Sitting at outlet mall with strong internet signal being buffeted by strong cross wind. March in or out like a lion or lamb, forecast does not call for snow.

Monday morning down here in Village I needed propane from gas station a short walk from where i park. Drove to station only to see sign reading broken. Next refill is up in west Sedona. I was underway ahead of traffic backup which later in the morning on somedays can stretch for miles. Filled up, where to ride? Down here precip wetted trails here that I chose to not put ruts on. Joey at Absolute here told me Dead Horse is always dry because tread is mostly hard limestone. I headed down to Cottonwood and those trails. The location is called Dead Horse after the name of the state park which butts up against FS land where almost al of the riding is. Entry fee of $3 is paid just to ride through. I parked at rec facilities outside of park then pedal pavement to park entrance. I exchanged $ for pass making me legal. Once my tires hit the dirt I learned that trails are firm. One spring Doug and I rode there on muddy trails which made me skeptical of present dryness. Doug and I must have hit freeze thaw conditions.

I kept a watchful eye on predicted rain during ride.

16.7 miles climbing 1325′, pedaled for 2 hrs 19 mins.

Made it back to van as skies darkened. I switched for riding to driving back to VOC. I passed several showers requiring windshield wipers. Route was length of Beaverhead road passing several dirt roads off to camp spots including where I stay. Still muddy as seen from red dirt tracks on the black pavement. The road descended from the flats to intersection of 179 to Village. Towards the turn I saw heavy white on the road: localized snow squall dumped maybe 3″ of wet snow. Huh? I tuned uphill towards Village driving thru that short snow patch. Rain fell later. I drove out to Jack’s trailhead for dinner. The parking area is raw dirt which becomes muddy. Rain fell after I parked and I watched puddles grow. I had concern that my tires would lack traction to drive away. After dinner I put the transmission in go gear to drive out. This dirt is sand whereas the dirt out off Beaverhead is muddy.

Tuesday I had a DR appointment up at Flag to learn of my blood circulation issue in my left leg. I drove I-17 up. VOC is at 4,000′, Flag is at 7,000′. Just outside Flag I entered a blowing snow storm turning road white. I drove out of the storm before the DR office. Short story an ultrasound was performed on both legs, results revealed several valves in my left leg were not closing which allows blood to not return to heart resulting in swelling. Treatment is outpatient inserting a catheter in a vein in my leg then squirting a bead of superglue to glue those valves closed. Now just waiting for that procedure, was told I should here from them next week with that date at either Flag or down in the valley. My departure time is now determined when that repair occurs. Plan will be made once that date is learned. On the way back down I drove thru that same snow storm.

Somewhere I met Marvin from WI who wanted to share a nip of Scotch with. Tuesday night was his last day. He joined me at the mall where we sipped on his Scotch. Weather was conducive to being outside, not like Flag.

Wed I rode Rabbit Ears loop anticipating less muddy trails which they were mostly. At the intersection of Jacks and start of Rabbit Ears trail which now starts ascending traverse to high point. This piece replaces the original alignment which was a nasty pedal. New trail at present is above grade with less loose rubble. For me it’s a hump in duration. I timed it once, it takes 10 mins only but my age affected effort seems longer. Descend Rabbit Ears to Big Park loop then pavement back to van. 9.16 miles pedaling for 1 hr 20 mins climbing 968′.

Thurs was laundry day in Sedona. Beat spring break traffic. Clean clothes. Doug will be leaving here on Monday meaning time together is short. We met at bottom of CoF for our ride. Just a beautiful spring day for his last ride. Both of us are suffering from melancholy as our time here is coming to an end. We spent  an hour during ride to enjoy the day. Today I pedaled in my 3rd gear the entire ride to see if I could pedal all the time when needed. I watch many riders who seem to peal all the time where with me shifting gears I have difficulty making a pedal move. I learned that I can pedal up those lifts better. My average speed is about same with slightly lower average bears per minute.

Friday I rode Llama loop again riding in same gear. I wore a short sleeve jersey exposing pale skin to sun resulting in reddening of that skin, not a burn just a pink. working on my base.

