Man, you gotta see this place. Today clear blue sky, the reds and whites/ grays inn the rock, the greens from juniper, pinyon pine, the blue greens from the AZ sycamore, mountains, few people, & challenging riding. Just gorgeous.
Yesterday was a rest day as I was pretty spent after Sunday’s ride. Drove down to RV XG outside Cottonwood for a shower. Back into Sedona to do wash. Visited w/ MBH shop rider regular, Wes, who sells electric cars & landscape supplies. Bought propane. Talked w/ Mark who works where I but propane. He is doing a lot of riding & is new to sport. We compare notes over the past week’s rides.
Drove down to B & B. Rt 179 goes thru Sendona following Oak Creek canyon to just S of downtown. Major hwy construction going on that drops speed to 20 mph. Several places the pavement is very bumpy that slows traffic even further. Construction blocked N bound traffic which backed up way South. Glad I was going S.
Hung @ B & B. Jimmie had a possible customer for my bike parts. He still rides hard and my stuff will be too light for him.
Drove out to Beaverhead camp. I park out on the edge of the flat exposed to up hill traffic on hwy below. I wondered how visible I was so i bushbashed down wash. Green color blends in, need to look for horizontal line of van to find it.
During my hike I found a small owl carcass hung up in brush. It was desiccated & no smell. I am making an ornament from it’s severed lower legs.
Today drove back to VOC and geared up for morning ride. Stopped @ B & B to say hello and see if anyone else was going riding. Jason said yes and our ride idea was congruent. A woman from Hurricane area was shopping for tires. Gonzo presented Maxiis Ardent to her. He brought me in for a testimonial. She bought a pair and asked shop to put them on her wheels. The shop was busy and she was heading out on a ride w/ friends. She was desirable of my helping her swap her tires. I asked the shop if they minded me taking the business away. Not to worry. My purpose was to teach her how to change tires. She helped. Robin is her name. She went of her way and Jason & I headed out our way.
The light is high in the sky like late September time making the light flatter . The sun will continue to climb which will make the light harsher. What a spectacular day. I had an unexplained feeling during the ride. Being outside in primo conditions doing what i want and enjoying it.
We rode the High on the Hog and down Hog wash to Broken Arrow. The Hogs trails are made by bikers and are so well designed and made, sustainable. Hikers have discovered them and are encountered frequently. Today during a pleasant exchange w/ hikers I told them that bikers built the trails they were enjoying. Getting better @ riding more tech moves. Jason lead, he was having an off day. Some places where he stalled I bailed because he did and I could follow his example. I did pull one off for his accolades: The trail rolled into a bedrock wash and climbed a few feet then traversed the slick rock angled maybe 30 degrees. Much trust is placed on the tire side knobs and counter balancing to keep the bike on plane w/ gravity and don’t look down. Biggest act of trust I have pulled off. Added some more new trail to map.
Getting sunburned arms, my legs have coloring from the end of pant legs down to top on knee. The leg armor covers my knees & shins completely while the back of my legs are covered in spaced pieces of stretchy material to hold them on.
What a day, what a day.
Tomorrow is MBH shop ride in AM then drive down to Scottsdale to Carrie’s for the night w/ gastro dr appointment on Thurs.
