Whew!!! I have been a Gonzaga basketball fan for like 20 years. Sat night I watched the game for the ages at PJs in VOC. Suggs fired a half court shot with less than 3 seconds on the clock in a tied game after 1 overtime. Ball banked the backboard and dropped thru the net giving the Zags the win. Place erupted with jubilation. If you watched the game live you saw a fantastic game. Tonight Zags play Baylor for the championship. By 10 PM PDT their almost will be known.

Likewise for me almost. Sat afternoon I hiked form Jacks canyon TH up to top of Horse Mesa. Always good to mix in hiking  on rough climbing trails with pedaling, all kinds of muscular reflexes being played out where to place each foot and the rest of the body. Trail is like a climbers way trail in that it goes up. Top is a mesa.

 

Spent night at overlook as I can find an open spot late at night.

Almost done. Sunday I had one last ride out at Western Gateway trails. On road at 8 AM to stay away from forecast 84 degree temp. Geared up and riding before 9. Start down Stirrup is a coast. I ride this trail frequently. I don’t remember hitting anything abnormal no hearing anything. At some point I felt a liquid on my left calf and I started feeling a soft tire. I stopped and checked out tires. Without looking I heard spitting and saw white liquid emitting from a puncture on sidewall of  rear tire. I laid the bike down and spun the wheel in hopes of putting Stans right at the hole then attached the cool Lyzene pump to the valve stem and pumped…. and pumped. Hole was too large for Stans sealant. Shit. Less than a mile from van. I was going to need a new tire anyway so I pushed the bike out instead of installing a slime tube and continuing my ride. Definitely slower pushing a bike with a flat tire than pedaling. back at van made short drive down to Thunder mtn who had the replacement tire and shop air to bead it up. Drove back to Cultural Park where I started again 1 hour later. Same trail down unpunctured. Dunno what I hit. So I rode Stirrup to Girdner continued to junction with Rupp, turned left downhill on wheels created single track on loose rock wide corridor. Crossed Dry Creek then umphed the climb out. After several short climbs I turned off on a social trail then spent the next bunch of miles and time staying on faint social trails. I planned on riding Last Frontier so i needed to figure out where to exit the social to pick up a system trail out to Outer Limits. I hit Cockscomb turned left. I passed two hikers on an uphill, they let me pass as I was going faster than them. Cockscomb up and down over to junction with Outer Limits

turned left and pedaled to junction of Last Frontier, turned left riding down the original trail until a hairpin right turn around a ridge snout to the beginning of the reconstructed Last Frontier which is built on steep slope with lots of exposure, bench cut, with many opportunities for an outslope fall. Gotta pay attention to Ps and Qs. My goal was to ride all the features which I did. Trail rejoins Out Limits for descent down to Dry Creek then the hump up and back to Cultural park. 4 miles climbing 1276′ pedaling for 2 hrs 3 mins. Shared trails with maybe 5 people entire time out. Back at van the displayed temp was 84 degrees. I was heat affected. I was hot, I checked my temp which was only 98.4 slightly above my normal lower temp. Sure didn’t drink enough water to match my perspiration. Drove back down to Beaverhead for the night at open fav spot at MP4. The first right turn past the overlook was still crowded. On way out of VOC the LEO rig approached in the opposite direction. I lifted my left index finger off the steering wheel for greeting, he did the same.

Almost now done. Today I wanted to ride around Hogs following the same trails as 2 previous ride. Pedaled from outlet mall up to Bell rock TH. On the dirt Big Park loop connecting to Single track bypass where I made the grunter short steep climbs. On to main trails, single track around Baby Bell to Llama where I made all the climbs until the climb on armored piece that I have yet to make. Walked that one per frustration. Worked my way up to crowded Chicken Point picking up Broken Arrow over to junction with one of the Hogs. I walk that nasty downhill Turned right at start of Twin Buttes continuing to junction with Hog Wash

and climbed the 2 rock faces. Right at start of Pecari down to Mystic all the way out to its end at Chapel road. pavement ride thru neighborhood to a single track down to rejoin system trail, Little Horse and HT down to Breezy leaving the wash for Tempelton, climb hermit, cross Javapai parking lot onto to Coconino up to junction with Slim Shady, turn left for mostly downhill back to VOC.  15.2 miles climbing 1666′ pedaling for 2 hrs 13 mins. I shared trails with very few people.

Done: I completed the 2 rdies I wanted to do.

Yesterday I drove to the open water spigot where I had been heling myself to several gallons of city water. Yesterday I lifted the spigot handle and nothing came out. Been found out. Wonder when the owners will have the dumpster removed which is being filled with all kinds of trash.

So, I am now several hours from learning of the Zags performance that I will watch at PJs sitting at the bar right under a big screen TV. GO ZAGS.

Tomorrow I leave Sedona heading to Aztec, NM to ride Alien Run  and spend the night there. Wed I finish the drive to Durango where Diaz will tune my fork to match my anticipated new bike. I will be riding a fork not turned to my present RFX. I spoke with Soul Cycles in Prescott, where I ordered it from, told me it is to be on their doorstep on 5/28. I will pay them and they will ship to a Bend shop for build. I figure I will be in Bend area for month of June.

