There was a camper just below me hidden by a few trees that ran a generator, quietly.

Back into MBH early so i can wash off my bike before today’s ride. Red dirt washes off  easily.

Rama lead us out to a different part of Sedona for me. Either dry trails or dusted w/ left over snow.  For Sedona riding i would do well w/ flat pedals & skateboard shoes. Would give confidence to bail easier than being clipped in. Rama says they help his pedal cadence but he can’t go fast because his feet aren’t attached. Still bunches i walked. We rode trails not on map. Lots of technical stuff again. Maybe that is what Sedona is really about is really how technical the riding is. Small group eveybody knew each other.

Drove down canyon to Bike & Bean to hang for a little while before heading back up to, as Tom called it, Gaydar ridge.

Nice hanging w/ people I slightly know, them calling me by name right off; me likewise. I am as familiar to them as they are to me. A sense of belonging. And the I leave.

And I left town for Beaverhead flats rd and the place I camped while I was here last spring.  Winter, no cedar gnats to bite.

Tomorrow is Phoenix.

No pictures because internet is back to ice ages.

Cold morning, got started a bit earlier today as I had a full schedule.  Did laundry @ only laundromat in canyon, not crowded. Owner struck up a conversation about my sprinter and life on road. Clean clothes.

I drove out of parking lot & turned the wrong way. Fortuitous.  U turned heading back to MBH when a car w/ a bike pulls up beside me. I recognize him from yesterday’s ride. He makes some gestures asking me if I want to ride w/ him. I say yes and off he heads into Sedona where we park and join the 2 french canadians from yesterday & Gayle who has lived inn Sedona for 53 years. John promises an epic ride. I stay at the back to walk while they rode most everything.  How we got to the high point in the saddle & back down was all in a day’s ride for John & Gayle. Friction climbing on wetted slick rock w/ patches of snow mixed in. Oh, and exposure. It would have been a sliding fall.

I did a lot of walking my bike sliding down snow. These locals are very good riders. Some of these advanced trails are almost trials riding. Again schooled. I was in way over my head in the tough technical that they rode. 6 inch travel set up soft, good granny gear to softly pedal over the challenges. I still used mid chain ring and muscled my way. Granny gear spins out too easily & leaves nothing for a balance move.

Crossed Oak Creek on stick bridge. Canadians bailed. Gayle left a bit later and I could have left w/ him but no, I stayed w/ John because he said he had more riding to do and that at the end he was doing a steam bath in this fancy time share deal in downtown. Real swank. I was just looking for a KOA shower. At least once we got off the sandstone faces the trail was almost all rideable by me. Soft ground. I asked today about riding on so soft a ground and they said it heals quickly. I was satisfied. Pedaling was hindered by soft.

Rode into downtown Sedona. John stops @ Burger King for a $1.00 burger. Later he introduces me to Phil another trail builder.

Van is not to far away. We load John’s muddy bike in the van and drive up the road to pick up his car. (It was a 2 mile shuttle).  We then drive into the enclosed grounds of the condos and enter the spa as John’s guest. He bought a time share on Ebay for $165. which makes him an owner and he has privileges. Shower, steam bath till I was superheated, a hot tub soak after. I am toast.

I split back to the desert after a grocery store stop. I bought a good pair of  tweezers to remove more cactus spines. I have a bunch that are broken off in my legs. Camped at same spot

21 degrees with sun up @ 7:45. Cold. Inside of windshield had about 10″ of ice starting from the bottom edge going up. Cold w/ heater on high. Still was 48 degrees inside.

Spoke w/ my dad via cell phone. Neat invention.

MBH hosted a holiday ride from the shop. More remembered faces, Dangerous Dave is special. Walk on guy in street clothes shows up looking to ride a bike and go on a shop ride. Oh boy. He’s from Minnesota and a nickname. He was way in over his head but he stuck it out. Another MBH ride, new axiom: if you find a trail, you are lost. There were a few pieces of established trail, much of it was riding looking for a traveled piece. I did it because I was with locals whom I trust their environmental conscious. 1 hour 44 mins of riding time netted 7.5 miles, maybe .5 of that was on pavement @ start & finish. Riding better. Quentin from OTE said to ride in mid chain ring and upper gears on cog. This makes for a harder pedal and eliminates spin outs, creates balance under load, more inches forward for a pedal stroke means making a move. Second day of that strategy. I rode close to Rama until it got real rocky. He responded to my gasping breathing by telling me about tai chi, I believe, and practice of controlled breathing. Another thing that separates us. Rama is a skilled rider.

I hit both calves against cactus where their spines stuck into my legs thru my tights. I pulled some out, others remained stuck into my skin thru the material. I pulled ones I could find w/ leatherman. Going to have some that I couldn’t get. Not big ouch, just a little whimper every time one pushes into my skin.

Bikes were pretty muddy. Off trail the ground was soft & places clay muddy. Washed bike off @ shop w/ my sprayer. Shop hose was frozen until we stretched it out in the sun.

Back out to Deer pass road bluff spot.

Tomorrow is a self guided ride following mostly mapped trails.