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.