Odysseys, Oddities and Orations

Switching it up a bit

2010-12-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start a different blog at www.onefromtheride.com that focuses primarily on cycling with an emphasis on photos. I plan to post one photo from each ride that I partake in without description unless someone asks a question about it. Other posts may be stories or funny things that happen but all related to the ride.

Various other artist's stuff that I liked

2010-10-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Some Cool Art

2010-10-25T10:55:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we travelled to the home land for my Grandfather's 80th birthday suprise party. We decided to stay downtown Santa Fe so we could walk around and check stuff out Friday afternoon and during the day on Saturday. My Dad came down to hand out during the day on Saturday and while Henry was taking a little nap with Anne at the hotel we wandered around and stumbled into a gallery with some really cool scultures from Liz Wolf. There were many other works that I liked in the gallery but there was something about these that really caught my eye.

Only one trail for the rest of my life

2010-10-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

My wife ofter asks me if I only could eat one food for the rest of my life what would it be? I often answer with a question of my own. Can the food be made up of multiple different items (i.e. pizza or burritos) or can it only be one thing (i.e. tomatoes or beans)? This question has had me pondering the dilemma of having to ride one specific trail for the rest of my life and just which trail would that be? I have to start with a disclaimer that states the trails in and around Northern Arizona are excluded. It is very hard to think of trails around home in this dilemma because I am fortunate to get to ride them all of the time but this fact takes the freshness of the trails away. Sooooo.....without further ado I present my selection thus far in my riding life to be the Fisher Creek Loop in between Ketchum and Stanley, Idaho. This particular loop starts with a bit of a climb on a forest road and then once the trailhead is reached the singletrack is unleashed. The top section is super fast and very surreal as the trail travel through a burned area and then continues to rip though amazing forest with a mellow creekside climb sandwiched in the middle. I rode this trail last summer and it still puts a smile on my face to think about. I literally wanted to yell noooooo........!!! when I knew that the ride was coming to an end.

Gettin' riding while the gettin' is good

2010-10-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been able to get on the bike quite a few times. There has been some talk over on drunkcyclist.com about the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo as of late so I figured I better be one of those folks that is at least psuedo getting ready for it. The Gnome has assured me that I will be riding under the DC banner so I figured I would throw on the new jersey and get outside. I decided to head up one of my new favorite trails for the occasion and was not disappointed. I did come across a big old tree that had been knocked over during our last bit of bad weather. It is a reminder to be aware of your surroundings because trees come down all the time. This tree down on the trail has an equally deadly brother right next to it that is waiting to come down at any moment also. Today I headed out in hopes to find some aspen trees with their leaves golden but my route over to where I was hoping to get took too long so I had to cut it short. I did end up riding the Sherlock trail which I don't get to very ofter and it sure was sweet. I did manage to find a little pocket of aspen that was pretty nice. Hopefully sometime in the next week or so I can get over to FR418 and head back on the AZT to check out the colors.

Leaking water

2010-10-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last week during our St. George excursion I headed out early Sunday morning for a long ride in the desert. The ride started with a long steady climb and took place before the sun poked up over the red rock mesas of Zion. Since I was climbing I didn't pay much attention to the dampness on my back instead writing it off as sweat. I arrived at the top of the climb and then proceeded down a really cool section of single track named Gould's Rim. I decided to snap some photos along this section and took off my pack to realize that my bladder had been leaking and that it was not sweat on my back. I had not ridden the trails of the day before and had to think about the options since about half of my water was now wasted and the sun was now shining on me in all it's glory. I made the only decision that seemed a valid one and with one full bottle and about a quart in my pack headed onward to complete the ride. The ride over all was exceptional with one pleasant surprise. I chose to ride the much acclaimed JEM trail in the middle of the ride and end it with the Hurricane Rim trail. The surprise was that although the JEM trail was pretty fun the Hurricane Rim trail was much better. It had fast sections with exposure, some good technicals sections, a few good climbs and exception scenery the whole way. If you find yourself travelling in the St.George area or Zion National Park for that matter I would definitely allow some time for riding. It was well worth taking a bike along for me.

Some more photos from S. Utah

2010-10-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

The trails I rode this past weekend in Utah

2010-10-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I sandwiched a couple of rides in with Anne's marathon in St. George. I rode at Gooseberry Mesa on Friday and then rode a cool loop that consisted of the Gould's, Gould's Rim, Jem and Hurricane Rim trails riden in that order. I hope to post some more ride photos later.

Vacations just about over, time to load the bike up and hit the road

2010-08-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

HP loves the mirror

2010-08-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just a couple shots from a ride this morning in CB

2010-08-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

HP and some new pajamas

2010-08-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

HP and I have been keeping busy when Mama goes to work by doing all sorts of things and some days I even let him read to me when I am having trouble pronouncing the words. He got some new clothes recently including this sun hat that looks like a Spanish Conquistador helmet to me and some pajamas that his grandma sent him that I am particularly found of.

There is a Gnome in the woods

2010-08-10T09:32:00.001-07:00

I have actually been out on the bike a couple days in a row and am thoroughly enjoying the trail conditions and all of the lush vegetation that has sprung up lately. I wound up on the Weatherford Trail the other day for the first time since the fire. I should have known better but I didn't even think about the fact that they used a bull dozer to improve that trail/road to burn from it. I was surprised to find smooth fresh trail on the lower half of the Weatherford trail instead of what seemed like a dry creek bed in its former state. Yesterday I was able to get out with the Gnome for a good ride and actually got some action shots of him tearing it up. Sorry about the photo quality but I am gonna blame my camera and not the photographer this time around.

A quick ride last evening

2010-08-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

I was able to get out for a quick ride yesterday when Anne got home from work and actually snapped a photo before the noise of motorcycles churning up the trail scared me back onto my bike.

I figured I would throw a photo up from NM.

2010-07-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

I recently went back to New Mexico with the family to visit family and took the bicycle along of course. I don't post much anymore but did get one photo that I am fond of so I decided to put it up here. I rode an old favorite trail of mine called the Quemazon trail that goes from town in Los Alamos up to the Pipeline road which continues up to Pajarito Ski Area or down back into town. I had not riden this trail since the fire in 2000 so I headed up to check it out. I figured the trail would have weathered the fire and aftermath fairly well do to the fact that is comprised of mostly rock on the steeper lower sections. I was correct in this assumption and although the day was really hot and there is not much shade anymore (yet)the ride was fun and as tough as I remember.

A quick ride update

2010-06-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

Well I have been getting out a bit lately and this past week I actually got up into the Inner Basin after climbing over a few trees on the Waterline Road. I caught up to Denise, Dan and Doug at the green cabins where they were taking a break and enjoying the water spigot. I got a shot of Denise grinding up the hill with Dan in the background doing the same on there one speeds. Wednesday I decided to head out around Kendrick for a long ride and for the most part found it enjoyable. I did head up one old road in the Pumpkin Fire scare that had an open gate but what I have figured out now is that the lazy Game and Fish guy doing work in there did not close the gate behind him. I rode past the point that I wanted to turn around and got to a section of road that was about a half mile long and just littered with sticks from the fire's aftermath. Needless to say I had a nice little hike a bike and when I got to the other side I discovered the locked gate keeping people off that particular road. I then proceeded to hit highway 180 with a jig jog I was on Hart Prarie Road and then home through Fort Valley. It was not a bad way to spend six hours.

Some more forest roads

2010-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today I headed out for a ride around the Peaks and it turned out to be a pretty nice day. I made sure to stop and take a few photos especially when I saw that Snowbowl still had enough snow in places to actually get a few runs in. The back side of Humphreys looked very ski worthy also with what apparently is a pretty hefty snowpack.

Updating the ride list for the past week

2010-05-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

Since it is Everest climbing season right now I decided that an attainable goal at the beginning of the month would be to try and climb the height of Everest on my mountain bike in the month of May. So far I am about 1000 feet away from my goal. I have been getting out a fair amount even with Henry as the newest member of the family. Anne has been working many evening shifts so it allows me to get out even if it is for a short ride. Yesterday I got to go on a long ride (cleaning the house the day before helped my cause) and I found myself down by Mormon Lake and Mormon Mountain and managed to get home right around the 60 mile mark. I really enjoyed my homemade ham and egg rice cakes and nutella/peanut butter rice cakes along the way.

I wrote the previous rambling a few days ago and am planning on heading out for another long dirt road exploration tomorrow. There is something soothing to the soul about these ride that differ from the sweet singletrack rides that abound here. I believe that although physically taxing this type of ride allows for more of a mental clarity due to less of a need to concentrate on the riding and more of opportunity to take in the natural environment. Nonetheless I urge everyone to get out on a bike and enjoy themselves no matter what the distance traveled ends up being.

