Forecast for today was wet. Several moments of light rain fell before the MBH shop ride @ 10:00. Will it go? I drove into town to find out.

Start time moved to 10:30. Jan showed up. Rama backed out. Doug skipped. Jan & I, we each started w/ wet gear jackets. She lead me on a wonderful loop starting from shop and picking up trails N of town. The houses build up against the USFS land, here we were maybe 6 residential blocks till we were on dirt. A few drops fell. Sun came out, i packed my jacket; later on I almost removed my wool long under wear top to work on my suntan. We rode a piece of Oak Creek to Buddha beach, named because of all the people stacked rocks into like snowmen, balanced radiused river rock. Added s new piece of trail off Ridge. Almost every ride I am adding some new trail to my hazy memory bank. There are just so many trails. We rode 13.44 miles in just under 2 hours. Its a workout. Rode washes. Conditions were primo.

Back @ MBH & visited w/ Rama.

Forecast for near future is clear & 60 deg. No snow to shovel here.

Camp @ deer pass by myself.

Thurs is a ride & visit w/ Dave & Rebeca. Friday i give up my bike for rear wheel build and do trail work w/ Dean.

Comfortable enough to run heater on low @ night.

Not liking my new Candy pedals as they are difficult & timely to clip in. I depend upon being clipped in for tech moves. If I walk and then hop on I need to get clipped back in for next move. I miss the move if 1 or both feet unclipped.

That’s it.

Rained most of Sunday washing out a ride. Hung in W Sedona, going to watch superbowl @ Oak Creek brewery. Late afternoon the weather was freaky in that sunshine, sleet, & hard rain took turns. Stepped out in a big sucker hole to walk N away from town up into USFS land. Took pictures of views which are like everywhere. Numerous for sale signs. I don’t know how you could get tired of Sedona. The beauty is awesome.

Caught 1st half @ brewery. I needed dinner and headed to red planet next to MBH. Small crowd of 2 couples watching the superbowl channel saying the station will be available soon. Ate a quick dinner form less than attentive staff as I was the only customer in the place. Almost snowing outside. Sedona doesn’t appear to be a go  out to watch a game. I suspected the staff of sabotaging the game as their nationality favors another football. decided that my night was done and that I would listen to the rest of the game on XM. Hwy was blocked @ west end @ top of hill because of slip outs. Returned to the brewery to wait out the road clearing. Never found the game on XM. Watched game which was being received via satellite vs cable. Colts lost.

Cautiously drove out to deer pass. Good bit of slush on road shoulder. Gravel road to camp was fine. Rain is softening it up but should not go sticky slippery. Shouldn’t, back in Jan 4″ fell.

Monday AM into town. UPS the shock to the buyer in CA, buy propane, call Dave & Rebeca for a house companion for the night, and meet Jeff for a ride.

Bit wet because we rode washes running. We did ride over short infrequent sections of soggy wet. Finished up a wash helping to wash mud off and a pavement climb. How fast and easy the riding was on the pavement. Somewhere towards Soldiers Pass a creek flows down sandstone having carved several pools separated by waterfalls. The uphill side is maybe 13 feet overhead, the runout is the relatively flat smooth piece of slickrock. Jeff said that Bryan Lopes gapped it and BikeMag photo’d it to be seen in forthcoming issue. Viewed Devil’s Kitchen which is a somewhat circular opening down thru the respective layers of sandstone. It was like a film of strata formed over like a gas bubble as the sediment settled out. The film wore away leaving the hole.

A rider, the only one met us as we were returning and he was riding out following our tracks which were the only ones. He stopped to talk. He asked if one of us was Craig as he talked w/ Rama who said I might be out there. Eric is his name visiting for first time from Bay area. He is very effusive about hooking up w/ locals to show him around. Just like me. Jeff planned a ride for today and invited Eric along. 10:00 AM west sedona.

I rode a few more technical moves. I am feeling better about my improving skills.

I am making my waldorf salad and Rebeca is making dinner. Buy groceries & drive down canyon to Oak Creek. Continual warm visit. Signals not clear about dinner, resourceful Rebeca dashes to grocery & returned w/ salmon fillets. Score. Visited till 10:00 talking all kinds.

Rained a little bit on me sleeping in their driveway. Woke to sound of auto right behind me. Freaked because there should not have been any vehicle behind me out in desert. Ohhh… I’m in town.

Met Jeff, & John, visitor Eric, & Scott. Drove out to Dry creek TH w/ $5 daily parking fee, the Red Rock Pass. I am told that if you get a failure to pay ticket it is noncollectable. Other cars almost all from out of state also were devoid of a pass. rangers didn’t visit.

Ride turned out to be the same that dean lead several weeks b4 only Dry creek  and the washes were flowing. Riding outsloped slick rock w/ exposure takes nerves. How can side lugs grip the rock w/o side slipping? Counterbalance and going straight. Riding w/ more confidence & comfort. My position on my bike appears to be like sitting upright in a chair, my legs directly underneath, with my hands out front. My saddle & handlebars are just about the same height. This makes my front end light making it easier to loft. The very noticeably stiffer front end allows for steering. My old lighter wheel, smaller axle, & harsh FOX fork were flexie, wiggley; couldn’t stay a line in the rough. Way better bike.

