Sunday, February 13, 2011

Further Defining Adventure.

Adventure: 2. Huh. I wonder if all the trails are this muddy?

Friday was a (mostly) road ride... why not make Sunday a (mostly) mountain ride?

I'll tell you why. Mud. And snow.

So my plan for the day was to see how far out my usual Skunk/Walnut Canyon/Arizona/Loop Trail route I could go before I was chased back to tarmac by the mud. The answer was not far, as I braved some wet sections and a mostly dry trail into Skunk Canyon, where it promptly turned into a cold soupy mess, buried in spots with snow. Durnit. After trying a couple other options which ended in similar situations, I decided to cut across town straight to the base of Mt. Elden, and ride up Lower Oldham to the Forces of Nature trail, and head east.

Don't let the snow fool you... I was wearing shorts for this ride.

This time, the best bike for this ride. Have you hugged your mountain bike today?


Now, I'm sore, I'm tired, and quite happy with the ride. I'm glad the mud and the snow covering the trails on the west side of town sent me to the relatively dry trails north and east of town, as I've never hit the Forces of Nature trail with relatively fresh legs. It was a blast, and one I'll be adding to the growing list of trails I'd like to ride on more often.

So many trails, so little time.

Mileage: 36

Friday, February 11, 2011

Define: Adventure.

Adventure: Taking inappropriate equipment to out of the way places.

So, I woke up with a dull ache behind my right eye today, which is the herald of a migraine. Getting outside and doing something physical usually keeps the migraine monster at bay, so I packed up STeve and took off on what I had loosely planned on being a road ride "out 89 a ways."

I have a problem with plans.

About the time I was riding through the neighborhood where I grew up (Which is not exactly close to Highway 89) I detoured off the pavement onto a trail around Cave Hill, and followed that for about 3 miles, then some fire roads until I got back on 89 several miles later.

Flood control measures to try to manage runoff from the Schultz Fire burn area on the Peaks. What's hard to tell from the picture is that the channel is coated in ash from the fire that has been washed downstream.

Well... STeve is technically a crossbike. Tame singletrack is well within his capabilities.

But I brought the wrong bike for soft cinders.

By the time I got home, I still had that dull ache behind my right eye, but it had faded out and back in, having been forgotten for the majority of the ride. It will be gone soon. Add to that that, for my first long ride of the year, I feel pretty good about it. I'm not sore, my arms and back didn't hurt at any point, I kept good speed on most of the hills I encountered, and my legs have that happy post-ride twitchy thing going on.

Good stuff.

Mileage: 52.8

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Bike Vision

We're getting back into the normal Flagstaff weather trend that we all have a love-hate relationship with. You know, when it's 45 or more degrees outside, light breeze, sunny one day, then below freezing and windy the next day.

I've been trying to make the best of the warm days when they come, but what I've been lacking is a long ride. The type of ride that makes me feel good, like all my problems are so much easier because I just spent the last 8 hours kicking my own butt on a bike. Mountain or road, at this point it doesn't matter, I just need to get out and lose a day to spinning the cranks on a bike.

Anyways.

One of the things I love about riding my bikes everywhere is the things I see. Arguably, you see the same things from a car, but everything seems so much closer and real on a bike, and I feel like I see more, verses a car. It's also so much easier to stop and take in a scene, maybe pull out the camera and take a picture, without being in someone's way.

Food by bike: grocery store run from a couple weeks ago. Go go Surlys!

Define Irony. (Yes, it was on and grilling.)

I saw the last one at the store today, and had to share. Personally, I think it's awesome and ingenious, and I can't say anything bad about it.

Ride on, and see you some stuff.

Mileage: 6