The dog

2010-05-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

Yampa may not get as much attention as she did before Henry came around but she still is pretty spoiled. We are very fortunate to have a shelter dog that is such a great family member. She likes to sit atop her dog house and watch out over the neighborhood.

When I don't have to take on baby duty (doodie)?

2010-05-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

I have not have too much motivation lately to post anything new here but today I have a couple of minutes while Henry is sleeping to throw up a few photos of some of the rides I have gotten in lately. I am trying to make the most of the bike time because it is definitely harder to come by these days. My longest ride of the year so far was a whopping 35 miles but there was 4000+ ft. of climbing so I guess that is alright. It consisted of the Elden road, Shultz Pass road and the Ft Valley Trail (Lower Moto). Today I rode up to the bubbling puddle of Orion Spring through a couple of my favorite drainages around Flagstaff. They are really nice now with the water flowing. We were in KC for 5 days so I am slowly shaking the lack of strenuous activity and the abundance of eating off.

Start of the growing season

2010-03-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to try a couple of container growing experiments. I found these cool self watering containers that will allow for a bit of veggie gardening that is mobile. I planted already and since the containers have wheels on them I just wheel them into the garage at night and back out to get some sun during the day. I actually only have one so far but it has some arugala, romaine, chives, cilantro and some chard seeds planted in it. A tomato planter of the same variety is one the way with a smaller planter for some misc. things and perhaps some edible flowers. I will periodically update the condition of these plantings until I am eating the deliciousness or it is a total disaster.

Time to post is short these days.

2010-03-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

March has seen some interesting times. We took Henry to NM and then promptly down to Tucson for his first "out of belly" trip to the Old Pueblo. He is pretty good for the most part. I do wonder how he is seemingly the only baby in the world that bawls and bawls when he is in his car seat riding in the car. Anne went back to work yesterday so it was my first shift as stay at home dad. All in all things seems to go pretty well. I will leave you with some random photos of happenings around the Pacheco universe.

2010-03-08T08:01:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post after returning home from New Mexico. We were able to meet up with my brother's family in Albuquerque for a quick little trip to Turtle Mountain Brewery where I snapped a photo of my sister in law with Henry and my niece with Henry. I also threw in a photo of Henry on my chest and one by his lonesome.

Anne's birthday

2010-02-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Grandma Cindy came to visit for Anne's birthday and we took advantage of the offer to leave Henry with her for a couple of hours. Anne's choice was to go out for a bit of nordic skiing even though the weather was not the greatest. We headed out with the dog and had a good, quick little ski. Today the weather was drastically better and Grandma offered up the option to get out again so we took it. The weather was actually so good that by the time we were heading back to the truck our skis were sticking like crazy but it was still a good bit of an excursion. The dog was loving it as she was the main attraction again if only for a couple of hours each day.

Hiking along Wet Beaver Creek

2010-02-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

Today we loaded up and headed down to Wet Beaver Creek to soak in the 60 degree weather, take Henry on his first hike and let Yampa have some fun swimming in the creek. Everything went well as Henry slept the whole way and way back which was approximately 5 miles. Yampa was very excited about the water and was trying to get down to the water at every turn. We finally arrived at our destination and she got to swim a bunch and seemed really happy. As I write this she is out cold on her bed. Henry is also sleeping in Mommy's arms but his m.o. is to rally around ten and then stay up for a couple of hours, feed again and then calm down enough to sleep for a while.

Busy busy

2010-01-31T20:34:00.000-08:00

It seems very funny that we have been really busy but nothing around the house seems to get done. Well that's not entirely true we have been managing to keep up with things but not get ahead on anything. We do have a reason for this of course and his name in Henry. Henry was born one week ago today and weighed in at 7 pounds 9.5 ounces measuring 20 inches in length. His first week was filled with normal baby stuff like going to the doctor for the first time but also some more adventurous stuff like going to the Pay n Take, shopping for a pair of jeans for mom, and an expedition to Target this morning. Sleep comes in chunks, the dog is apathetic about anything baby and life is good. We have extremely caring family and friends and are very fortunate. Oh I almost forgot, if you haven't heard already, the week leading up to Henry's birth we had 3 rounds of snow with the last being in the top 5 storms on record. Yampa was enjoying the snow but had some difficulty with it being twice as deep as she is tall. The day Henry was born was clear and sunny though with a pretty awesome view of the peaks from the front of the hospital. Cheers!

No baby yet-might as well go to Sedona

2010-01-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

No baby yet so yesterday we loaded up and went down to Sedona. Anne and Yampa went for a little bit of a hike and I rode a short bit. I decided on a couple of trails in the Dry Creek area to connect me over to Lost Watch to Long Canyon/Deadman's Pass back to Dry Creek area and done. It was about 60 degrees and pretty damn nice. It seemed as if town was getting busier due to the upcoming 3 day weekend but I only saw a few folks on my ride. I snapped a few photos and I will point out a powerline in one of them because without that powerline there this trail would be in the wilderness. Funny how that works. The boundary is actually just on the other side of the trail. Over the next week we quite possibly could have a little bundle of joy to add to the family and to make things a bit more exciting Flagstaff is right in the path of 3 big storms. The forecast is calling for up to 5 feet of snow. That should be really nice. Arizona Snowbowl is forecasted to receive 8 to 10 feet of snow. There are all sorts of warnings etc. around the area. Be safe out there.

A quick trip to Sedona

2010-01-11T16:56:00.001-08:00

Went down to Sedona to let the desert soothe my soul. Decide to ride the Hot Loop and Woods Canyon Trails to see what they were all about. Good stuff for the most part. Last night we went to a shower thrown by some of Anne's coworkers and received some great gifts including a large combo gift from a bunch of people that turned out to be a B.O.B. jogging stroller which is really pretty awesome.

No explanation necessary

2010-01-06T15:46:00.000-08:00

Quick trip down to Sedona

2010-01-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Anne and I took Yampa down to Sedona yesterday for a bit of excercise. We decided on the Dry Creek area. Anne took Yampa out on the leash and I headed out on my bike. Shortly after I snapped a photo of Anne and Yampa I took off on my bike for a couple of miles. I slowed for a minute and heard some heavy panting behind me and realized that Yampa had ran off from Anne and tracked me down. I assume that she had to run full speed for a long time to catch up to me. When I stopped she was gagging a bit trying not to throw up but after a quick break she was ready to go again. I rode back up to where Anne was and then continued with my ride. It was a nice day with temperatures in the 60's and nice trail conditions. A couple more weeks to go and we will have another family member to take down to Sedona.

The progression of things

2009-12-20T14:21:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-05T14:37:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-01T08:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

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

Vacation post 2-Montana

2009-09-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Vacation post 1-Idaho

2009-09-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Anne and I headed out with Idaho and Montana as our vacation destinations. The idea was for me to do some riding around Sun Valley while Anne did a few hikes and then we would head to Glacier National Park to hike a bunch together. I got plenty of riding in but easily would have taken more. The riding up there is pretty amazing and different from Northern Arizona. I hit up as many of the local favorites as I could including Bald Mountain, Greenhorn Gulch, Sunnyside/Shadyside area, Fox Gulch, and Fisher Creek. I do have to say the the Fisher Creek loop is probably the funnest trail that I have been on in a long time. It is just an amazing trail with long sections of descending that flow through a huge burned area with very surreal scenery. The trail eventually opens into a huge sagebrush filled basin that more or less signifies the end of the trail. When the trail reached this point I found myself thinking NOOOOOOOOOO.......... I really didn't want that ride to end even though I am sure I had a gigantic smile on my face. Now the rest of the details. We stayed in Ketchum and explored it quite thoroughly from grocery stores to restaurants to the bike shops. I think Anne and I agree that Ketchum is a pretty damn nice place.

Trail update

2009-08-20T19:58:00.001-07:00

I took the Coconino out today with the Groovy Cycleworks Luv Handle handlebar freshly installed. I headed up Schultz to the Waterline Road to see the progress of what is to take the place of Pick-Up Sticks. What I found was a trail closed sign and a new trail junction just down from the old one. I took the new trail found it to be a bit like Little Bear. It is fast and switches back a couple of times until it hits the drainage where it picks up the old trail. I later found out from a FS trail worker that this section is not done yet and beginning in September they will be rerouting the section that is currently in the drainage bottom. They have decided to use the existing bottom portion of the trail instead of having the new trail spit out somewhere on the road up to the Inner Basin from Lockett Meadow. This requires them to put in many wooden water bars to bring it up to standards. They will be working on this section for the rest of August. Most of the lower section is smooth and fast now because of some cutting of the logs that had previously caused some rapid braking. The death log near the bottom is still in place though so if you're flying down the trail be wary of the last corner before the parking lot. Digressing to the Luv Handle, not only does it look sweet and is a metal work of art it is super comfortable. I had no feeling of discomfort in my hands, arms, or shoulders throughout the four hour ride. I have had discomfort going from one bike to the other occasionally in the past when I have been riding one as my primary bike due to the different bars. I was figuring this would be the case changing to this bar but it was not so.

