Bigger Bite

Yesterday I rode my challenge, a bigger bite, for the first time this visit. 18.8 miles climbing 1398′ pedaling for 2 hr 40 mins, average beats per min was 129, my threshold is 126. Edge calculated 22 hour recovery.  I rode by myself which I needed for myself ride, I made the smiles more than the not so happy. I got something for myself. Just saying that I spend most of my time by myself, since arriving in Sedona I have been way more social. Riding by myself is obviously self serving, I only had to ask myself and I their opinion but as usual they were nowhere to heard.

I left the Cultural park at 11 under clear skies and cool enough to wear a short sleeve wool t shirt under my mid weight wool long underwear top. Functional clothing but not bike chique. Later I did doff the under layer. Stirrup to Girdner, to Snake, to shooting spot to Oak, then wander over to bottom of Canyon of Fools, wander more to jeep road right at mid point on Aerie, Aerie to end at Cockscomb turning on to start of Outer Limits to start of Last Frontier back to Outer Limits back home. I encountered  fewer than 25 people.

Last Frontier is mostly about hanging on a steep hillside creating exposure that is not straight up and down but a person would roll awhile before stopping should the out slope harken. That new part added more distance of challenge over the original social trail. There were several features that previously presented challenges, previously I wrote, catch the tense. Today I negotiated each successfully establishing memory.

My rides might be classified as rough trail riding, not quite cross country and hardly any enduro. My bike is over biked for my riding choices which gives me a plusher more stable ride.

The Cultural park is the high point with trails going out and down, the finish is a hump up Outer Limits. Stirrup has more drop than climb down to Girdner which undulates, etc, I did hit 18 mph somewhere. Pedal trails with earned credit for blue challenges.

This morning was eye exam and pupil dilation, its effect still seen 6 hours later, too blurred to ride. Eyes fine with a slight stronger correction but not enough to require lenses. Current lenses have been scoured by my cleaning method leaving them hazy. I shopped for replacement lenses, it was cheaper to buy new frames with stronger prescription than just new lenses. Plastic scratches easier than glass.

Dentist was after lunch. The hygienist  reported than I take excellent care of my teeth. Dentist observed replacing 2 old fillings.

Between those appointments I stopped at local Sprinter repair garage to continue our relationship by them replacing the water pump next week. The pump looses maybe a cup of coolant a day, leak occurs after then engine cools down as seen by the wet spot on the ground underneath where the pump would be.

Sedona is a repair station for me, as written above, get things taken care of by people we have established relationships with.

I watched Nomadland movie about a woman who is forced out of her housebound life. Pretty stark. No Sprinters in the lifestyle depicted. To say that these people had fallen  lower than me economically. I don’t encounter that lifestyle. My activity of mountain biking selects different locations. Quartzite was featured, not on my to visit list. She work camped for money, even at Amazon warehouse. Once she lived in her van she could not sleep  inside.  Our vans are our homes. I know van sounds, I know how my bed sleeps, I like my sheets. I sleep normally. I appreciate offers to stay inside or maybe just park in their driveway. I turn them down with thanks. It’s how we live, I have what I need and want. Back on my stints on the PCT I kept to lifestyle of the trail, I eschewed restaurant food and soft beds, as interrupting trail life would be uncomfortable and leaving artificial comfort hard. I am creating this inside my van parked at the outlet mall. Public living. She had her van which is more comfortable than people living in homeless camps on the street. I have settled with what I have.