Monday morning after Thanksgiving break for all, some are still nose to grindstone and others with worn down nose wanting the former at work to support us.

I made Fri and Sat rest days anchored up off Goulds on other side of road from corral on a turn out. Land around cow corral is littered with years of glass fragments from target practice. Chilly, well below freezing before sunrise, then sun crests massive between us and warms the rear of the van finally telling thermostat that it’s full and shuts off. As the sun warms up the outside it seems that the outside is warmer than inside. So I hung inside my 66 sq foot home. Takes practice to consume idle time.

Yesterday propane needed replenished to keep me warm, my food cold, and later cooked. Burning about 1 gal per day. Took on sink water at OTE then out to Church Rocks ride.

Temps get to mid 50s under sunny skies, hardly a breeze, mostly ideal riding conditions. The trail head has been improved to add horse trailer parking, horse riders are considerate that they do not clean their trailer into the parking lot. For a sunny Sunday not many non horse recreators rigs present. Geared up still wearing mid weight wool jersey. Pedal up wide  and getting wider access trail to connect with Prospector trail that runs N and S, I turned S towards Church Rocks. Prospector is a mix of rolled firm dirt, small rock features, mixed with sand that doesn’t roll firm. Pedaling deep sand stalls forward progress as my front tire and rear tire want to take different lines.

Church Rocks is a sandstone monolith, a trail climbs up one side, goes across the top then descends making a loop. Place to go for rideable tread when other trails are weather affected. I wanted to ride here as a get back on the bike ride after 2 day recovery from not feeling well. I keep working on keeping my effort inside my breathing. Age affected shortness of breath.

Just a beautiful day. The trail is less than a mile away from busy and noisy I-15 assaulting peace. Hard to linger. Drove to Quail Lake camp spot. I scored the tucked away site and positioned the van with the back cross wise to rising sun.

Bike brakes: your rear brake is your friend, the front is your lover, one knows what you need and the other knows what you want. Judicious use of both keeps a rider’s control under control.

Letting sun warm up Lakeside trail before heading out.

Zags are being bested by teams, they are not the dominant team of past years. Purdue spanked them but Purdue won the tournament by spanking Duke. Zags struggled against Xavier to take 3rd place. Zags will prolly plummet in rankings.

Weather conditions are some of the same ol: sunny all day, windy depends upon location and velocity, trails, living, what I need is pretty much figured out where to have that need met. Desert riding, sight lines go for miles.

The Hurricane Cliff trails are mostly pedaling with infrequent full suspension smoothing out. However, the base tread is pock marked with cast in cow hoof prints making for micro chatter. I called the BLM office recently, range manager returned call, he said cows out here are per contract. I wondered what the cows eat, he said the cows match the forage.

Dead Ringer is a climbing trail up to upper JEM TH. Upper part is bench cut on steep hill side, have to manage exposure.

Yesterday I rode to end of JEM trail which winds above several canyon rims and the Virgin River. Infrequent gusts partially deflected my balance. Places the distance from the out slope to the precipice was very short. Quentin said 2 bikes but no riders had gone over the edge.

Rider’s perspective of sight line

Sun is low angle

Familiarity is settling in that past experience recalls effort. Riding these Hurkin cliffs trails is comfort. I did expand my usual rides with riding a piece of the rim trail I hadn’t ridden this year leading to climbing out in China Wash that I only pushed my bike up long time ago. Then yesterday a newly built piece, Carne Asada, which is a directional trail, to be above that lower piece of the JEM. I am judging my ride by how much effort will be needed. Two hours is a good pedal time. I find if I focus on the time spent out and not by how quickly I can complete the ride, my ride is more enjoyable. Still a 2 hr 45 min pedal is big. Yesterday I finished my ride by riding pavement back to van out at corral. Maybe 1 1/2 miles of flat road pedaling: road riding. I struggled to spin the entire length.

My sister, Lynn, visited the Pisgah earlier this fall, She stopped at The Hub, my home base when I was there over the years, she sent me 3 pairs of Pisgah socks. Cool.

Yesterday I  rode Barrel Roll etc, watched the Zags beat Kentucky, then camped at Quail.

Back stories are the devil’s details. Van parked with nose away from sunrise, positioned for afternoon sunshine to shine thru windshield now falling on my computer screen, I hung the window coverings so I could read this screen.

Back at it. Drove down to Santa Clara Preserve home of what I call collectively Barrel Roll. I parked down at the bottom of the Cove access trail, this time my pack was on my back. Grunt pedal right off the get go, 1.17 miles climbing 361′ took 15 mins, return at the end was just 6 mins of almost all coasting. At the TH I pedaled Precipice which climbs more with an introduction of tech problems to junction with Barrel Roll and Sidewinder, which is an up then back down, then join Barrel Roll for its loop back to TH, then down Cove. This is my I solved a ride route that I repeat. I continue to work the problems and gaining confidence. I am realizing that these moves are at slower than walking speed and require track stand balance and commitment to forward motion. Fall potential increases, seems these falls are the more damaging, injury risk increases which is lessening my confidence. Safer to bail and walk. But on the downhill the bike and I let gravity provide the speed. However, the down hills work my body while controlling direction. Today my upper body is chirping about yesterday. A sunny, slight breeze, 40 degree day was pleasant.

Several days ago I searched for sports pub nearby, found this one in Washington. I called seeking confirmation they would have Zags game on. Score, know where I will be Sun at 5:30. I built my day to that time. I drove to that sports bar, passing Chilis where years ago I watched Zags. I wanted the non chain establishment. As I turned onto the local bar street to see nary a car. WTF??? Sunday, closed. The person who spoke with me and I did not state Sunday or if I did she did not register that they would be closed. Shit. Turned around to drive back to Chilis which might be a long shot as they are not advertised as a sports bar. Score, TVs behind the bar. My panic to see the game was received with skill as a guy turned the TV to the game. Whew. Watched the game with focus, during timeouts I struck up a conversation with the young female bartender. Along the conversation I asked her education: she said masters in Behavior something. I fit in. Zags skillfully beat Kentucky who defended Timme less effectively than Texas. Dark drive back to Quail, scored previous spot.

Now it is late afternoon Monday, an imposed rest day. I enjoyed the wonderful weather hiking Boy Scout trails. These trails are built to be similar to the mesa trails. Hiking required proper foot placement. Years ago I rode and walked what I chose to, today, I lack the confidence to tackle them, See above about slow speed.

Past: On Sat I rode Hurkin cliffs a big loop, from anchor spot at corral. Pedal out upper Goulds to highway crossing to JEM TH. Last year on this trail I saw earth moving construction to create a water impoundment. This year their construction was validated by holding water.

That water would have flowed downhill, instead it is trapped cutting off downstream. Today cattle is grazed here, even today with no edible forage for cows look at pic.. BLM spent public $ to benefit 1 rancher cattle grazing and to the detriment of wildlife.

Sat I visited OTE. I asked if I could squirt off the dried Moab mud off my bike. Short story the shop assigned a grom to wash my bike. They did it as a courtesy to me and the grom needed a task. My bike was so well cleaned it looked almost new. I thanked all for work. The frame actually shines.

This week’s temps are forecast for 50s. Afternoon chill coming on at 4:28, temp is 57 in the sunshine per outside van temp sensor. The side door is open to air cooler than recorded. I shut the door.

Riding seems to come down to 3 things: skill acquisition, application of said skill, and the actual commitment. I am lacking commitment.