A quick trip to Clints Well, Arizona

2009-08-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday I loaded up the panniers, threw them on the Coconino and headed towards rim country. I decided to camp at a free campground in Clints Well, AZ near a little country store that sold some delicious large cans of beer. I had good weather the whole time I was gone albeit a bit hot on the way home yesterday. Monday I had a route planned out to ride to the Tramway Trailhead and hike down into W. Clear Creek. I locked my bike to a tree and hoped for the best. Hiking down into the canyon was was pretty spectacular with views of the lush canyon bottom coming in and out of view. It is an oasis of sorts in the middle of what seems like endless terrain without water. When I got back to my bike I headed for the Blue Ridge Ranger Station for some water and inquired about the Moqui lookout tower. I got the info I needed and headed up to the tower. I climbed up the stairs and had a brief conversation while looking out at all of the fires in the area. It appears that fire season is in full swing at the end of August. I guess it was going to come sometime. Next stop was Blue Ridge Reservoir to check it out real quick before heading to the store and back to camp. While I was out there I enjoyed some fine dinners. The first night I ate a Jamaican chicken freeze dried meal that I found in the pantry and washed it down with a Fosters oil can. The menu for the second night was Annie's mac and cheese with a big can of Coors. Yesterday I loaded up for the return ride home. It was a pretty good slog back especially my detour through Sandy's Canyon and on the AZT. I had to avoid the construction on Lake Mary Road somehow and that seemed like the best way. I refueled with a couple of beers at the Pay'n Take before dinner at Diablo Burger. That is good stuff to look forward to while turning the cranks on the way back home.

I had a new helmet

2009-08-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight while I was on the phone I realized that I hadn't seen Yampa for awhile. When I hung up I heard some chewing sounds so I went into the bedroom to find my helmet on the floor with some strap customization courtesy of some healthy canine teeth. I believe that the salty goodness was just too much for Yampa to resist.

Another week has past

2009-08-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well over the past week I went hiking a few times and riding a few times and not much more to speak of beyond that. Shortly after the photo with Yampa and me was taken on the Kachina trail we ran into a mama bear and two cubs which was a treat. I got back out on the Turner for the first time in a while. I really like riding the Coconino but the Turner is a lot of fun also and easier on the body when the lower back is sore. I rode it to Upper Brookbank for an awesome descent on one of my favorite sections of trail around. On my way home I can across a field packed with sunflowers and some others that I am not sure of the name. Yesterday I rode up Elden and got some great views out toward the Painted Desert and toward the Peaks. This weekend I decided to try an interesting pancake recipe from Backpacker Magazine that uses beer for the liquid. PBR seemed like the quintessential beer for the job and with some frozen blueberries thrown into the batter breakfast was served. Yum yum!

Where in the hell is Pumpkin Center?

2009-07-28T20:51:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to ride a bunch this week and have even rolled out of here on the skinny tires once or twice. Today I just had to get out early and check a ride off the list of must dos. I really had no idea whether there was still a tower at the Red Hill Lookout or if it was just a high point with a good view but I had to check it out. I rode a bit of pavement to connect with the Forest Service road route that I had planned to get to my destination with a estimated distance of 70 miles round trip. It was a beautiful ride through the Kendrick Peak area to Pumpkin Center and then out to and up Red Hill. The views were amazing and the recent lightning activity was readily apparent by the 2 fires that were visible from the lookout. I noticed some damage from some atv traffic going around the locked gate and a message written on the gate itself by some sort of English scholar but the point was made I guess. I arrived home with 67 miles under my belt for the day which was close to my original estimate which was good. Good mainly because it ensured that I had enough food and water to get me through.

Back from a last minute trip to Colorado

2009-07-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we loaded up some gear, a couple of bike and some food and headed to Pagosa Springs for a few days. We were headed to spend some time with Anne's dad and I was sure to have time to ride everyday. I had an incredible time riding in the general area around Wolf Creek Pass both on the road and on the dirt. The first ride was a road ride up Wolf Creek Pass itself. 60 miles with about 5000 feet of climbing by the time I rode back up to the house. The next day I went exploring some old mining roads in the East Fork of the San Juan river drainage. The roads went up pretty quickly and were super rough but the scenery was amazing and I had no problem filling up half a day with that ride. The third ride I did was a mixed bag. I decided to head out to ride an official mountain bike trail on the San Juan National Forest. The only problem is that most people shuttle up and ride down from just about the top of Wolf Creek Pass. I decided to ride up the pass and then come down to make a loop out of it. Everything was going smoothly until I actually got on the Treasure Mountain Trail which turned out to have downed trees all over it. It quickly turned into a frustrating hike a bike which included lifted the bike over tree after tree after tree. I was having a hard time accepting the fact that the FS hadn't cleared their only MTB trail when I know that this particular district has done a ton of work on their wilderness trails. Why not prioritize the MTB trail near the top of the list in the spring to share the love with all trail users?

Before we went to Colorado

2009-07-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would post some photos of last weeks events before Anne and I headed to Colorado. I was down at AZ Bikes and found Bryce's new sign to be quite impressive. Not just a sign but a pretty labor intensive work of art in my opinion. I went for a long ride with the Gnome last Wednesday that went around the peaks and hit some new AZ Trail on the way back around. I got some photos from that day but since I have been taking all photos with my phone I am usually disappointed with the results. Tomorrow I am going back to the real camera. Anne and I then headed out to do the Abineau/Bear Jaw loop hike. We took Yampa with us and she was crazy as ever but settled down due to the warmth of the day. She looks pretty tuckered out in the photo but shortly there after she was back in the shade and her energy returned rapidly.

Finding my way back to the same place

2009-07-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder why I head back to the same areas that I have just been to recently. I am soon to figure out the answer to this question. These areas are F*****G AWESOME. I was up on Freidline Prairie Road where the ferns wanted to take my bike and not let go. The next day I was up in the Inner Basin with incredible conditions just soaking it all in.

One year ago today

2009-07-08T17:38:00.000-07:00

One year ago today I rode my Coconino 29er for the first time. Today I decided that I needed a long ride to commemorate this occasion. I headed out this morning after another exciting Tour de France stage and multiple cups of coffee. I decided to go up Schultz Creek, down the backside of Schultz Pass then up to Lockett Meadow. Lockett Meadow awarded me with spectacular views of the peaks and Inner Basin where I was headed next. I decided after refilling my Camelbak to head up to Abineau and the end of the road where I found some more decent views. I hung out for a few and then it was all downhill from there.

A few more links on this page.

2009-07-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

I just updated my links on the side of the page to include some super discount sites administered by backcountry.com. Everything on the 5 sites is at least 50 percent off and they have an interesting way of listing items one at a time for a set amount of time. Check them out they are Steep and Cheap, Bonktown, Tramdock, Brociety, and Chainlove. It's all about saving some dough.

A week of riding ending with Cruiser Nation

2009-07-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

This past week I got in a fair amount of riding with the highlights being a trip up the Waterline Road to Abineau Canyon and then checking out a cruiser/one speed race down Moto that traditionally starts at high noon on the 4th of July called Cruiser Nation. I also was stoked to receive a new front triangle for my Turner in just 13 since I spoke with them about the crack in my frame. Now off to check out some fireworks apparently being shot off at the mall of all places. I almost forgot about the abandon campfire I came across and dumped my camelbak on and then stirred it up to put it out. Oh the memories.

A pictureless CABRA post

2009-06-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was full of riding and I don't have a single photo to put up here. A 95 mile "touring pace" ride to the Grand Canyon on dirt followed by a race back along the same route was the schedule of events for Saturday and Sunday. I felt that the race back part might be out of my league but wanted to ride back in some fashion so I pack up camping gear in my panniers and had them shuttled out to the campground for me. I was planning on ride back about half way and camping out then returning home today. What ended up happening somewhere along the wind pummeled route home is that I decided to just put my head down and keep on pedaling all the way home. Good food, beer and a bed were too much to pass up. The trip back ended up taking about 8 hours including a couple road side naps, a picnic and an Eskimo Pie in the lovely town of Valle. The only bad part of my plan was that had I made the decision to head all the way home earlier I could have ditched the panniers and not had to carry the extra 20 pounds home. Oh well I would up with around 95 miles on Saturday and about 71 miles on Sunday. 166 miles for the trip is not bad for this guy. On a side note the festivities for CABRA were top notch in my opinion. Great support, great food, great beer, great attitudes and ample quantities of all the aforementioned items. The folks at the Pay'n Take have come up with and pulled off another fun event.

