Late yesterday afternoon sprinkles started, during the night it became a gentle rain heard hitting the roof of my van. I checked weather history which recorded .26″ of rain. By wake up time the moisture delivering clouds moved on. Signal : hero dirt somewhere. Seems trails here would not become damaging muddy with this amount of rain on dirt dry dirt. Several people told me about new trails on the S side of Mica peak accessed from defunct town of Mica, on the far side. I dilly dallied in the morning visiting with former neighbor Bill. I heard a term today which describes my arrangement at his driveway: Moochdocking, not boondocking which is out in the boondocks. Sleeping in someone’s driveway. I decided to give Mica a ride. First I stopped at Tate Honey farm now owned by boss’s son my age. We worked together at Spokane plant. He took over from his dad, Jerry now has a great grandson dressed in a bee suit helping great grandpa. Caught up on happenings and learned more about bees.

The TH is 20 miles away straight down Argonne, turn right on Palouse Highway, turn left on Belmont road then park in crowded parking lot. Area is now conservation area like Antoine peak is. Years ago I rode from same spot but it was undeveloped and rode primitive fall line trails. Today with nice parking area and signed trails. I started out on a rider’s Trailforks route climbing up California creek.  Sheesh, another hump buster. Climbing went form closed jeep road to single track back and forth. I attached my phone to my handlebar and followed a rider’s route. reached the high point then descended Silica Slide which is built as a bike park trail with deep berms and hucks. I do not chose to ride these type of trails, I rode the route. I used both garmin and BCN. BCN recorded 10.1 miles and 1802′ vert, like 180′ / mile. recovery advisor calculated 48 hr recovery. Another big hump out of low elevation city.

I installed a new pair of MTX brake pads on rear brake. I cleaned the brake pistons before installing I was able to make both pistons extend same distance meaning both pads grip the rotor equally. The brake as a result is much more powerful w/o much modulation. I adjusted the lever throw outward for greater lever travel as a sort of modulation. The brake will now easily lock up the rear wheel a comforting benefit going along with almost 0 degree engagement on I9 Hydra rear hub. When I want what I want, I want it NOW. Several Spokane shops are now carrying their pads for selected brakes. Formula is a hard find.

Skies cleared after rain as did the smoke haze. Beautiful clear blue skies on Mica.

Thing about riding here is it is either mostly flat or big climbs. Riverside SP rides are less than 100′ / mile but MT Spokane etc are well over that amount. Of course what goes up must come down.

Last night I chose to do a group ride that turned out to be just Frank and his wife Phyllis. we met outside the park and pedaled away at almost 6 PM. Sunset is 7:05. They packed lights but didn’t tell me about needing a light. Frank used the ride as race training. He said it would not be a hammer pace, but we still got after it as did his wife. We really scooted, our average speed was 8.99 mph but climbed only 35′ / mile. He did show me ridden in trails that were new to me. The tread there has many small babyheads to pedal over. My bike handles them easily and fun. After awhile the trails all look the same. They rattled off trail names that he said are from Strava segments. Darkness caught us  still in the woods with Frank needing additional training minutes. Kindly he led us back to a paved road for safe no light riding back to van. Frank raced the Mah Dah Hee trail in ND. I also had ridden there, in fact I rode the inaugural race years ago but not as a racer.  We talked about the course etc. I told him that he prolly has nobody else to talk about trails he has ridden except for me. That is the case with many riders I speak with.

Thursday was clean sheets day, every 2 weeks to care for those sheets. It’s the tightly made bed that is noticeable. Still hot enough at night to need only a covering sheet until early morning to pull over a single down blanket layer.

On Tuesday I rode MT Spokane again starting from the Beach, I needed 30 mins to ride 2.27 miles of pavement to climb 738′ to connect to the dirt.  As I said, what goes up has to come back down. One descending route is named Jedi forest ( I believe) that is beatup unsustainable trail. To me it is unconscionable to ride it. It’s like a mini Black MTN trail in the Pisgah with drops over roots and brake ruts. I rode it my first ride this year to see if corrections had been made, still the same condition. The trail dumps out behind Bear Creek lodge and only .5 miles of pavement coasting back to van versus riding the better trail for a mile of pavement. On trail 100 the last rides I encountered turkeys.

I broadened my van repair choices and found Ammco transmission to check out on the 15th. Guy said Sprinters are not an uncommon vehicle. So I am here until at least that date.

Smoke haze has settled over Spokane yet the air quality is almost out of the yellow range. Rain is forecast for today and tonight. I said that maybe if it does rain school should be let out for students to enjoy the oddity of rain. Oh, tomorrow is Saturday and they will be out of school. For the parched NW rain will be an oddity. I might ride tomorrow in the rain to experience what I would normally avoid.

Concern over van health keeps me close to Bill’s. I don’t have a burning desire to scorch my britches on a monster climb today. Not riding leaves many hours of free time to occupy.

