Still recovering from the weekend

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

Pines to the Mines cometh

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

Arizona is not all cactus and infernal heat

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

Vacation post 2-Montana

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

Vacation post 1-Idaho

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

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

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.