A couple of quick pics

2009-06-19T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last night I cut some fresh chard out of the garden for dinner. It's not too exciting but it is nice to be able to grow something to add to the dinner table. The two pictures of the Turner are not too exciting to me either. That's right there is a crack all the way around the seat tube. I will say that Turner's customer service is pretty damn good because earlier this year they sent me replacement rocker arms within the same week that they broke and I would have had a new front triangle sent out today except I opted for a powder coated frame instead of the raw frame so it has to go to paint. I should have it in a couple of weeks and then I will send my cracked frame back once I receive the new one. Have a good weekend.

Out of order back from the mother land

2009-06-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

While living the dream I sometime forget stuff. Before we went to Vermont I loaded Yampa and a bike into the truck and headed to New Mexico. I had a visit with the parents and a bike race on the agenda. The race was fun and it was good to ride where I grew up but I was still mid cold and felt pretty crappy so that was the only ride I did while I was there. My dad and I headed up to the old Los Alamos reservoir that was drained after the Cerro Grande fire to be used as a catchment for flood waters that came down the canyon. I used to go up there all the time when I was younger to fish and just hang out (not to mention some misbehaving in the high school years) do to it's close proximity to town. It is amazing how much more water is around that area compared to Flagstaff because everything else is so similar. Yampa had a good time swimming in the small pond that was still there while Sierra looked on to make sure everything was alright. My dad always seems to have dog treats in his pocket and can get the dog's attention pretty quick. There were tons of wild rose bushes along the road amongst tons of green, green vegetation. It was a good trip home. Oh I almost forgot that I clean some crap out of the shed and came across this Coors Classic cycling cap from the early 80's. We used to catch a couple of stages every year on our family trips to Colorado when I was a kid. Good stuff.

We're not in Arizona anymore Toto

2009-06-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

Not many posts lately but we did just recently return from Vermont. We went for Anne's college reunion in Middlebury and vacationed for a few days after the reunion was over. We stayed near Stowe at the Lake Mansfield Trout Club which is like a country club for fishermen. While there we traveled to East Burke to ride the Kingdom Trails which recently received high praise in Bike magazine. We rented bikes and went out to do a review of our own. I will sum up my impression of the trail system by saying that although it was fun I am glad to live with the trail options in Flagstaff. I do have to say that the rental bike that I had was the best rental out of 5 bikes that I have rented in the past 2 years. The folks at East Burke Sports were really friendly and super helpful in planning a route through the system.

Rain, rain, and more rain

2009-05-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have been back from Durango for a few days now and it has rained every day since returning. It is all good though because the trails are all in excellent shape and super tacky. The only downside to the trails being awesome is that I have a cold and it feels pretty miserable to put out a hard effort. It is really hard to dial it back until my head and chest are feeling like they are going to explode. I snapped a few photos with my phone in the Dry Lakes area after riding Upper Brookbank the other day. Enjoy.

The past week

2009-05-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

Sunday I arrived back in town from a trip to Cortez for the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde which was a great race but a mediocre showing for me. I finished with 5 laps which equaled about 84 miles. I had plenty of time for more riding and even had the legs for it but what I was lacking was the ass and feet for more. I settled for some food, beer and socializing instead. This week I spent a fair amount of time riding due to the incredible weather here in Flagstaff. I took the Ibis out on a preride of the MBAA Flagstaff Frenzy course, then the Turner up Sunset and down Upper Brookbank where there is a pretty amazing little clearing with a nice view up to Agassiz. Anne and I took in a Jimmy Buffett concert down in the valley on Thursday night which didn't do anything for my beer avoidance attempts for midweek but was pretty fun. No riding yesterday but a well needed shopping spree at Trader Joes and some Chipotle burritos before heading back up the hill. Today I headed out for the race despite being up most of the night with foot pain and wound up pulling away from my closest rival on the climb up Wild and Wooly and holding him off to the end to finish first in the Novice SS class. I was fortunate to have won a free race entry for this race and to find a pair of gloves in the prize bin that had not been taken already. The gloves are an older version of some Fox gloves that I assume people thought were a bit too gross looking for them. I say perfect for me!

Some photos from yesterday

2009-05-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would post a few photos from a pretty good mountain bike ride yesterday. I made it a little way up the Waterline Road until I deemed it silly to keep getting off the bike to climb over fallen trees. I then went a few random places before heading back home.

Back from the Mogollon Rim

2009-05-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Anne and I left on Friday morning for the Mogollon Rim to race in the Mogollon Masher mountain bike race. We loaded up Yampa and some camping stuff and headed out. Anne had decided that she was interested in trying a beginner women category race and I was going to race the novice singlespeed class again. The area on the rim between Woods Canyon Lake and Bear Canyon Lake was our destination. When we got there we were amazed at how beautiful the scenery was and the views looking south off the rim were endless. Anne got a bad start but began passing people right away. She then took a minor detour and lost a place but wound up with a great showing finishing third. The big smile on her face at the end tells me that she had a good time. I lined up a few hours later and had two simple tactics. The first was to make the initial turn onto the singletrack in as close to the lead as possible and the second was to go as hard as possible for as long as possible. Tactics are easier to come up with when the people in the race are people that you've race against recently. The Prescott race a few weeks ago had the same cast of characters partaking in it minus the guy who beat me. Knowing this I figured I had a good chance of taking the win so I came up with the two simple tactics. Some of the photos are a bit blurry but there the best we have. Yampa had a great time with what seemed like hundreds of other dogs and is pretty worn out today. She woke up this morning and ate breakfast, went outside to do her business, and then came back in and went into the bedroom to her bed and fell back asleep and remains there now.

Another broken piece of aluminum

2009-04-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

I went out for a ride today on the Coconino and had a good day combining Rocky Ridge, Schultz Creek, Secret, Hot Shot and then home via Buffalo Park. Unfortunately on my way into Buffalo Park I felt a snap and that was all for my seat post. I rode home standing up with my seat and the remainder of the post in my hand. The post is not something that is very exciting to me to have to replace. As a matter of fact I can think of many other good uses for the money.

Back from Washington

2009-04-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Flag yesterday after a great 6 day trip to Washington. We planned this trip around the Wenatchee Marathon. Anne ran a PR and finished 3rd in her age group which was outstanding. I had rented a mediocre mountain bike and hit up the local single track which was named Sage Hill. It was pretty sweet with big yellow flowers all over and awesome views of the Columbia River. During the marathon I rode around and saw Anne at various places and took some photos. I snapped a photo of the bike I rented under a tree with a gigantic trunk that looked like a bunch of trees that grew together into one. We left Wenatchee on Sunday and headed to Seattle for some city time. We got lucky as it was sunny and 70+ degrees for the two full days we were there so we walked and walked checking stuff out. We went up to the top of the Space Needle and got a good look at Mt. Rainer, checked out some shops, ate some good food and drank some beer not found here in Northern Arizona. It was strange that I had to go to Seattle to find a beer that I wanted to try that is brewed in Colorado. Besides the Oskar Blues TenFidy the rest of the beers we drank were from Washington and not a single one of them was bad. We also found a cool bike shop on Bainbridge Island that had a ton of old racing bicycles names Classic Bicycles. I had to take a photo of one with a massive chainring on the front. When we woke up in Seattle yesterday and it was grey and rainy we realized that vacation must be over and that is was time to head out. It is good to be back home for a while though especially since the weather is turning so nice.

A bit of catching up

2009-04-08T11:08:00.000-07:00

The past week has been filled with a bunch of riding, one race and and some red rock. I have been trying to get some long rides under the belt lately. I got a loop in on the Arizona Trail out to Fisher Point and down one of my favorite descents around Flagstaff. The photo that shows singletrack coming from the right side is the bottom of the descent. The photo is taken from Fisher Point which is the top. Yampa (our dog) still enjoys diving under the bed to hide or play. Apparently 65 pounds properly dispersed makes a slim and trim dog. Yesterday I hoped on the Coconino and headed out to ride to Sedona via the Old Munds Highway and Schnedbly Hill Road. It is about 49 miles from here and Anne was going for a run down there so we met up for lunch and I got a ride home. I posted some random photos from the trip. I was excited to find very little snow and mud along the route. Old Munds Highway is still closed to motor vehicles so I was not sure what I would find back there. When I got to the lower part of Schnebly Hill I found out that is was being graded and was really nasty with soft dirt and huge rocks all over the place. Apparently this is improving the road but I would tend to disagree. I was taking it pretty easy but managed to roll into the Wildflower Bakery parking lot right at 4 hours. Good stuff, next time I will leave earlier and turn around and ride home.

