Traveling Again

Well, H and I hit the road last week. One night and one day in Yosemite. No heat in the camper that night...had a propane leak and it was too late (1am when we pulled in) to mess with. Did a day hike in the snow. There wasn't anything open yet in Yosemite to rent XC skis or snowshoes, so hike it was. Next, we went to Bakersfield to stop at H's parent's place. Rode with her Dad the next day and picked up her snow shoes too. Then hit the road for Sedona.

Lucked out pretty well with Sedona. TrailDoc from MTBR let us park in front of his house...he was even up at 1 am when we rolled into town. He is 3 months post ACL recontruction, so wasn't riding much with us the next day. And, as it turns out, I happened to ride with TrailDoc and his wife in Moab 5 or so years ago, but didn't realize the connection until we had talked a bit in Sedona. His wife was 52 at the time I rode with them in Moab and I was walking stuff she was riding/rolling. Small, small world...at least the MTB world :)

Since he wasn't riding hard (not supposed to ride at all at this point in the recovery), his neighbor Wes took me around the trails and made me feel like a) I wasn't in shape and b) I didn't have a whole lot of skill either. He was riding a much heavier Turner 6 pack and pedaled away from me on every climb. Regardless of my comparitive ineptitude on the bike, Wes was a super nice guy and it was good to ride with a friendly local (who also seemed to know everyone we came across on the trail).

The next day, I took H on the trail. She did really, really well. Rode lots of stuff. We got some good photos too....





























We rode again the next day, this time a shorter ride out of West Sedona. I think H burned the candle at both ends the day before as she was really feeling it. After the ride, a little lunch, then to PV to visit my mom. Then Phoenix once again. I rode Desert Classic at South Mountain Christmas Eve...and am left wondering why it is that even the easy XC trails at south mountain always make me feel out of shape. Tomorrow, I'll probably do Morman and National at South Mountain. Then, I may hit the road to do a couple of rides while enroute to meet back up with H in Austin.

It is good to have more than one bike...

So, Friday I did the standard night ride on the trails and then ride to the bar....have a few beers and then rode home. On the Ventana. Sunday morning, H picked up her new roadbike, so we went for a road ride.

Later today, I got in a SS ride on the formerly fully rigid SS 29er. I put a Reba Race 29er fork on the front of it Friday. SO much better! Had a good time running around the trails at Fort Ord, trying to beat the sunset. 3 different rides...3 different bikes...all good.

Now, can I get past the feeling that I am neglecting the Ventana (my true bike love) and ride the SS more frequently on the trail? Hmmmm. We shall see...though I suspect having to change pedals from commuter pedals to clipless every time I want to hit the trails with the SS will help ensure the Ventana and I maintain a good relationship....but it is always good to throw in some variety!

Update

Where to begin. Well, I rode National Trail at South Mountain in Phoenix on Thanksgiving day again this year. Only this time I didn't crack any ribs! Pic:


The day after, I rode in Sedona. Good place to ride. I was kicking myself for having never stopped there to ride on my many trips there. My mom only lives an hour away too. Actually, I did try riding there once...and it wasn't very fun, but I had limited info at the time.

Haivng now found the good information, which wasn't that hard to find at all, I'd say the riding is almost on par with Moab. Pictures kind of suck becasue I forgot the memory card for the camera so had to do the cell phone pics.


Scenery is almost on par with Moab as well.




























However, the atmosphere in town absolutely BLOWS. Bunch of snobs. The trails were busy...day after Thanksgiving and all. Ran into a few folks from the bay area and a some from San Diego too, so at least as far as I could tell, the attitude from town doesn't invade the trails.