Winter is Back!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.