Gettin' a little bit higher

2009-03-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

With company the past week or so I haven't ridden quite as much as I should have but with a 30 miler tomorrow I will be where I wanted to be. I did get out to the Arizona Trail last week on the Coconino for a good long ride and then today went to explore up Schultz Creek Road to see how much snow was up there compared to last year. There was definitely more last year but not as much as I thought I remembered. The third photo with the Turner laying in the snow was taken on April 5th last year. The bottom photo was taken today. Enjoy the Flagstaff spring wind.

A bit of this and that

2009-03-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well not much new and exciting on this front. Before this last cold spell I was just trying to get out on the bike as much as possible and begin to up the mileage a tad. Flagstaff trails are clearing rapidly. I rode the AZT for a loop around the east side of Elden to I-40 to Walnut Canyon/Fisher Point and then to Lone Tree. The trails were great and it was good fun. I rolled out on the single speed with Denise and we picked up a couple of Denise's regular riding buddies on the way. It was really warm that day and it wound up at about 40 miles. Anne's dad visited over the weekend and I got to the gym a couple of times and got some workouts in among all of the eating out. I sorted through the energy bar etc. stash to load up the pack to go out tomorrow for a 40 to 50 mile ride before my brother and family get here. Lastly, unimpressed by any of this is Yampa who just winds up sleeping through the majority of my preparations.

First of many (hopefully)

2009-03-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. I headed out for a mountain bike ride from the front door. I rode a piece of pavement to the Elden Road and then up, up, up I went to the top. It was in super condition with only a couple of wet sections. The view from the top, of course, was phenomenal and I snapped a couple of photos while I was hanging out. I took a quick shot down into Flagstaff and then I decided I needed a photo of the Coconino at the beginning of the Sunset trail which looked way to snowy to attempt. I then bombed back down the road and headed home. Nice to be riding from the doorstep instead of loading the bike on the car. Here's to spring!

Down in P-town

2009-03-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

Just returned home from Phoenix after a luxurious vacation to the valley. It was a good vacation with warm weather, beer, baseball, good food, some glass and some pedaling. I was able to get out to South Mountain for a couple of different rides. The first day I checked out the National Trail which provided awesome views down into Phoenix (glad to be up on the mountain) and the second I rode the Desert Classic trail out and back for some fast fun. Today I rode at White Tank Mountain Park which was pretty fun and fast also. One of the most impressive things we saw on vacation was at the Desert Botanical Garden which was hosting an exhibit by Dale Chihuly who is a world famous glass blower. We were also lucky to get to a couple of spring training baseball games where we say the Cubs, Giants, Brewers and Angels play. It is amazing how crowded games in Phoenix are compared to the games in Tucson when we lived there.

Just a quick post

2009-03-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

Today we took a quick trip down to Sedona for a bit of a hike with Yampa. We decided to head up Long Canyon for a ways which was pretty nice. We were hiking with a bunch of other people today as the greater Sedona area seemed like the place to be. When we got back to the trailhead we decide to go looking for the connector trail that would lead to Dry Creek. We got down to Dry Creek (which is not dry during the spring) and let Yampa off the leash. She was loving the water and drinking and swimming without a care in the world. We discovered shortly after returning home that she was just plum tuckered out and had assumed her sleeping position. I am going to assume my sleeping position here right about now.

Post #100 and just as worthless as the rest

2009-02-25T17:31:00.001-08:00

The past couple of days here in Flagstaff have been pretty mellow for me. The weather here is super nice right now but the snow is rapidly declining especially around town. Anne and I went up to Snowbowl yesterday to get in a few turns and it was probably 50 degrees with pure blue skies and no wind. The visibility was amazing with all of the old cinder cones within close proximity and the Grand Canyon in the distance. I then cooked dinner for Anne last night for her birthday. She requested cherry cobbler so I had to get the family recipe from her mom to insure that it tasted like the cobbler she was envisioning. Then I made the lentil loaf she was wanted for the main course. It sounds gross of course but is actually delicious but takes forever to make. It is basically an Italian vegetarian meat loaf. Lentil and brown rice make up the substance of the meal and it is held together with mozzarella, egg, and parmesan. There is also a lot of fresh spinach, onion, carrot, corn and basil to add a bit more goodness to it. To finish it off is a Checha sauce which is cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper pulsed together in the food processor. Mmmmm....glad I am going to eat some leftovers when I am done with this because describing it is making me hungry.

While we were skiing yesterday I fell awkwardly and tweaked my shoulder. It is pretty sore today so instead of riding down in Sedona I had to settle for a long ride on the trainer. It was fine for me because of the wind that was blowing cats and small children down the street. I am NOT a big fan of wind.

I moved on to the garage project this afternoon and came across many old water bottles that needed to be sorted through. I found an old Cactus Cup bottle from 1995 before I ever thought I would be living in Arizona. In the bottle stash was also a Soul Ride bottle from the days when the bottles Epic Rides gave out were crappy. Glad to see they have gone to the standard bottle for there races now. If they would only change the t-shirts and stop giving out the white ones. Oh well at least the events are good stuff.

Lastly I wanted to commend the folks at Turner Bikes for having outstanding customer service. As stated in the previous blog I had some issues this weekend in Phoenix with the rocker arm on my bike. On Monday morning I called Turner and told them my problem and they said that I would not have that problem with the new rocker arm. They also told me it would be in the mail that afternoon and would absolutely be covered by the warranty. Just before I got off the phone they said to look for it today. Sure enough this afternoon Fed Ex pulled up outside the house and dropped off the new parts.

Trader Joes and racing at Estrella

2009-02-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I loaded up the Jetta with camping gear, some bike stuff, and a few empty shopping bags. My first stop was Trader Joes to stock up on the staples. Dried mango, instant miso soup, pasta, beans, etc. etc. After Trader Joes it was off to Estrella Mountain Park to set up camp and relax before todays race. I took a few photos at Estrella. I had a sweet camping spot that looked up at the Estrella Mountains which are green with lush desert vegetation right now. I paid it no mind that Phoenix International Raceway obstructed my view in the other direction. I was racing in the marathon class today with a race that consisted of four 9.5 mile laps. I was riding a pace that put me right at my goal for lap times when I heard a loud clunk. This loud clunk came at around 35 miles with only 3 to go. I thought to myself that I had never heard a noise like that before while riding. I knew that something had just broken. Sure enough the rocker arm had sheared and my race was over. Oh well at least things were going well up to that point. Now back in Flag I write this blog with my sleeping dog by my side and a Dale's Pale Ale in front of me and I have to say that life in not to shabby. On a parting note if you ever need to stop at a rest stop about 40 miles south of Flagstaff be sure to check out the view from the back. The view looks up toward Sedona and I have to say it is the best rest stop view I have seen in my travels.

Back from another trip to the Old Pueblo

2009-02-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Well another trip down to Tucson come and gone. Anne and I loaded up the truck, threw the dog in the back seat and headed off the rim. We were heading to the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo. I had very little expectations as far as my performance in the race were concerned. I was just interested in getting in some good riding in the desert and having a great time. I ended up with 7 laps that put me in about 57th place. The laps were a little over 16 miles so that made it 115 miles for the race. That was enough for me in the middle of February. We did not get too many photos but I threw one in of me heading out for a lap and one of me finishing up the last lap of the weekend. During the weekend we did meet some new people, saw some old friends and had a swell camping trip. Yampa (the dog) was excited about all of the dogs running around but we think she was a bit disheartened by having to be tied up the majority of the time. She did get about one thousand walks around the desert over the weekend because we knew she would be tied up at the camp site. She was thoroughly exhausted when we got home and has been sleeping almost the entire time since. Heading to Phoenix this weekend for another race and then off until the middle of March. That time will be dedicated to some skiing and family time.

Winter is Back!

2009-02-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

The past few weeks have seen warm temperatures and dry weather here in Northern Arizona. Yesterday that all changed with a visit from Old Man Winter. It has been snowing off and on since yesterday and heavier snows are expected this afternoon and tonight. I was down in Phoenix for the Mcdowell Meltdown race on Saturday. I rode in the marathon class which was a 55 mile course through the desert trails of Mcdowell. The weather was great and the trails were fast. I finished 17th but felt good and strong throughout. I snapped a couple of photos from camp Friday night. One photo is of the truck with the new campstove on the tailgate. I finally broke down and purchased a two burner stove instead of using the backpacking stove like the olden days. The other photo is of the entrance to Mcdowell and the mountains in the distance. Not a bad place to camp during the middle of winter.

