The progression of things

I know that it has been awhile but that's the way it goes. Here is the situation. Flagstaff has received some season ending snow so I have been riding the trainer a bit and skiing. I have not made it down to Sedona this winter but plan to soon. Anne is doing well and continuing to grow little Tor Tor inside her belly. I captured her and her Mom at Thanksgiving after we put up the tree and again today while she was doing some holiday baking. We have one more month and then things will be a changin'. We went to New Mexico for another whirl wind holiday trip to see family and for Anne to go to a surprise shower/luncheon. On the way to Los Alamos we stopped by the Kokoman Liquor Store in Pojaque to peruse the fine beer selection. The funny thing about Kokoman is that it was always the place to get beer for people under 21 years of age while I was growing up. I never thought of it as a place for great beer only as a place to get as much cheap alcohol as possible. Recently upon my return to Kokoman I have discovered that the selection far exceeds just about any of liquor store I know of as far as their craft beer selection is concerned. This go around I purchase a Marble Brewing (Albuquerque) Red Ale, A Big Sky Brewery (Missoula) Biere De Noel, A Full Sail (Hood River) Wreck the Halls and a Left Hand Brewery (Longmont) Smoke Jumper Smoked Porter. There is one more beer in the picture that is worth mentioning separately as it is a collaboration between Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head breweries. The beer is called Life and Limb and it is made with birch and maple syrups and is a lofty 10.2% ABV. I will be sure to update the activities mentioned above as headway is made.

A day in the life

Yesterday I decided that the east side of Elden was calling my name so I took off headed for the AZT via Forces of Nature. The weather on that side of the mountain is seemingly always five degrees or so warmer and it proved to be so yesterday. Recent moisture has the trail conditions in pretty good shape and the AZT was super fun all the way back around to Campbell Mesa. Once I got back into town I rode the ol' FUTS to the new Revolution Bicycles to grab a t-shirt from Randy and check out the space. The shop is on Mike's Pike in a really cool old warehouse. Many bigger cities that I have been in have warehouse districts that are being converted into different businesses such as housing, retail, etc. such as Bend, Kansas City and Denver. Walking into Revolution felt like walking into a shop somewhere else with a new, good vibe (although there is very little currently in the shop). Randy and C.J. don't have a specific date to open yet but are starting to dial everything in and are finishing the last bit of construction. Hopefully Revolution does well and can break into the Flagstaff bike shop market by offering a different better experience.

Guess what I did today

The other day the doorbell rang and when I threw the door back it was the Gnome bearing gifts. He had in his hands a book entitle Lance and a couple pair of Drunk Cyclist socks which were gratis courtesy of DC. Today I decided that I would wear a pair of the socks for the first time and to show my appreciation I headed out for my favorite section of trail in the Flagstaff area and snapped a photo of said socks. I then headed out to do some exploring and found a sweet little used single track and followed it down hill. I soon realized why it was little used. It doesn't go anywhere! I hopped off the bike and started hiking in the general direction of Jedi and soon I was atop a hill where a tree with a bizarre fire scar was looming. Realizing that I was probably a short distance from the trail I pushed on and low and behold Jedi. I started pedaling again and some fun downhill later I was back at home. The little bit of winter we had last week is a distant memory due to the high 60's we've been seeing this week. I'm glad to be fending winter off for just a bit longer. The weather looks like it will hold at least through the weekend so get and enjoy it. It is a sure cure for the blues.

A day at Estrella

Anne and I loaded Yampa and the Niner into the truck at 4 in the morning yesterday and headed to Phoenix. The Dust Devil Series Estrella race was the destination. I signed up for the Cat. 2 race which consisted of 2 long loops at the competitive track. I haven't race anything in Arizona except marathon and single speed races so I didn't know what to expect. What I experience was pretty much the norm. Go out hard and try not to fall off (and hope everyone else fades). This is pretty much what happened. I picked my way through about six or so people in the first couple of miles and then settled in to a good pace to try and chase down the four folks in front of me. I pulled in one person before the course tilted down and then had to wait for the second lap to try and make up some more ground. Midway up the climb on the second lap I caught and passed one guy and could see the next about 200 yard in front of me. I reeled him in close to the top of the climb but he passed me on the first part of the descent. He then flatted and much to my dismay did not have anything to fix his tire with. I have noticed this phenomenon more in Arizona than anywhere else in races. Why don't people carry their own shit to fix their bikes with? I threw the guy my CO2 and took off knowing there was a guy in front of me that I wasn't going to catch but I didn't want to get caught from behind. Of course I never saw my CO2 dispenser again but what can you do? So I ended up holding my position and finishing 2nd in the Cat 2 class but 1st in my age group. I was pretty stoked and really happy with the new bike. The prize was a water bottle, 2 gels, and a 15 percent off coupon to REI. I won't get into what I think about that but I will say at least MBAA gives certificates good for a portion of the fees for future races. It doesn't really cost anything but it is as good as cash for people that might race in the future. All in all a fun trip with a fine Chipotle burrito, some beer and the great fortune of watching the Notre Dame game and the World Series at the same time (well changing back and forth anyway).

