4 range horses kept me company during night, one dump was all but in the grill. Pleasant night w/ wind & mild temp. Almost a full moon.

I woke just after 6:00AM by a slamming car door. I looked out and a pick up disgorged a rider and he split for the trails. Short while later 3 rigs arrive and riders split. i am dallying as I have all day and the forecast is for lower 80s. I needed to be back in Santa Clara about 1:30 for a shower and whatever else.

Desert riding: not even sage, no trees, and rocks. Trails well made to mtn bike standards. Barrel Roll is the main fame. Fun riding desert ST. Not as tech as Hurricane Loop, it was more open and spin type trails except for a few tech features. Ran into a guy riding an old Pro-Flex elastomer rear suspension and a Girvin fork. That bike hung in the garage for a long time. During my ride I had views of the parking lot, there was a turn over of riders coming & going but never a crowd of more than 3 riders.

I timed the drive down from TH to pavement: 1.4 miles & 12 mins. The van has been over some rough stuff.

Made Anytime Fitness in time for shower. Chatted w/ manager & trainer about my ride and adventure.

Stopped @ Rock City bikes to learn about the new eggbeater replacement clips. I put my new ones on for this ride and was bothered by a looseness sound. The pedals never prereleased which is good but they didn’t have the tightness sound. We looked @ their replacement cleats and they are the same as the ones I bought in Hurricane. Somethings has to be figured out.

Headed to Las Vegas and on to Boulder City for Bootleg Canyon. But a side trip to REI for Smart Wool socks. I took a GPS tour among all kinds of glitz & casinos. Lots of people & freeways to support. Scored 2 pairs of wool socks.

Last night research for Bootleg Canyon yielded All Mountain Cyclery and I GPSd their address. More freeways and aggressive drivers I parked in their parking lot. I walk in and there is a dog laying in doorway that yielded after some scratching in his secret places. Drew greeted me and laid out some trails @ Bootleg that is virtually behind their store. I asked about Chris King hubs, they said I-9 is the better hub. I asked if they could service my hub. No active bikes were in a stand and Joey, the wrench said OK. He cleaned & greased the hub. He said that it really didn’t need it. I am content that new grease is where the old grease was. The rear wheel needed some truing. Michael, the beer man, discovered my crank arm was loose that might have been the creak i had been searching for.  Good to go.

I started my visit staying on customer side of counter. I am talking to Drew and trying to watch the hub service. Finally I did an end around of the counter and watched Joey work. A non shop employee was behind the counter and he was drinking beer. before long I was offered one and I was in the thick of it behind the counter. More stories all around and more beer. What a hoot. Passed on 3rd beer because I needed to drive up to the TH and there were no gutters to drop the right side wheels into.

Drove up to TH passing several signs saying closed after 10:00. If I stay here I might be rousted. I am above Boulder City that stretches below me. Free hot showers @ TH after tomorrow’s ride.

Clean body, new wool socks, waning snoot of beer, good time @ bike shop, cool evening: life is good.

ST George sits on a plateau. I-15 drops down Virgin River Canyon. What an engineering feat to squeeze 4 lanes on interstate traffic thru and then spit out into desert.

Time zone is Pacific Daylight that I left back in July.

Explanation: This blog offers a chance to share my life and  it also captures for me my history. I write these blogs in the evening usually or whenever I have internet access. At times I would rather be sleeping or whatever other than doing this speed writing. I hardly edit it for which I am embarrassed. Posting pictures takes minutes per picture. I am pressed for time and I nix the pics.

I am tired living on mtn time in Pacific time zone. I liked Arizona as they do not do daylight savings.

I should probably drive out of park. But then I can gamble and crawl into bed and see if tghe rocking of the van is the brisk wind or the percussion of a night stick.

Hot night in river valley. Sleeping better now that my neck is straightened.

Drove back into hurricane and out rt 59 to TH. Overcast, low 70s, windy. Almost perfect.

Loop links several trails together including part of the JEM trail I rode yesterday. Trail is in treeless desert, the rider is the tallest thing around. Trail twists & winds its way around gullies and washes, somewhat serpentine. The ride data as Google earth is on Page: Ride data. Narrow, mostly ST, few technical challenges other than staying on narrow hand cut bench trails. 20.72 miles & 2315′ lots of 100 to 200′ climbs.