Sorting through old crap from the garage

2009-02-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have been riding some the last week and yesterday we attempted a ride on some local Flagstaff trails. After riding some dry stuff we rapidly found the mud and snow that pushed us to return on the road. Oh well no camera anyway. I have been slowly looking through boxes in the garage and getting rid of stuff that I don't need(or want). I found these relics from the races of old and thought that I would take a few pictures and maybe toss them in the garbage(we'll see). These are all from 1996 which was the first year that I thought I was a serious mountain bike racer. I have long since recovered from those visions of grandeur and just strive for the upper tier of the mediocrity. The first photo is from the Get Fit Again Race at Cedro Peak in Tijeras, NM. First race of the year, second place in the beginner category. The gold medal is for a sweet win at the Coyote Classic in Las Cruces, NM in the, you guessed it, beginner category. I then raced the King of the Mountain stage race at Sandia Peak outside of Albuquerque in my first sport category race and finished the weekend in 5th overall and wound up with a nice plaque. The race after that was by far the hardest race of my season that year and also the most rewarding. It was the Pajarito Punishment outside of my hometown of Los Alamos, NM. My parents were there to support me with my Dad handing me some Ultrafuel and a banana at the bottom of the 10 mile climb to the finish. I caught about 20 people on the climb to finish 3rd in the sport class and received this awesome Specialized watch. 1st and 2nd places got cash for their prizes and I got this watch. AWESOME! Nice to have a good day when family comes out to support you though. I think my parents, at least my dad, were stoked because I was way behind at the bottom but finished really well. Ahhhh....the glory days. Now I just try and ride as much as possible and enjoy the environment that I happen to be encapsulated in on any given ride.

Mixing up some salmonella

2009-01-27T12:04:00.001-08:00

We just got back from Tucson the other day where I rode in Singleswizzle also known as SSAZ09. It's a fun little event that is mostly group ride and not so much racing. I rode with my friend David who I actually caught in a photo shredding some Sonoran singletrack. The weather was amazing and the trail conditions were phenomenal. The recent rain contributed to some significant water flowing in the drainages. Chiva Falls was impressive and the sound of rushing water was an incredible side bar to the Chiva Loop. Aside from that I registered really late for SSWC09 and as of now I would be really surprised to make the cut. 750 registrants for 500 spots and about 480 spots are full. It would be really fun to go but I am not counting on it.

A bit more wandering in the desert

2009-01-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

Early Saturday I loaded up the car with the one speed in its new and improved state. The new fork and crank sure make a load of difference. The fork corrects the geometry close to what it was meant to be and the crank replaced one that had a non-drive side arm loosening problem. So off to White Tanks to the first race of the season. I promptly got my ass kicked but had a decent race anyway. I felt good, it was really warm and the trails were great. They gave t-shirts away but they did not even have a date on them so mine went to Goodwill with some other old shirts. Today I wandered around the Dry Creek area in Sedona on the Coconino. It just so happened that it was the first time on the Coconino in Sedona. I wound up somewhere I hadn't planned when I tried to get from the Lost Watch Trail to the Deadman's Pass area and it took me quite awhile longed that I thought it would. I ran into private property, a golf course and a trail that took me way up past where I wanted to be. I ended up backtracking to the Dry Creek Road, flatting, and meeting up with Anne an hour and a half late. She was starting to worry but luckily she hadn't reported me missing yet. I was having a great ride after all.

Mmmm.......red dirt

2009-01-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

It has been relatively warm here in Northern Arizona the past week and Anne and I decided to head to Sedona yesterday to get a taste of the red dirt. I had just installed my new fork on my old Ibis Mojo one speed so I needed a test run and Anne wanted to go for a long run with Yampa. I rode up the Bell Rock Pathway to the Mystic Trail on to the Submarine Rock area to Chicken Point. Once past Chicken Point I headed down the Little Horse trail to the Llama trail and then back to the car in the Village of Oak Creek. It was all good and the fork is great but the perpetual crank arm loosening problem was finally too much. My old Race Face crank from '96 is getting swapped for a new SLX crank. I will give my first impression of it after this weekend down at White Tanks in Phoenix. Next weekend it will be off to Tucson for SingleSpeed AZ '09. Big fun with good people in the desert.

I wouldn't call it being sentimental...well maybe

2009-01-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days I have been riding the trails of the desert. Saturday I was at White Tanks with my neighbor Jerrod and Sunday I rode the Templeton/Baldwin Trail combo down in Sedona. Both rides were phenomenal but of course I did not have a camera to document the outstanding conditions and warm weather. At home as part of the grand garage and house organization project I have begun to sort through things. I have decided that I would get rid of a bunch of my old work t-shirts and other miscellaneous shirts. I figured I would just take a photo of each different type of shirt (multiples exist of the same work shirt) and that would have the same value with less space. I also decided to post the photos here (a Steve Garro of Coconino Cycles idea) and tell a bit about them. I figured that would be good therapy and allow me to part with t-shirts. The first shirt today is from the Asheville Hotshots where I worked for a season and was fortunate to see a lot of the south and upper midwest that I never would have seen on my own. The second and third are from my 3 seasons as a wildland fire engine captain at Dinosaur National Monument. The Fish and Wildlife shirt is due to the crew being interagency and we were actually station at a wildlife refuge. Northwest Colorado is a really beautiful place and hardly anybody ever goes there with the exception of Steamboat Springs. The last shirt came from the Yeti factory when it was in Durango. They actually made their bikes there. I am fortunate to have come to love mountain biking as a sport when it was young and it seemed much more a grassroots type of movement. Cheers!

The holidays are over

2009-01-09T09:29:00.001-08:00

Well it sure has been awhile since the last post but we've been fairly busy. We were in NM for Christmas but I forgot the camera so I could not document the festivities. We traveled around and saw a good portion of my NM family. We had a good time and it was really nice to see everyone. When we got back Anne decided that she would like to have nordic skis so we both decided to pick up a pair. We purchased them and promptly decided to check out Hart Prairie Road for a little ski in the falling snow. It is pretty fun and a good workout to top it off. Anne has been a couple times since then but I have been up at Snowbowl teleing instead. I miss being on the bike but will be down in the desert some in the upcoming weeks so that will be fun. I have begun sorting through old crap in the garage and will be slowly getting rid of stuff that I was sure I couldn't live without. To start will be some fire t-shirts (and misc. others) that I will be posting some photos of as a way of parting with them. Lots of hard work and some good memories in those shirts. I sorted through a bunch of old owners manuals last night and came across a sweet Rock Shox manual from 1998, took this picture and promptly recycled it.

Early Christmas trip to KC and snow upon arrival home

2008-12-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

We arrived back in Flag the other day after a trip to KC for an early celebration with Anne's parents for Christmas. While we were there we experienced temps in the 60's until Sunday and then the temps fell like a rock. We had a few hours to check out the cyclocross nationals but only made it through the elite women's class where Katie Compton won her fifth National Championship. The wind chill was in the single digits so we bailed but it was cool to see part of. When we arrived back Monday night there was quite a bit of snow so we decided to go skiing today. It was Yampa first ski trip so we just headed up to Snowbowl and skinned up for one run down the mountain. It was pretty fun but seems like a couple feet of snow is probably still needed to open up. Yampa was going nuts in the snow and may just become a pretty good ski dog. My toe is getting better but still was a bit painful initiating turns on the skis. Oh well at least I can wear the shoes I want. Happy winter!

Trying not to puke

2008-12-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

So I went back to the podiatrist this morning and got the results from my blood test. 8.7 on the the uric acid test which is high and pretty much proves that my foot problem is gout. So after a week of Colchicine I was prescibed another anti-inflammatory to take until the swelling goes away. This one is called Indomethicin and after reading about it I am now aware of some bad side effects after prolonged use. I took one a couple of hours ago and have felt like puking ever since so my taking of it may be short lived. I also did some investigating into dietary needs to decrease uric acid and learned some interesting facts about purines and what foods contain the most. Spinach, lentils, oats, and beans are all high in purines which elevate uric acid levels so along with beer and wine I was pretty much screwed from the beginning. I am going to try and am eat way less of these things but it will be tough as oats are in breakfast for me everyday and beans are a staple for dinner. On a different note I got a new t-shirt the other day from Bryce at AZ Bikes that apparently has been remade by popular demand. I also found Anne's Moab Marathon finishers medal which was a source of great humor this past spring. First of all the medal was given out at check in and not when people actually finished and secondly the medals are left over from 2004 and not made for the current year. Classic. Good work folks. It is a good thing that the course had amazing scenery of red rock country through the entire race course.

One of these is not like the other, Guitar Heroing it up over Thanksgiving, and Does this dog look like she can jump the 6 foot fence.

