Tuesday  the tie rods were replaced in the van. Drove away noticing immediately the corrected steering, no longer did the van like flop into a carved steering change. Driving with the worn rods the van kinda scooted around in the lane needing constant minor correction. New the van is stable. Shop suggested to balance and rotate tires to allow slightly worn front tires to wear down on the back and the rear ones not affected by wear on front. I stopped at Discount Tire for that work, busy day. I left the shop after my dinner time, after dark arrival at Quail creek spot which was empty.

Forecast this week wants precip although little has fallen and not as long lasting as forecast. Trails still are tacky. Just been hanging inside comfort of van.

Repairing: results from the test for H. pylori came back: yes I have the bacteria. Health care person prescribed antibiotics for 14 days. May this be successful for eliminating my malady.

Forecast shows sunshine this weekend here and Sedona. Sunday appears to be date to head there. Look forward to state of Arizona that isn’t quite as controlling of my personal choices as Utah is. Box wine is sold in grocery stores everywhere instead of driving to hard to get to liquor stores in Utah. I will be able to watch Zags games at PJ’s.

Friend Steve’s and Mia’s gift was spent on upgrading my multi tool to a Lyzene model. Thank you two.

Making many miss keystrokes with this new computer, fault is between the keyboard and the chair.

Crazy: several years ago in Sedona I started a conversation with a woman at grocery store. I saw here later working at local coffee roaster in VOC. Maybe the next year I ran into her again at OTE in Fruita. Huh? I knew her at the Sedona location, took me out of location memory. She worked there for several visits. This year I walked into OTE here in Hurkin, this woman greeted me by name, it was the same woman. She is now in Hurkin. I get befuddled when I encounter a person who is not in the location where I met them. Chatting with service manager at Hurkin OTE who said he met me at a Moab shop years before. Most times when I meet someone for the first time I figure that is it, I will never see them again. Then when we encounter each other elsewhere sometimes , most times their memory recall is stronger than mine.

Much needed precip has been falling in short bursts with dry days between. Riding choices have been Santa Clara Barrel Roll trails and Prospector  Church Rock loop. The Hurricane cliffs trails are mostly dirt that have become freeze thaw mud which eliminates riding them. I have ridden 2X from N end of Prospector at the White Cliffs TH, the piece from the TH to the junction of tie from Cottonwood is a mix of mud or sand. Pay attention to the previous weather to determine if it is rideable. Barrel Roll is mostly rock so it rides better if wet.

I ride the same routes mixing the two, Prospector is pedaling, Barrel Roll is more tech. Tues, the 22nd I rode Barrel Roll, Sat was Prospector, today, Mon was Barrel roll. Another long lasting precip event is rolling in tonight that will shut down riding prolly for the rest of the year. Ride data is amazingly consistent. Barrel roll is 11 miles 1 hr 40 mins pedaling and Prospector is 15.7 pedaling for 2 hours.

My ride data spreadsheet totaled 40,014 miles over 2753 rides since I started this odyssey back in  July of 2008 after today’s ride at Barrel Roll.

Christmas day I rode Prospector starting late morning. I was curious to learn if any riders were enjoying presents. Going out I encountered 1 rider, returning I ran into small groups, some families with little groms I asked just a few riders, all who said nothing new.

Prospector is a popular horse trail system as seen by the developed TH facilities, the N end even has a well. Heading S from the TH to the Cottonwood trail is pock marked with cast in horse hooves. Past that it is mostly sand. I noticed this;

Several days ago I noticed this unfortunate situation in front of local Tractor Supply where I sometimes buy propane. The rig blocked access to the pump.

Precip event coming in calling for snow. Tomorrow morning my van gets new tie rods installed at St George where conditions will be less wet than up at Hurkin. I planned today’s ride on Barrel roll and anchoring at the bottom of the Cove Wash tie so I will drive over less snow both in depth and distance. My spot is on the other side of the road from residential neighborhood, it’s like city camping on one side with the other being public land. Side street traffic is slow and minimal and quiet versus the busy highway noise out at Quail. Because I can be anywhere I want I chose to avoid snow by staying here.

Sedona is getting its version of this precip plus colder temps. No riding there as is here so I will continue here, leaving determined by weather and riding.

