Life away from Spokane was exotic w/ way many new experiences. Back in familiar grounds I am reconnecting w/ parts of my former life here and to me they are less exciting. Nonetheless they are rewarding and fulfilling, I just am not making the time to share w/ you all.

Having said that i will capture experiences here in a non linear script.

Hip update: Jeff, @ U district, suggested that i take a week of rest along w/ his treatment. My pain is exacerbated by use. OK, no rides or hikes this week . Jeff is a real a hoot, he is acquiring the title of “Yes Man”. He rode a bit of the Pot Peak trail near Lake Chelan, a real tough trail, on his entry level mtn bike, ill equipped for trail. I noticed a bruise on his forearm, he showed me a scabbed wound on his knee and told me about his adventure. Several over the bars tumbles. Better courage than me.

Been staying many nights in the driveway of my former neighbors on Lindgren road, across from  my old house. Bill is quite the skilled handy man. Jennifer is a nurse who helped me thru some of my medical conditions. My old house from the outside appears to be almost the same; however they did cut down the iron that was hung in the tree in front of the house.

Sent my fork to PUSH w/ hopes that I will have it back this weekend just to look @ & not ride because of rest.

This weekend is to be the Loppers Ball overnight festival out near Springdale. Mel says what happens at the cabin stays at the cabin unless it can be used for future embarrassment.

Nice fall weather w/ dry, clear, warm days coupled w/ chilly sleeping nights. Last 2 days i turned on the heater for warmth. Summer is past. Need to leave before I get snowed in. Spokane is a real pretty place w/o the harsh weather extremes seen other places: 17″ of rain which includes snow melt, just a few days of 100 degrees, and hardly any 0 degree days, a bit of fog during the winter, low humidity that makes line drying clothes a real thing, no quantity or variety of nasty bugs. But it is a big metro area of 400,000 people. I enjoyed the 18 years I lived here but I don’t see this as a place to reroot myself.

Off for more enjoyment. Tonight I will be fixing dinner @ Mars & Rick’s using the Chanterelle mushrooms I picked on Rick & my MT Coeur d’Alene ride.

Bonus shot:

Time between posts and memories of experiences get muddled.

On Monday Randy installed new drawer latches to replace the wooden rods I used to hold them shut. Additionally he installed a piece of plywood on the wall covering up the spray on insulation behind the bed. He is happier now w/ my accommodations. Thanks Randy. I tested the drawer pull strength driving back from MT Spokane. Worked well until I pulled a G out turn and the cookware drawer sprung open. We now know that 7 pounds of pull is insufficient.

Earlier Monday I met Dennis, manager of my $, for a beer @ Fast Eddies in downtown. Great free ranging subjects on economy and socialization.

And earlier I had my first PT w/ body fixer Jeff helping my hip. He knows where and how hard to poke me for greatest pain and his enjoyment. I liked it so much I made more appointments. Jeff described his 3 day backpacking trip @ Glacier w/ 2 other guys. One was david pendergraft, aka Pendo, a past GU star B ball player. I admired him and would really like to meet him. To have spent 3 days backpacking might have been wonderful. They took the train from Spokane to West Glacier and back. Fun on the train.

Tuesday Rick & I rode MT Spokane the very hard way. The park road is being repaired after spring rains and traffic is managed to support construction. We pedaled up to entrance and were greeted by a flagman who told us we weren’t allowed to pedal into park because of lack of visibility. Our decision was to ride back down the road and ride up trail 115, aka the Secret trail that is a steep downhill. What fun. I witnessed a super human feat when Rick rode it all. Me? I pushed my bike more than I rode. Rick has a granny gear spin that allows him to climb steep and long climbs. I asked if the technique is teachable and he said yes but few follow. Like Tommy. I learned that he lets go of the handlebar and relaxes and goes to a Zen state. I was able to loosen my grip and drifted off  for short time. Kind of steer my bike from my butt instead of arms. I just can’t make granny gear work for me as there is no meat under my pedal stroke. A bigger gear allows me to muscle a move using the pedal resistance. His granny has no resistance but he makes up for that w/ persistence. We did a less than summit ride. we rode out to Beauty Mtn to a sweeping vista of turning colors. the sky was clear blue, the light was fall angled. Just gorgeous. Rivals New England and stands on its own.

Later Tuesday was a gathering @ The Elk for TCS people to visit. Small core of die hard supporters showed. More people wished me goodbye than welcomed me back. 3 beer day and I was drinking h2o.