2008-12-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

It has sure been awhile since I last blogged but not too much has been happening. My left foot is a bit less swollen than it was last week but still too big for a regular shoe. It is still a little painful in certain area around the big toe and ball of the foot but seems to be getting better. The podiatrist believes that I have gout which is odd to me. So over the next couple of week I have to skip drinking and eating red meat and cheese. The first one of the three is the only one that I am missing (not really but kinda). Over Thanksgiving Anne's mom visited and bought us Guitar Hero which we promptly had to play. I included a photo of Anne and her mom as they were getting booed off the stage during an exceptional performance. Most recently is the issue with Yampa the dog. I went outside a couple of days ago to see what she was up to and could not find her in the yard. As I got slightly worried I tried to figure out how she got out and then notice her playing with Humphrey the neighbor's dog. I went over to get her and brought her home and watched her to see where she got over the fence. She promptly attempted to jump the fence right where I figured she got over. It is amazing that she can get over a six foot fence with relative ease. Off to Home Depot I went and got chicken wire to raise the height of the fence. Unfortunately the fence is flexible enough to create little paw holds that Yampa can scamper up. Then I got about 30 feet of animal fencing that I had left and put it up on the section where she jumps and she was able to get up to about 8 feet but not all the way over. I will be off to Home Depot in the morning again to replace the chicken wire in the photo for some taller, more burley animal fencing. Maybe one of these day I will be able to ride again. My foot will probably be good enough to ride about the time it really starts snowing.

Temporarily out of commission

2008-11-24T14:14:00.000-08:00

My foot finally got bad enough that I figured I better have it looked at. Last night we bundled up and headed to to emergency room for a bit of an under the radar visit. X-rays showed that nothing was broken but we caught the orthopedic surgeon as he was heading out and he took a look at the foot and the x-rays. Nothing was definite but there is a cyst on the big toe that is right where the toe hurts the most. He also said that my foot looked pretty abused and wondered why this might be. I will blame it on fighting fires for 10 years. Not too good on the feet. So with a super swollen foot I haven't been able to ride for over a week or do much of anything activity wise which is a bummer. The first recommended action for the foot was to get a rigid shoe and take anti-inflammatory drugs for awhile to get the swelling and pain to disperse and go from there. On a lighter note I got a photo of Yampa scanning the front yard for cats and other critters which she enjoys doing frequently.

Happy birthday Yampa and a quick trip to the Old Pueblo

2008-11-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

I took a whirlwind trip to the Old Pueblo to go to the bike swap on 4th Ave Saturday and took the Coconino along with for the ride. I was super stoked to find a couple of new loops at Fantasy Island making a total of 23 miles within the confines of the 3 square miles that makes up Fantasy Island. The bike swap was amazingly crowded with tons and tons of bike stuff for sale. Some of the bike stuff was crap and some was new super blingy stuff. I made the drive home with a stop at the grocery store for a NY strip steak for Yampa's birthday dinner. I seared it to perfection and then laid it over a bed of IAMS puppy food for a delicious celebration of 1 year of life. Cheers Yampa it has been a fun year.

I had planned to go mountain biking until....

2008-11-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

First day back in Flagstaff after vacation to Hawaii and a quick trip to New Mexico to see family and pick up Yampa from my parents. It sure seemed like a front was moving in while we were driving back yesterday and sure enough the snow started flying last night and we woke up to a winter wonderland. My plans for the day are now to run a bunch of overdue errands to get back into the swing of things and to ride the trainer in the garage. I took 15 days off of the bike and now will begin again in hopes to do well in some events early next year. I am going to attempt better self control and eat better over the winter. That means less of two main food groups. Beer and ice cream. I also have to start hooking up with people to ride down in Sedona. I did not find it exceptional last winter so maybe some others with more knowledge of that area can turn my opinion around. Last week was pretty interesting with the Presidential Election. I refuse to rant on about my political views or talk bad about people's views that are different than mine but I do want to say that I have always been proud to be an American and there will always be political decisions that I don't agree with no matter who is in office. This past weeks election was monumental and showed a resurgence in involvement in the political process. There is much information about how the Obama campaign was run and it is quite impressive. Impressive enough that it was very highly regarded by many Republicans. We'll see what happens when Obama takes office. Keep your fingers crossed.

Making a mockery of a perfectly good sport

2008-11-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

The title and picture speak volumes

We're back and it's cold

2008-11-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Hawaii about 1 hour ago and it is pretty cold here in Flagstaff compared to Maui. We flew out last night at 11:30 Hawaii time with was about 2:30 am AZ time so we're pretty burnt right now. As I write this Anne is busy snoring away in bed but I am going to push through today as to get back to a normal schedule. Our trip started out in Maui where we did all of the traditional tourist stuff which was pretty fun. We spent time on the beach, went deep sea fishing (and caught 3 tiny skip jacks), boogie boarded, took surfing lessons, snorkeled and went diving and drove the "Road to Hana". Anne and I then separated from her parents and went on to Kauai where we went kayaking and hiking the Na'Pali Coast which were both amazing. We also went to check out Wiamea Canyon which is like a tropical version of the Grand Canyon. Throughout our stay in Hawaii we ate a bunch of Poke which is ahi tuna sashimi but it is tossed with dried chiles, sesame oil and seeds and seaweed in some cases and it is super good. We also tried the Tako version which is Octopus and it was alright but the tuna was much better. I decided to post many different photos from along the way. I have to go hunt for some surfing pictures and when I find them they may or may not get posted. We'll just have to see.

Last ride for a couple weeks

2008-10-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today was the last ride that I am going to be able to do until about November 8th or so. I will hopefully be refreshed and ready to hit it at that point but decided to ride some good stuff today. After riding as many trails as I could this summer I decided to ride my "new" favorite trail today. I am going to pretend that nobody know about this trail and keep its name a "secret". The first two pictures should be pretty easy to recognize the location it was taken and then the trails spits you out into the gigantic logging area where the temperature goes up about 10 degrees. Then I hit Ft. Valley where I connected Lower Moto to what some people call Easter Island and snapped a pic at the namesake rock section.

I just needed a quickie before the snow comes

2008-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well before I head off to Phoenix tomorrow and come back to snow on the ground this weekend I decided I better go out for a quick ride on some sweet single track that I was told about yesterday. I actually knew of its existence but did not know exactly where to connect to it. The trail was in pretty good condition considering that it is mostly a motorcycle trail and some sections have just been torn up by those things. Mainly it is irresponsible riders that have no concept of preservation and preventing the eroding of our multi-use trails. Motorcycles are just capable of so much more damage that hiking shoes and mountain bike tires. It is amazing how awesome the trails are when people have to rely on their own power to propel themselves along. Anyway, I took a couple photos of the trail and the fall colors at the base of the San Francisco Peaks with Snow Bowl nestled in at the SW corner of the Peaks.

Better late than never...

2008-10-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

It seems sometimes that things move at a different pace here in Flagstaff. I have recently ordered multiple items from one particular bike shop here in town and in multiple instances have been told 3 or 4 days and it has turned in to 3 weeks to receive my order. Most recently I ordered a bike rack for the truck and wanted to have it before the Pines to the Mines race/ride a couple weeks ago. I was promised that it would be here during the week before the ride. Of course it did not show up so I borrowed a rack and looked forward to the following week when I would surely get it before the Tour of the White Mountains. The White Mountains trip came and went with the borrowed rack still attached to the truck. Well yesterday I called down to the shop and the rack was actually there. I was so amazed that I installed it and threw my Coconino on it and snapped a photo. I have also included a photo of everything I pulled out of the garden this week with hopes it will ripen inside the house. It looks like the cold weather is blowing in for the weekend. I checked the forecast out and it shows 20 percent chance of snow in town on Sat. and Sun. I think I will be heading to Phoenix for the last race of my season on Saturday and then back up the hill to some hunkering down through the weekends cold weather and probably watching some football and baseball. Have a good weekend and go pedal something.

As September winds down...

2008-09-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

The end of September has ushered in some real Fall weather and lighting but it is still really nice out in the woods. I have been trying to ride a fair amount lately and will be heading to Show Low this coming weekend for the Tour of the White Mountains which is a mountain bike race with varying distances. I, along with my neighbor Jerrod, will be competing in the 60 mile race which is the longest option but you get the most riding for the entry fee. This past Saturday was the Pines to the Mines ride that starts at the Pay'nTake in downtown Flag and goes via dirt road, FS roads and singletrack to the old mining town of Jerome. It was a great event that attracted some great participants. The Pay'nTake is a great contributor to various outdoor sports with their support in various ways. They often have free food and beer pouring out of the side of their trailer and the Pines to the Mines was no exception. Yesterday I rode up into the Inner Basin and saw the Fall colors in full effect up high. It was really amazing. It was the first time I have been up there this year that I had to throw a jacket on for the way down. It is about that time as I have been saying. Yesterday afternoon Anne and I made it to the nursery to buy bulbs for planting today and we picked out 50 bulbs of different varieties. We then ended the afternoon at Mountain Sports to get me a ski pass for the upcoming year. 399 is a good deal for the preseason price of the pass. Ski in Flag and ride in Sedona. I guess that's not so bad....