Short but sweet

Anne and I spent five days in Tucson last week for a bit of a mini vacation. We hit up some of the old haunts and threw in a couple of new ones. The new ones of note are the new Nimbus brewery/bistro on the east side close to where we used to live, a new pizza and beer place on Speedway called 1702 with a ton of different beer on tap, and Sweetwater Preserve where there is 12 miles of Sonoran singletrack built for mountain biking. We had a great time enjoying the warm weather. When we arrived home the UPS guy came by to deliver a new addition to the stable. I rode it for the first time yesterday and it is light and fast which was the point. I got it used (once was the claim) so the price seemed right. I am heading out for another ride this morning because the forecast shows snow coming tomorrow night.

A nice week of riding

This week has been fairly nice weather wise with some nice sunny days that seem to illuminate the golden leaves of the aspen trees. I have been around the same areas I usually ride with a trip the other day to Upper Brookbank which is definitely one of my favorite trails in Flagstaff. Today I rode a hodgepodge of trails that incorporated the oasis of Drew's bus at the Sunset parking lot with tapped kegs and music playing. The odd thing was the Drew and everyone he was with were on the Waterline Road in Mexican wrestler costumes. Drew decided to have a Nacho Libre ride today that I completely forgot about. I did happen across the bus as the same time as some other folks that I know so we warmed up the camp chairs a bit and got some of the foam out of the keg. I put some Arrogant Bastard in my water bottle for the way home and it's a good thing because I had to fix a flat midway down Schultz Creek. The beer definitely made fixing a flat bearable.

Annual pilgramage

Yesterday I made it a point to get up to the Inner Basin to see the leave changing color. I wanted to enjoy the sights before the weekend as many people will make the trip up there in the next couple of days. The colors did not seem as if their peak had been reached yet but there were some spectacular sections.

Still recovering from the weekend

This past weekend I rode in the Pines to the Mines ride and it was brutally hot but otherwise a great time. The party afterward was fun as usual (maybe too fun?). I had so much "fun" that I made the safe decision to camp down at the mine in Jerome and come back Sunday morning. I got home cleaned up and relaxed for the day and watched football. Yesterday was a second recovery day which included the stucco patching project which is still ongoing. Today I got back on the bike but didn't feel too hot. The wind and the lack of moisture was messing with my allergies I believe. I just rode up to the tunnel on the Waterline Road and saw some changing leaves and turned around. This afternoon I patched some more stucco and I'm still not done.

Pines to the Mines cometh

It's that time of the year again here in Flagstaff. The time of year when 60 or so folks mount their steeds and head off the plateau. Destination Jerome about 80 miles away. Tomorrow should see the temperature push 100 down at the Verde River crossing and about 90 at Jerome. This means that for the 15 mile climb from the river to Jerome, you guessed it, will be between 90 and 100 degrees. Fun fun. Today I decided that I better clean up my Coconino and give it a good once over. I figured it was created here in Flagstaff so I better represent with a clean bike (at the beginning anyway) for this annual pilgrimage.

Arizona is not all cactus and infernal heat

I believe that Flagstaff is a pretty good place to be a cyclist.

Vacation post 2-Montana

The second leg of our vacation took us from Idaho north to Montana and Glacier National Park. We started our tour of Glacier with a drive on the Going to the Sun road which goes right through the middle of the park. The high point of the road is Logan Pass where there is a visitor center and a few starting points for some trails. We took one of them to Hidden Lake which was a pretty spectacular hike with wildlife and plenty of scenery. We continued along the road to view the Jackson Glacier and then back around to Whitefish which is where we stayed. Day 2 say a pretty good hike up to the Numa Ridge lookout tower where the lookout happily took our picture before we made our way back down to the starting point at Bowman Lake. Our 3rd and last day in Glacier we decided to hike the Garden Wall trail which was a pretty impressive cut along the cliff edge. This trail had a steep spur trail up to a view point of the Grinnell Glacier which was an incredible site. The last full day we spent in Montana was partially a travel day to Missoula but I managed to knock out a quick ride up Big Mountain in Whitefish which was pretty fun and not too demanding. Travel followed the fun but we managed some good times and dinners in Missoula, Moab and Los Alamos on the way home.