees because of shorts, do I need to wear knee warmers or would effort keep them limber. Went showing off the whites of my legs. Suntan sluffed off.

Ride was to ride 2 black trails, Deadman’s and Long Branch, which have many tech features and short ups and downs. Today’s ride was longer than yesterday. And more features to evaluate the new wheel. Performance was the same as first ride except a faint freewheel noise was heard, still quieter than Torch. Just amazing the control I have gained with the .52 degrees of engagement in the hub, not accurate to say zero but feeling .52 seems instantaneous. I am able to put power to the rear wheel where and when I need it. I can position my crank relative to the wheel and know that when I arrive at that 1″ of tread and I need a pedal stroke, it is right where I want it. Already enjoying the rim suppleness although the rim maker prolly doesn’t use that description. Those 2 trails are a hand full, OK 2 hands as one is on the left grip color red and the other is on green. Dropper post makes for agility and staying behind the bars. I use the dropper more times than I shift. I checked my log sheet to read my first dropper was back in 2014, amazing 6 years of dropper riding. I prolly rode these trails back before the dropper. Shit, I could not go back to rigid.

Finished up on short piece of back 40, a blue, with fewer features. There  were sections that faced right into the low angle sun which blinded me in the shadows.

12.4 miles climbing 1102′ in 1 hr 51 mins. Average speed was 6.7 mph. There were pieces of pedal speed mixed in with the tractor crawling.

Back at the van the sun was about 1 finger width above the canyon wall. 1 finger equals 20 mins. I beat feet to make it back to Willow Springs in last daylight and solar gain warmth inside for a heated water wash off.

Still riding the worn drive train, still is trouble free. Keep putting off removing and replacing the chain ring having to break free the self extracting Praxxis bottom bracket. Cold makes for stiff digits.

Tomorrow it is up to Horse Thief for 2 days, no internet connection. Trails up there are more pedaling with fewer features.

Bed time.

Yeah, that term is used frequently to distill its significance. I will use it to describe my new Industry Nine Hydra hub laced to We Are One carbon 35.5 rim with aluminum straight pull spokes. Yesterday the UPS tracking read “delivered” to copy center in Moab. And Poison Spider called telling me the crash replacement rim arrived. Last night I tossed and turned maybe thinking about a new wheel so that I could ride with my usual carefully planned reckless abandon. Klonzo was riding, Klondike is riding.

Hard frost overnight, furnace ran ll night to keep temp inside just below 60 degrees. Batteries were drawn down because of lack of solar gain but sufficient to keep juice flowing. Completed the breakfast event then drove down to Moab. I figured a plan for putting the new wheel on my bike. First was to pick up the replacement rim at Poison Spider which was still in unopened box. Paid $200 for the rim. Drove further down Main st to the copy center where my new wheel was awaiting. Pay $5. to receive shipment. l9 emailed me a prepaid shipping label that I had to get out of my computer then send to shop to print. Amazing things they are doing with computers. I took the undamaged shipping box outside to my waiting operating open air suite. Lined out the required instruments. Took the bike down and hung on vice on the Jobox. Removed the rear wheel. First task was to remove the cassette which almost needed a cheater bar to loosen, thanks Barb at Sunnyside in Bend, she tightened it beyond my strength. Put the cassette on the new hub, success I9 figured the driver I needed. Snugged it on less than Barb tight. Removed the tire from old rim and sucked up the Stans. Slipped tire onto new rim then attached air chuck from floor pump. I began pumping but only heard air as the tire was not beading. I needed shop air. I was parked almost at a bike shop. But all my stuff was unlocked, I couldn’t leave. A guy walked up and struck up a conversation. He said he would watch my stuff. I trusted him then walked to bike shop. Wrench used shop compressed air causing the tire to bead right up. Hmm, floor pump can’t seat. Walked back to van, guy still there as was all my stuff. I squirted 1 squeeze bottle of Stans down the valve, installed the valve core, then pumped the tire up. Held air. Removed brake rotor then installed on new hub and torqued the bolts to 9nm. I put the wheel on the bike and gave the wheel a spin. Hmmm, no famous l9 noise.  Good to go, wheel set up, now a sprint out to Bar M trails for a mid afternoon ride.

A pick up pulled in behind me. Driver got out and said nice Turner, He said he had one in the truck box. I walked over to see, it was a Flux just like my first Turner. That bike introduced me to nothing rides like a Turner.

Bar M is on way to Willow Springs. Trails are built for mtn bikes, there is a mix of upper blue tech challenges and lesser challenges. I headed for Deadman ridge which is challenging with lots of rock moves.

Right off I noticed the absence of freehub coasting angry bees famous l9 sound. And the back pedal seemed like there was no resistance. At the first rock feature I noticed the almost instantaneous pedal engagement almost like riding a fixed gear bike. Also immediately noticed was a less harsh hit at the rocks, a much better damped feeling. Amazing what they are doing with composites these days. The wheel is much faster than Torch hub. The .52 degrees of engagement that there was constant pressure on the pedals. I rode stuff so much better today than with old wheel. The almost supple rim was enjoyable.

I should have changed this wheel purchase from a want to a need last year instead of buying the PUSH Elevensix shock as to me this wheel is a greater improvement than the coil shock. I now have both making for a super ride.

Test ride completed and very favorably evaluated. Fist full of thumbs up for the engineering and manufacturing of the met and nomet parts.

Slick rock here eats knobs off the tires.

Some poor sot drove away leaving a front wheel where he was parked. I relocated it to the kiosk, may the rider return to retrieve it.

Back out at Willow Springs spot. Pick a less desirable spot and nobody will crowd me.

The old wheel and the new rim are on their way to l9 in Asheville.