What: mountain tracks on muddy trail

Where: Tie off Sheep bridge road

Who” mountain bikers, where they local or tourons?

Why: ?

Saturday I drove up to Sheep Bridge road to ride, route was to be up Dead Ringer to top of JEM then down to Virgin rim then climb back up Crypto. I saw snow from Gooseberry down and freeze thaw mud in the parking area. I abandoned my ride as I figured the trails would be too muddy. Rule is if your tires are picking up mud, the trail is too muddy to ride and if you do you will damage the earth.

I have been paying attention to the temps hoping for thawed freeze thaw or better yet dry tread. Today I returned to Sheep Bridge:

I got out and walked around testing the dirt evaluating for firmness. My new route would descend from here which might mean not below freezing at night. Right off the bat I saw the opening pic scene, right at the start, however, they kept on riding. I checked if my tires were picking up mud which they weren’t and the tread was firm soft. I descended the JEM to the Virgin river, the trail was dry and rut free below an elevation.

The rim is mostly rock, Crypto climb was dirt that started trackless until it reached that elevation where it became muddy. The tracks became very visible.

Note my bike tires.

Their ride must have been a struggle with slipping, mud building up on their tires maybe so much their rear tire would not revolve in the frame, and a heavy bike.

Who: casual survey said locals would go away to ride another day. Locals will say Tourons. If Tourons they are not around to speak in their defense. Locals say it wasn’t us. If Tourons I wonder how they treat their home trails. I wonder whether locals here become tourons how they treat what they visit?

What: future weather events and many riders riding the dry trails will roll down some of the cast tracks. Tracks that left the tread will remain and might contribute to widening the trail.

Why: Perhaps the biggest reason is that Tourons had 1 opportunity to ride here and they were going to. Can’t imagine their enjoyment.

Reminds me of my Thunder Mountain rides. The first time conditions were ideal and enjoyable. The second time snow had fallen then temps played freeze thaw. I called the local RS asking about conditions. I was assured trail would be fine. I stopped by the RS several days later and was told the same thing. Good for me as they know the conditions. I started to suspect bad info as I pedaled up the paved bike path over patches of melt freeze snow, then freeze thaw softened FS gravel road. Guy said trail would be OK which kept me going forward. As I dropped on to the single track at first the tread was firm, I got sucked in. Nasty freeze thaw and snow mixed in, I was in the shits and so committed I kept on yet I stayed on the tread. Scenery was spectacular. I did not enjoy the ride. Had I not ridden it when conditions were stellar I would have dissed the ride because of the second one. Years later I rode the loop again under ideal conditions enjoying the scenery and trail. Two out of three rides were good. The riders that rode here prolly have a dim view of the ride.

Some riders need to make better decisions. Years ago when i was in SORBA  country of the SE trails would be closed because of bad conditions. Some places gated the entrance to the TH to block access. One year I was in WI to ride the Kettle Moraine trail. The land manager gated the start. While I was sitting in the parking lot I saw 2 riders emerge and were greeted by LEO. I hope the riders were sited. Selfish, I don’t live here, I traveled a great distance to ride and by gosh I will, conditions be damned, I will be gone after my ride, locals deal with what I did.

That’s my rant.

My bike after my 10 mile ride:

Medical office recorded my heart rate at 48 bpm.

Yesterday I drove down to wheel alignment shop at ST George. Guy set my van up on rack and discovered that 2 of the tie rods were worn and needing replacement. The tie rods keep the front wheel in unison, the wear allows the wheels to lessen their tie which is showing on tire wear. Can contribute to vibrations which is prolly what I was chasing in Spokane. Tire wear displaces material which throws out the balance. Tires balanced at point but continued driving wearing off rubber throwing the balance off is never ending. Shop ordered replacement tie rods to be installed next Tues.

Monday morn I spoke with shop in Bend about the cold engine temp. Casey wondered if the engine ran long enough to get warm and when I drove downhill with no engine load and cold air cooling the engine the temp gauge dropped. Suggested to start the engine and watch the temp to see if it reached operating temp. It did. However, the water pump spewed a small splatter of leaked coolant: near future water pump replacement. van has run at temp since. MPG is less than normal 24.5.

Rain forecast for Thurs on. Tomorrow is last sunny day for many days.