Washington State parks allow E bikes on natural surface trails.

Yesterday was my 72nd birthday. If my Mom could only see me now.

What the greater Spokane area lacks in starting elevation it makes up for how high I climb. My former house sits at 2,000′, top of MT Spokane is just under 6,000′. My 2 rides on said mountain were 200 and 185′ per linear mile, Liberty Lake was 155′, Antoine Peak, where I am now, was 165′, yesterday MT C d’A was 186′. Sedona plugged along at just around 100′ / mile but were punchy short climbs but many of them. The rides here have been mostly about big long climbs with steep pitches, some too steep and / or long for me to ride nonstop. On the Wailer I stopped several times for blows and walked some.

Yesterday I drove over past the city of Coeur d’Alene to Beauty Bay which empties into name sake lake. 3 miles up the creek  is a parking spot under a big mature cedar. It was .5 miles to start of trail 257 which climbs out of lake basin. I was able to pedal everything yet needed several blow spots. Grunt under dense tree cover. 2 bikers descended past me, the first who must have been the skilled rider yielded to me and he hollered back to the trailing rider who seemed to be confused as to what to do as he hardly yielded. The trail arrives at a pass and a FS road. A short pedal up the gravel road the trail  drops down Pleasant Creek trail bottoming out at a place I call the hole as at that point I am as low as I will descend. From there it is a monster steep climb up trail 227 with many drag my bike upwards pieces. Reversing direction   makes for a short time descent with the climb out  taking more time but a gradient I can pedal. Next time I ride this loop I will reverse the trails. Trailforks reports the climb as 3 miles with 1734′ elevation change. The other way is 2.7 miles with 1224′. So it is shorter. Climb up to just below summit to turn onto Caribou ridge that mostly descends, a shuttlers’ joy, to a user created connector trail down to a reclaimed logging road to intersect 257 for final decent. Ride data per BCN was 15.8 climbing 2741′ pedaling and dragging my bike for 2 hrs 33 mins. The EDGE algorithm calculated 41 hours recovery. I finished not just tired but beat. Except for user created trails, trails are legacy created. Down towards the bottom years ago I discovered chanterelle mushrooms that I fixed for a dinner. In past year’s rides I didn’t see any. Just at the bottom a rider was “pedaling” uphill. I pulled off and beckoned him to continue. When he got to me I saw that he was riding an ebike on this nonmotorized trail. I allow an illegal user to piss me off and piss me off even more that I yielded to the rider. In my mind etiquette goes out the window when the rider is illegal, I would have ridden him off the trail had I known.

So, I am recovering today, maybe. I am parked at the TH for Antoine Peak which is a conservation project paid for by county resident tax dollars. Old roads but lots of vert.

I visited North Division Bike shop, my original bike shop connection. I visited with a woman behind the counter. She acted like she knew me but i could not place her. Later that evening I shared dinner with Andy, a past Boeing Spokane associate. He has worked with a used bike event. He told me the woman is Brenda, the owner, whom previously had long black hair. This time her hair was completely gray and cut differently. I need to return to call out my recollection. I had been hunting for this device to bead tubeless tires. It’s a stand alone pressure vessel that acts as a blast of high pressure into the wheel that seats the beads. Bill and I figured out how to make it work and I tried it on my front tire. I broke the bead on one side but the other seemed to be welded together, we could not break it loose. I connected the vessel hose to the Presta valve with the core inserted then pinched the pressure release button. The pressure popped the bead but did not completely fill the tire. I attached my floor pump and its pressure was sufficient to complete the beading. The gizmo will be handy should I not be near a shop compressor. It’s time to replace that front tire, I will find a shop that can break that bead loose. I worked at it so hard I forced fingernails from their beds.

Today I checked the air quality index for Bend, it is almost off the bad air limit. I can be where ever I want to be and I am not there. Spokane runs mostly green with low yellow numbers so far during my stay. Earlier its levels were in orange range.

No pics of MT C d’A in spite of carrying my camera. Most rides are under deep tree cover offering great views of their trunks.

Bill told me that a kit is available to restore yellowed headlight lenses which mine are. This morning under Bill’s tutelage we cleaned the lenses. Sundown here now is 7:15. I will look out into the dark with brighter lights.

Labor Day weekend.

Liking to talk is different than talking to exchange information and knowledge. Bill is retired like me. We can make time pass by conversing while I do not attend to my to do list. I drove away from his house today seeking internet access and no interruptions to write this among other items.

Fall is here which brings out the stink bugs so named because their defense is a chemical irritant with a nasty odor. removal is to slip something under them then eject them back outdoors.

Glory Days by Springsteen. Glory days pass you by. My aging wearing body. Boring stories of glory days.

Going to clean my vent fan. Glory days when it was just out of the box.