Friday afternoon the Zags met Purdue in Sweet 16 game. Purdue Ebey at 7’4″ was too much to contain resulting in ending Zag’s season.

Today forecast wants clear skies but very windy. Rest today hunkered inside. Tomorrow is back to wet.

Forecast was calling for possible thunderstorm in a time window. How wet could you stand and maybe accept possibility of being struck? Carry a rain jacket and manage the time. Which is what Doug and I understood as we set out for our ride from bottom of Canyon of Fools. We pedaled along on his concocted route. Notable trails were Mescal and Aerie. Might have been Steve who suggested starting at bottom of CoF as it is in bottom of Dry Creek, everything went up or traversed meaning the return ride would not finish on a climb. Aerie is a suspension appreciator as it is rough on descent. On to Cockscomb then social decisions. We were watching the weather system approaching and measuring time required to be off the trail before the storm would hit.

At a crux trail intersection time and distance were calculated to chose which trails for return. We picked the shorter length. We made it back to our rigs in the dry. I drove away maybe 20 mins later entering the rain line of the predicted thunderstorm. Rewarded for risk taking.

Thunderstorms usually short duration and might dump intense amount of water. Should my ride expose me to a T storm I will switch the wind shell for the rain jacket in my hydration pack. If call is for showers might not ride. If for rain prolly not. Each precip event is tempered by probability. Riding here I am never very far from my van.

We rode Cockscomb from its start at Aerie. Another view of massive.

NCAA men’s basketball championship has started. Zags earned a #5 seed. Thurs was their first game in which they crushed their opponent moving them to the next round to play Kansas at noon today. I parked at the outlet then walked maybe 2 blocks to PJs to watch game. I stayed after the game to watch another game because I didn’t want to go home. Struck up a conversation with fellow patron who managed food concession at Museum of Flight in Seattle. I was able to connect. As he was leaving he bought me a glass of wine which would be my second of the night. I stayed to enjoy the keg Chardonnay. Night had fallen. My return route was in the dark. I walk facing traffic. The streets do not have sidewalks, a white outside edge line is on pavement right at edge of pavement. A car approached me as it climbed out of a wash aiming its headlight up into my eyes. I was wearing all dark clothes. I decided I should protect myself and maybe spare car damage by stepping even further off the pavement. I was unaware of the step down. Left foot went down about 2″ on to the lower level. I fell face first resulting in nasty wounds on my left forearm and knee. Back at van I cleaned wounds and applied bandaids.

Yesterday I rode from outlet to start what I call my Llama route. Popular with hikers.

Night time temps are warming enough to not need to run the heater. It is thermostatically controlled. It turns on when cold then shuts off when it reached the set level. When off there is silence. Maybe my ears hurt in quiet. I taped a single layer of cheese cloth over the heater intake that is stopping fuzz from entering heat exchanger. Heater should remain healthy.

Zags play at noon shortly. Noon time glass of wine.

March 15, Ides of March. Sedona desert.

Every Thurs I do my wash. I line dry all my riding clothes. At a glance I see what my riding was like for the past week. Last week I hung a short sleeve jersey which told the tale of a warm day ride. Also clothes pinned to the line was my light weight long sleeve wool jersey. However, just a short, not knicker, was hung. Unsettled March.

Raining off and on today hunkered down inside heated van parked at outlet mall on pavement with strong internet signal. Unsettled weather forecast until Monday. Wet trails ahead. Bike is covered on back of van.

How to spend rainy day inside my van. Youtube videos, reading, fixing and eating food. I could plug in my external hard drive stringing cables across the center of van and a second cable for computer power at the accessory outlet on van’s console. Then insert turbotax disc into drive. I could, but I will prolly take several puffs then think about what I could do. Age affected stasis. Motionless is not over rated. I do need to make another corn bread skillet muffin.

Yesterday I bought propane and filled the water tank in preparation for today’s weather.

Just babbling on keyboard. Sign off.

My destroyed shoulder prevents me from contributing improving trails. difficult “rite” of passage to able bodied people.