Ran into Tom Viegland who is part of the Rick shrinking cadre of riding buddies, those of us who say hello to a tough ride. Rick, Tom, & I have issues w/ knees that eliminate hiking as a sport, bikes we can pedal. Long live long exciting rides.

My fork had been spewing a ring of dirty oil on the left leg where the dampening oil resides. I took a picture and sent it to PUSH. Their answer was sent it in for repair. Wed I worked w/ Bicycle Butler, my former LBS, who loaned me a 3 ” travel fork and UPS’d my fork to PUSH. I have a bike to sort of ride. I might drag my road bike off the rack and make it work for road rides.

Jeff is making a bit of progress on making my hips work eliminating my pain. My knees hurt, my left elbow hurts, my back talks to me. I have some kind of constant pain and I still choose to buckle my helmet strap and pedal on.

This early AM I was awakened to gentle rain on the van roof. Another quick effort to cover the bikes. Several showers fell for much needed moisture.

I am just putzing around Spokane finishing up my 3rd week here.

Mel is setting up a Loppers Ball festival taking place of the real deal when we cut brush @ 49 degrees North, our ski hill. This year they all bought passes and I won’t be here to ski. Us guys w/ time on our hands and plenty of adult beverages in a remote location. Stories and goofs will run amuck. Good times predicted.

And that is it.

Thursday ended up a rest day, don’t remember what I did to occupy myself. I spent the night @ Bill & Jen’s.

Fri AM I met an 8:00 AM appointment for the refrigerator service. Warranty requires a service in year 2 of ownership to maintain warranty coverage. Tech discovered that burner was almost completely blocked. He cleaned it making the frige more efficient. During the test light he discovered he had a loose propane fitting. Ohh, not good, we stopped it before the fire took hold.

Met Rick, a long time buddy, old in age 2 years younger than me and the reason he beats me is he is younger. Rick has Beacon dialed. He promised me a 3 hour ride. We made 2 1/2 hrs of hard riding. There are more miles of new trails cut in than when I last rode. And Rick knows how to put a whopper together. Many challenging miles just outside Spokane city. We sipped a cold beer in the shade @ Esmeraldo Golf course parking lot. And then drove out into the valley to Mars house for dinner and friendship w/ Rick & Mars. They just returned from a Crested Butte 2 week bike vaca. Mars destroyed her shoulder during a freak fall and learned that she severed 2 of 4 rotator cuff tendons and a partial on a third. Rider down. She is grounded w/ future surgery repair. We sat around in Mar’s house telling & listening to eachothers’ stories. I slept in the street out front of her house.

Sat was a rest day and we just hung around the house visiting. Mars & Rick enjoy ice cream by buying this time 2 pints of Haagen Daaz and sharing w/ me. We ate all of it. And they won’t have ice cream for several more days. They say if they have it in the house they will eat it so the solution is to eat it all at one time.

Sun we settled on the full meal deal on MT Coeur d’Alene. Mars would hike & Rick & I would do ride. Today we rode the same as Andy and I did but continued down into the “Hole” and rode out. We found an incredible patch of Chantrell mushrooms.

I picked what I could fit in my pack pocket. Wow, what a patch. There are 2 nasty steep climbs riding out, they create an O2 debt that isn’t paid until either a blow up or gaining the road another 2 something miles, all of it uphill. Just as the trail steepened there was a traversing bypass that wended it’s way uphill ading more ride distance but mitigating the severe O2 debt. And there was a bypass @ the next steep section. It is still a serious hump out. Nice trail. Mars’ hike finished and she met us @ the road. Rick & had the downhill portion of 257 ahead of us, it was almost all downhill back to Beauty Creek where Mars met us now for a cold beer. 14.86 miles, 3220′ climb in 2 hrs 37 mins. Hurken ride.

We stopped @ Capone’s pub in Post Falls for pizza & beer. Capone’s bought a vacant brew pub. Mars told me that the owner’s competitor opened a pub near buy and visited Capones one evening. He got drunk, came back around 3:00AM and set fire to the place. Evidence had the guy dead to rights, he is out of business and in jail.

Dave & Georgie joined us @ Capones. Dave is from back East like GA. We told stories of our common experiences back there. Dahlonega.

Back & Mars’ for another night of camping on the street. We will prepare the chantrells tomorrow night.

Monday is hip PT and a beer w/ Dennis, the guy managing my $. Cool.

Enjoying my time here. Just about everybody i know here works making visiting time in the evening. Rick has freely living time and we are planning another hard ride but on MT SPokane. Huckleberries there are past prime.