A bit of yard work and some tiny veggies

2008-09-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Today I got some tools out of the garage and started digging a hole. This adventurous project was to put a piece of limestone with our address on it into the ground. The stone was cut and carved by Anne's grandfather who then drove it to Pagosa Springs from Great Bend, Kansas. It stayed in Pagosa for awhile and then Anne's dad brought it the rest of the way a couple of weeks ago. It weighs about 150 pounds I would guess but was pretty easy to manuver once the hole was dug. Other excitement recently has been the ripening of some tiny tomatoes and green peppers. The tomatoes have taken a long time to start ripening but hopefully will finish ripening before the first big frost. Luckily we have about 6 quart bags full of squash from our calabacita plants in the freezer for Thanksgiving time festivities which mainly include food and drink. On a different note, as I was looking through our photos from a couple of weeks ago I came across a photo of a dead porcupine that I found inside the shack at one of the North Rim's lookout towers. This porcupine had been dead for quite awhile and yet no one had bothered to clean it out. Now I understand keeping historically valuable building protected but come on. If a building is so remote and in a state of disrepair it should just get torn down. If the Park Service can't keep it clean of dead animals and fecal matter they are probably not to concerned with its historical value either. That is about all of the ranting I've got for this fine afternoon. Get out and enjoy fall while it lasts!

Back from the North Rim

2008-09-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Anne and I finally got on the road Saturday after a bike rack fiasco that engulfed all of Friday. We headed for the North Rim Saturday morning to ride the Rainbow Rim trail located in the Kaibab National Forest. The Rainbow Rim trail is an 18 mile singletrack trail along the rim of the Grand Canyon that was built primarily with mountain biking in mind. When we got up there we quickly set up camp along on of the access roads located close to the middle portion of the trail and got on our bikes to head to Timp Point which is one end of the trail. At about 4 miles into the ride I managed to slice a .5 inch tear into the sidewall of my front tire. We began to think that our trip was doomed but with the help of a Clif Bar wrapper and a couple of tubes I managed to stay riding for the rest of the weekend. The second day was marked with more riding as we rode some FS roads to access Parissawampitts Point which is the other end of the trail and we took that back to our camp to make a loop out of the days ride. When we got back we decided to move camp over to an area by the Arizona Trail so we could ride a section of the AZT before heading home yesterday morning. The section of the AZT that I rode (alone because Anne decided she better study for her Board exam coming up) was along the East Rim which was amazing as the views exploded before me not to mention that the single track was pretty fun getting to the National Park boundary. On the way back we pulled over in the Warm Fire scar to snap a couple of photos because the colors contrasting was pretty impressive. It is amazing to look back at the blood, sweat and tears that went into working that fire and to think that effort will always be locked into the rebirth of that area. It is also amazing to think about how minuscule we really are in relation to the natural cycle. Weather takes so much more of a role in the suppression of these large fires (and the growth of the fires for that matter) than we give credit. As we got back to Marble Canyon we decided to stop at Navajo Bridge and have a bit of a picnic by the mouth of the Grand Canyon before b-lining it back to Flagstaff.

A sacrificial post to thwart off the winter demons

2008-09-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

As the inevitability of winter starts to creep back into my mind (and the fact that I did not have any current photos of anything) I decided to go back into the archives of last winter and post a nasty snow picture from the front of our house in Flagstaff. I am trying an offering to the weather gods to hold off the cold and wet of winter for as long as possible this year. Here's to wishful thinking.

The past couple of days

2008-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days have pretty much been the standard day here in Flagstaff for me. I have just been riding and doing things around the house. After Monday's stormy weather and the mysterious white stuff on the mountain I decided to see how muddy some of the trails were on Tuesday. The trails were in pretty good shape surprisingly but I did find a bunch of hail from the day before which made me nervous and thinking of the winter cold that will be coming in a couple of months. As my ride was winding down with only the descent of Schultz Creek left before heading home I snapped a photo of the Coconino and the increasing clouds over the peaks. Then I boogied to make it home before the rain and lightning. On the way down I went through the only section of Schultz Creek that I have known people to flat on and sure enough I managed to rip a hole in my rear tubeless tire. After messing with it for 15 minutes and refusing to put a tube in it I made a run for home hoping that the sealant would hold for another 20 minutes. It did and I arrived home before the rain. Yesterday afternoon I decided that my two bikes had been neglected as far as cleaning goes so they both got a bath. I also realized that my saddleless Turner has been neglected beyond the needing of a bath and will probably ride it today and will head up Elden as penance for the neglect.

It might be hail or it might be snow

2008-08-25T20:08:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my friend Amy and her 6 month old baby boy showed up to visit and we decided to go out to dinner at Josephine's here in Flagstaff. We also decided that it would be a celebration of Amy's birthday and Anne making partner at her job. Exciting times that called for some good food, good company and a bit of wine. This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and coffee at Macy's and Amy was off to Albuquerque. I had every intention of going for a long ride today but the thunderstorms rolled in early and thwarted my attempt. I then decided that I was going to ride the trainer as a sacrifice to maybe hold off the oncoming winter that will be here before we know it. At least I had a good movie in Pan's Labyrinth to watch while riding. This was brought on by the mysterious white stuff on the peaks after the clouds began to break. It may have just been a bunch of hail or it could have been....................?

Out with the old in with the new

2008-08-21T20:51:00.001-07:00

Today Anne and I went out to Kendrick Mountain with Yampa and went for a little hike. Some medical reasons kept us from going too far but got out in the amazing wilderness and made the most of the day. It was super green and lush in the forest due to all of the rain we've been getting. On the way home we went on a tour of some Forest Service roads and found our way to Hart Prairie where we got an incredible view of the San Francisco Peaks and Snowbowl Ski Area. When we got home we decided to go to the Nissan dealer and look at the selection of truck and also to see if the sale they advertised this weekend was still in effect. They were offering between 8 and 15 thousand off of 2008 models and since we have been planning on getting rid of the Pathfinder and getting a truck for a couple of years now it seemed that we should go look. We wanted to get a Toyota but the financial aspect of saving about $10000 by purchasing a comparable Nissan seemed hard to pass up. So after some deliberation the Pathfinder was replaced by the Frontier in the driveway. I also learned some interesting facts about beer today while buying FatTire in a can. It appears that original Fat Tire was conditioned in the bottle but as the name grew they had to produce more and just added preservatives to make it more Costco friendly. Now that they have the cans they have gone back to conditioning it in the can and there is definitely a taste difference and it is pretty good super cold out of the can. Cheers.

The Garden Provides

2008-08-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Anne and I welcomed a visit from my brother and his family. We did a bit of shopping and a lot of eating out with a few beers and a bike ride up into the Inner Basin thrown into the mix. My brother got a cool new mtb helmet with a bit of a discount from Bryce at AZ Bikes which helped seal the deal. We have recently noticed how well things are growing in the garden with all of the recent moisture and cloudy afternoons. Today we decided to pick a couple of calabicitas and make the dish of the same name for dinner with some pinto beans. The calabacitas turned out to be excellent and I was really excited to have the seeds the my Grandma and Great Uncle gave me produce the first delicious calabacitas.

Back from Napa

2008-08-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we rolled into Flag at midnight after spending the weekend in Calistoga, CA and other areas in California's Napa Valley. We were there for the wedding of one of Anne's college friends. The rehearsal dinner was in a historical wine cellar at one of the wineries which was really cool with a bunch of 2000 gallon oak barrels and candelabras with a table that seats something over 100 people down the middle. The wedding was at a resort in Napa and was pretty fun with a good band and lots of alcohol. Each course of the meal was accompanied by a corresponding Napa wine and the glasses were refilled often. This accompanied by an open bar led to much rowdiness as the evening progressed. The first day we were there the girls had a little winery tour and rehearsal to attend so I rented a Santa Cruz Superlight and headed up a fairly relentless trail called the Oat Hill Mine Trail. This trail was really rocky and steep but a great ride. The views of the vineyards were great and there were a ton of old wagon wheel track carved into the rocks. The bike I rented had a failing rear brake on the way back down and contributed to a sweet grinding of my shin down the left pedal. It felt pretty good let me tell ya.

An original piece of art

2008-08-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well Anne and I finally bit the bullet on a piece of art that we have been talking about buying for a couple of months now. It is a good thing we bought it when we did because the artist Molly Holland had a show the night we bought it and 3 or 4 people wanted to buy it. Molly and her Daughters had their puppy in obedience training with Yampa so that is how we found out about her being an artist. We then went to one of her openings during the First Fridays Art Walks that happen the first Friday of the month during the summer and are held downtown. Galleries, shops, restaurants etc. host local artists and their works so people can just walk around town and check everything out. The picture is kind of blurry but it is the best I could get without a flash (due to the reflection it creates) inside. You can check other works that have sold at www.mollyholland.com.