Stopped @ shop in Hurricane and bought new pair of Eggbeater cleats; my left foot kept disengaging try a tech move. Small shop had them.

Drove to ST George to red Rock cycles where I bought the tire and map previously. I was searching for local data on their trails which I got. Have tomorrow’s ride figured out. And then head down to Bootleg Canyon beyond Vegas.

Last night I identified a dentist & a chiro and called each on Wed morn & scored a same day appointment. My teeth were cleaned by the dentist who remarked that my teeth look fine. OK by me. Later in the day the chiro straightened my neck and back from the repeated step smash my head on the cutting board.

I started the day by touring a historical museum in Hurricane. 70 yo couple were the volunteers during my visit. The woman and I shared history facts. Several times she said w/ a sincere comment that she really enjoyed listening to me for the facts I shared. She asked if I was a professor.

I stopped @ Over the Edge bike shop in town which is somehow tied to namesake in Fruita. CO. Learned that gnats are Utah Juniper gnats and yes they bite. Somebody said that different people have different tolerances to their bites. I am so bitten and welted and itch. One guy @ Virgin Bike complained about mosquitoes that don’t bother me. They seem to like the mesas. If the spring is wet and cool they last longer. He said that several 100 degree days kill them off.

Stories intermingled.

Wed was spent @ drs etc in Hurricane. Woman @ propane store told me to drive up Kolob road and camp in P-pine forests away from gnats. I followed her advice. my route took me towards Zion NP. Kolob split of from main road and ducks in @ out of Zion as it works its way up higher into mtns. Miles and 3000 some ‘ of elevation I arrived @ reservoir in a mtn basin. The peaks on ridge ringing the body of h20 still had winter cornices. Lots of people were camped. Road around lake was not Sprinter certified so I parked on a concrete pad much like the start of an RV campground. Exposed spot but it was late afternoon and the skies were overcast. Temp in Hurricane around 3000′ was 100 degrees when I left. At the reservoir @ around 7800′ was in low 60s. Great sleeping night.

Thurs I  crawled out of bed with a neck that turned like it meant to be turned. Chilly @ 40 deg. Fixed bfast, cleaned up, and headed down mtn while hardly anybody else stirred. Kolob is a small bedroom community near the res. Ranch land. I passed 5 heavy duty pickups pulling calf stuffed stock trailers up to summer grazing. The brakes will be well worked during the descent in the fall. Steep road.

Drove up towards Zion NP to Bike Zion, the shop dean @ Sedona used to own, to learn of the trails off the Virgin River which flows out of Zion NP. He was the gnat knowledge person. I picked JEM trail. He was suggesting other rides but they were on top of mesas in gnat land. I emphatically said NO. I will not be bitten again no more.

JEM TH is back down towards valley. Passed mile post 24 where people are primitive camping and where I will go tonight. Today’s ride is all exposed desert. i followed the route guide and rode up jeep road to upper TH and then down ST back to lower TH. This ride is right under Gooseberry mesa. No gnats. Actual ST JEM is an almost buffed trail with a gentle elevation drop turning around sage bushes. Fun keeping speed and slaloming small berms on trail.

77 degrees when started, 2 hours later it was 91. Rode over to Zion Falls park to scope out dunking in Virgin river. 4 young men were in and claimed it was cold. It was not a fresh mtn stream and I would have wanted a shower afterwards. I left them to their chilly fun.

I drove down into laverkin to fill up h2o and the shower and to do computer work.

I will stay @ mp 24 primitive on the river site  tonight and then ride a 22 mile desert ride tomorrow that ties JEM and several other trails for the loop. And then move down to ST George rides.

Some of the rides are very technical, some are simple fun like today. Great to work on spin. The tech stuff calls other skills into play. Mix ’em up.

Its windy here in town. I am hoping for a sheltered camp spot to pitch shower in to have it stay expanded instead of wrapped around me. On my jeep road ride today i was blown around on the road; the wind was steering me and I was forcing my will on the correction.