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I plan on leaving Sedona heading to Durango on Wed after Gonzaga wins the championship. I have made greater Sedona my home for 90 some days and still counting. My experience has been of putting things off until there is shrinking amount of available time. Shoulda but didn’tna. I can make myself be bittersweet about moving on but I smile at my experiences here as memory. This is my 12th visit here and I have known some people here that amount of time. I have returned year after year and stayed for several months, I see returning this winter again to be part of Sedona. Riders, whom I met back during my first year of hanging at the old Bike and Bean and being adapted by the locals, are still together. No new members, just loss. Closed culture? Yes but normal grouping of people you know a bit about and trust to them to help me and they the same of me. Back when I lived back in the Puget Sound I was part of a small group of people who shared same the sport and expertise, we were a product of  organized mountaineering training (Mountaineers). We were exclusionary. Each of us had learned individual behavior, we had a standard that everything was brought along and you were a competent user of same. This biking group is similar in that we know about each others’ ability and character. We have a culture among ourselves albeit me the interloper who shares experiences for places they have not been. I understand their Sedona talk and have participated with them. I kept returning and rejoining.

Today was Ian’s birthday. He invited me and members of our gang on a birthday ride. Something about a social easy ride up Old Mans etc out to Horse Mesa. Met at the Outlet mall lot, my home out of the forest spot. Jimmy pulled in, Dave ( Canadian Bacon), Ian, and Chuck. All long time friends. Connections are important that my lifestyle are few and short duration lack. I am the slowest and possess  lesser tech skills and less speed that the others have, I’m never far back and I walk several features. To be included in their company is rewarding.

The FS is building new trail out Old mans and what’s named Dairy Springs way and decomissioning user created trails. System trails. Slick rock construction:

Unfortunately the Rabbit ridge trail has been obstructed by lots of plant material, however the tread appears to be intact. Our ride was over to shoulder of Horse Mesa meaning we wiggled downhill on a scant impression of a wheel track. Dodging prickly pear and yucca close to the ground and catclaw to upper body. As the rider ahead of me maybe brushed a catclaw bush that I rode into on the rebound. Or maybe it was my mistake. None the less my right forearm was weeping dark red blood from numerous claw gouges.  Bleeding stopped unaided. Over at Horse Mesa the tread became basalt babyheads. There is a spot out there that is known as the Church, church of the Rotating Mass. Sacrament is a sip of tequila from a stashed bottle. It’s one of several locations out here.

Deathly slow pic upload.

We honored lost member Duf.

More basalt junk. My pedaling prowess continues to grow as a result of lowered seat, I was able to pedal over many of the feet of that basalt shit. we exited onto a residential street at its highest point for the start of a steep coast. Screamer tuck. Down the ways an older woman driving her white older sedan entered the road on the right without seeing 3 bikers screaming downhill. We we able to avoid her and she let us pass.

Back to the rigs then dinner at mexican restaurant in the mall. I dashed out to Beaverhead in search of sleep spot. The first right after the overlook is packed big time, never seen as many rigs there. Even the next road to the tank. Sweating an open spot at MP4. Last night out there my favorite and back up spots were occupied. I knew of a spot between the two not obvious and it was open. Score for the night. today after dinner I cut the celebrations short and drove out to MP4. Scored my favorite spot and the way out is still occupied. More and more rigs out here occupying public land with not always places to park a rig for the night.

Speaking (writing) of lots of people with few spots to stay I realize that in my travels I am adding another rig to the pudding. Uncertainty of scoring a primitive legal sleep spot. I have become less adventurous in my travels as returning to previous spots is to have local knowledge. wed i head north to uncertainty.

Yesterday was cleaning of the clothes day and picking up my new Industry Nine front wheel at my local mail and ship to location of The Worm. Wheel: New with improved rim design and construction. No mileage. Needed shop air to seat the beads. Traffic in west Sedona is horrendous, turning left on a crowded 4 lane highway takes time for an opening. I figured my stops turning right only and saving the stops on the other side of the road for the way back.

I parked at Sunset Park on southern outskirts of town, right up against public land. Ride idea was for big loop from here out to furthest reaches of the western gateway trails. again, the ride idea was hatched while laying in bed imagining instead of counting sheep. And actualization was only going to happen one pedal stroke, uphill pant, or downhill breeze at a time. Out Old Post, turned on to start of Skywalker all the way to Over Easy to behind the expensive chain motel, crossed the highway entering the Cultural Park trailhead. My route had many possibilities because of the sheer number of trail miles limited by time and endurance. I exited on Stirrup heading to junction with Girdner. Continued on Girdner to Snake down to AZ Cypress along Dry creek. Off that I rode miles of social trails working my way back to cultural park. Rejoined system trail on Rover, Axis down to the creek and climb up to cultural park. Back across the road to Over Easy to Skywalker to Old Post onto pavement back to park. I ran out of hours. 20.1 miles pedaling for 2 hrs 47 mins climbing 1755′. I encountered fewer than 20 people, so few I hardly remember encounter. Big ride and big effort: my average beats per minute was my aerobic threshold of 128. Hardly a stop.

First impression of new I9 wheel was supple less bash from the sharp edges. What was noticeably enjoyable after time became the norm. I sent the old wheel back to Steve’s barn. The old wheel had 15,xxx miles on the rim and several years more of riding on the hub. Non boost to go with my to be extended travel fork to match the revel rail bike.

Wed I rode a short figure 8 route out Llama, down Little Horse to HT to templeton, down Breezy wash then up the wash etc to join Slim at high point for finish. Down the way was where I fell. Always take a pic of crash site.

Chiropractic manipulation realigned parts.

Sat late afternoon Gonzaga plays UCLA in final 4 game.

Last night was first since last fall to not run the furnace plus I kicked off the second layer of down blanket. Warm and next few days are forecast in the 80s.