Drove back to WS for beer, a piece of pizza, & Caesar salad @ upscale place still dressed in our muddied riding clothes.

Washed my bike off @ MBH. Sedona red mud leaves a film that requires hand rubbing to remove. Not this wash. Let the red color acreate as a badge of where I have been.

Dean called me as I was driving to TH this AM asking if I wanted to build trail today. Darn Dean for not giving me better notice. We made plans for Friday.

Ride Wed MBH shop ride. Ride w/ Dave &Rebeca Thurs & I fix dinner. Friday B & B builds my new rear wheel. It might be Gonzo. If so I will show his old friend & employer Scott @ ICS in Indi this summer.

Almost everyone I am meeting are mtn bikers and have been wonderful, even George who is 2 handfulls. This goes beyond Sedona. I have met some wonderful people and have been fortunate to enjoy their company. When we are riding we are doing what we want and fills us w/ joy, challenge, success and failure, exhiliration. All riders have been on great bikes.

Several days ago on a trail near B & B I shared a tight piece of trail w/ a couple. That night I received a Facebook notice to add this guy as a friend. I did. He answered back that he met me on the trail and wanted to say hello. I told him I might be down in Oak Creek on Friday and if he wanted we could do a ride. And that was it.

Thurs was a rest day. My foot still hurts but my shoulder is  less painfull. Visited w/ Rama @ his shop. i had both skiddish shop cats in one chair stroking both of them. Impressed Rama. I like cats. Visited w/ B & B down canyon.

Drove back to deer pass and watched the Zags game against Portland whom they beat by 3 points @ Portland several weeks ago. Sat the Zags were beaten by 1-4 in conference San Fran. Thurs the Zags literally destroyed Portland. Zags seem to play @ opposing team level except for Thurs. Way to go.

Friday I got rolling to make B & B for 9:00 AM ride w/ this guy, Dave and his wife. In West Sedona Dean flagged me down & invited me to go build USFS trail. Darn, but I made a ride date and they got preference. I was ready to ride & @ the Bean for 9;00AM. I waited 15 mins & decided he was a no show. I rode off riding again the loop Gonzo took me on, again I couldn’t replicate it all. Heading back almost @ end but whom do i encounter but Dave & his wife Rebeca. I was just about done and they were starting. I said I needed to be gone by 12:30 for a shower. They said come shower @ their rental house. They are from Green Bay, WI here on a 4 week vaca and they rented a house in Oak Creek. I said I will take you on a ride and follow them to their house. Great, more hours outside w/ a shower, and visit w/ some nice people.  Rebeca was a pro mtn bike racer. Pro means that you are in highest class of racers. She raced Leadville this last year. I asked if they saw Grace in Race Across the Sky and they said Yes. Grace gets 2 credits for being known by WI folks visiting here and will return to WI taking their knowledge. Dave found my web site last fall back in his shop. He saw my van and started making connections. He found me in Facebook.

Finished the ride. They gave me driving directions and they rode off on their bikes for home. I made it. They have 2  German shorthairs, one older and the other a 5 month pup. We hit it off, both dogs & People.  They own a bike shop in GB. We visited, drank some beer, had dinner, had a shower, visted some more, and then I slept in my van in the driveway. We gen’d up a ride idea for Sat and I said that i would make my scratch pancakes w/ huckleberries for Bfast.

Forecast for Sat was wet. No rain fell @ bfast. I made the pancake batter and cooked them on the electric range. Damn electric: I burned the first batch. I should have used my propane stove.

Still no rain, critical mass was reached and out the door I went. @ B & B I installed a new slime tube as the current one leaked. The slime didn’t seal. I thought the valve was defective. After the flat tube was removed I spun the inside of the tire around on my fingers feeling for whatever sticking thru. Found a prickly pear thorn. The slime couldn’t seal because the cause of the hole was still in the hole. I pumped the tube up and spun it around for the slime to find the hole. The leak sealed. I put in the new tube.

Our ride is out N of West Sedona, out Dry Creek road. At the parking lot the front tire was soft. I removed the tube and again searched for thorns. Nothing. Reinstalled & pumped back up. Problem appears to be the valve that won’t completely seal. Made it seal and we were off. Rebeca is the guide using her past ride experience. She brought the map and successfully navigated us back to the rigs. Social easy ride enjoying their company. Riding here is not like home.

We made plans to connect on Tues. I have an invite.

I drove to laundromat to do wash. I wore 6 days of my riding clothes. Today i wore the holey shorts torn in my fall. Pretty drafty.

Started raining before I finished my wash.

Drove out to Deer Pass camp going into the prevailing weather. Drove out of rain. May tomorrow be dry. Later rain fell in earnest.

Sold my shock.

Thurs @ the Bean a Service Master rig was carpet cleaning upstairs. I asked the guy if I could hire him to clean my carpet. $25 adn at least the dirt is shampooed out of carpet, some stains remain.

I introduced myself to Joe Murray form early mtn biking fame from late 80s. Gave him  a van tour. He was @ B & B.