Ripper and I'm off

That's a wrap, a quick 10 miles and we are off for our next adventure, plan is to rent a Canondale Bad Habit, not my first choice of bike but the shop is just down the street and offer a fair price. I guess I will get another shot at 27.5+ let's see how it goes.

San Tan Gimme

The big Eclipse day has come and gone, never watched most of it and didn't care to be honest. Landon went off to school at 2:45 and I headed for San Tan for a speedy safe ride. It was nothing spectacular but decent miles on the bike, just a few more days and UTAH!!!!!

SOMO push

On saturday I really did not feel like riding, the night before I had the ambition despite not much excitement, I knew I had to be home by 7:30 and when my alarm went off at 4:50am it was a hard struggle to wake up to the alarm and so forth. Somehow I found myself heading for the door tired as crap but hoping I could keep it together. As I was driving I really debated going back home, as I began to ride the same occurred. My body and legs just felt like crap, they wanted to be doing something else obviously. But after 10 minutes went by, then 20 and the rest was history. Lots of people out there, lots of groups, the weather was slightly cooler this week, only hitting just over 100F and looking oh so forward to winter!

Speedy Weedy

Never quite know how I will feel when I hit the trail, happily this one felt mighty good, it was hot but I was charged up for whatever reason and really enjoyed charging around Hawes. Saddle trail is wearing in nicely, soon it will be a double diamond :)

Usery with company

Me and Ryan headed out Wednesday night for some Usery action. We headed speedily into the night and began the climb up Pass Mountain. After beating him up a little we turned around and I continued the tour into Usery as we got onto the easier trails. It was nice to have company and spin so easily around the trails. For awhile I noticed how quiet it was as we were charging thru the night. It was great.

Gila Monster!!!!!

Since finding out they are pretty relaxed about night riding over at Usery I decided I could use some changeup, it turns out it not much more exciting there in the dark but it does just fine. Started off with another rider, good to know other people be out there as usual. I was looking for an hour of trail or 10ish miles. All was smooth until I ran into a cholla field, thought I got away clean until I felt that feeling grappled onto my leg in sharpness. Pretty good size chunk dug in, grabbed a few rocks and off it went, hurt like hell with only minor punctures. I was really surprised how as I began pedaling it felt like it was still stuck in there for a good 10 minutes, hate those stupid things. Onwards and onto the end of the night when I saw something flop on the Moon Rock trail and I caught glimpse of a Gila Monster. I had an advantage with my headlamp and got two good shots as he shot off into the night. Now my 2nd sighting and pretty stoked on that. Finished the ride complete and satisfied.

Cranking the usual suspect

Monday was back to business, and evening ride, the usual stuff around Hawe's feeling more comfortable out there in the dark for some reason, slightly cooler and remembered that it will cool ever so slowly in the months to come, but it really doesn't get good in my opinion til December.

Road the Hawes in sketch

Really looking to breathe new life into the trail rides, I have been finding myself desperately seeking a trip to Sedona or Flagstaff. With that option being unrealistic, I had to mix up my normal stuff in the dark. The skies were very active as I rolled into hates for a loop around the Mountain. With lots of lightening on both sides of me I knew a bailout would be an option by hitching a ride off the main rd. It was all so familiar on the way up to Wild Horse, then it got new and exciting. Done it before maybe 5 times but thats a big difference compared to 100s of times. As I crossed the Usery Pass Road I realized I had lighting still nearby but I think I was safe to continue onto the Maricopa Trail. I was getting closer to the easiest part of the ride and had to get thru some sand and a climb before I would reach comfort. Lots of spiders littered around, western desert tarantula's, maybe spotted 5 of them this ride. A slow monsoon beaten ride down Pass Mountain Trail and into the comfy Usery trails and 4 miles of pavement to the car for a fun 20 mile loop! Very much enjoyed this one. Utah next week, plan is for a 4day backpack and a few bike rides if all goes well, look forward to sharing :) and getting back home safely.

Before the Storm

Monsoons have been moving around the valley and while things were looking good for me but some stuff in the distance I went into Usery in the dark with not much activity under the sky. About 35 minutes in I could see some cloud lightning and some dust coming my way, I quickly made my way to the car and reached it just in time. I drove home in a pretty big dust storm, pretty cool stuff.

Night Brothers

So I got my neighbor Ryan to go on another ride with me even after the Gold Canyon fiasco. I assured him this would be a mellow and fun one, luckily I held up my end of the deal. We were on with the lights and hit the trail at 8pm, we were flowing good and he was keeping right up. I linked up a good set of trails and he was enjoying it and I was relived when he said so. He was on my tail most the way and then slowed down a bit but he's will be passing me soon I'm sure LOL

No light under moon light

This one started out with a bang, feeling very strong for some reason, something I have been awaiting for the last few months, yeah the trail was easy but I felt good inside. Spun my way thru desert Classic for a lazy but fast ride, cranked hard as a guy I passed decided to come at me, never had anyone do that, so I pedaled all my stregth and put some distance on him steadily, burned my lungs pretty good and I forgot what that feels like but liked it. Easy breezy from there, this crazy orange moon rose from the east it was a sight to behold. Darkness grew and I wanted to see how long I could go without a light. Turns out I went the rest of the ride into complete darkness, the moon was full and was enough to get over the trail safely, it was a play on the sense and I loved it!

Saturday Breather

Back out on Saturday evening I found myself happily pedaling in a bit of light before having to turn on the headlamp. The days are shortening by the week, and I always somewhat dislike that but that comes with cooler temperatures so bring it on! I felt slightly better this ride mentally but still replaying the traumatic events from Monday, I think mostly since I have been spending so much time with my kiddo and taking care of him when I am on the bike it's my only time away from him so he's on my mind. He has been a real trooper thru the week and better by the day. It was a usual ride at Hawes, good to be out and good to be healthy.

Heavy Week

Well...... on Monday I and my son were at a play place, an older boy fell on his arm and I saw my son get up with tears and holding his wrist, I could see immediately by the bend in his wrist his Radius and Ulnar were broken. My heart dropped and I turned into emergency mode, I ran him to the car and to the nearest hospital in a frantic as I helped him keep calm along the way, I was relieved to get to the hospital. After he was admitted I had no idea what we were in for, I have never broken a bone or been near much anyone who has. My son appeared to not be in massive amounts of pain as the hours ticked by, I hate hospitals, I think they're poorly run, but beside the point, after 3 hours they finally put him into drowsy mode and attempted to reset the bone, they failed miserably twice and my son awoke both times letting out the loudest scream I have heard in my entire life, I can't imagine the magnitude of pain they inflicted on him. After 6 hours and still nowhere we went home with a splint and a number to call the orthopedic surgeon the next day. It was a bad night for us but more for him, he barely slept and was in ALOT of pain understandably. Luckily we got an apt the next day on wednesday, the dr said he should be fine without surgery, that his arm may always be slightly bent but completely 100% functional. Our goal was to void surgery so mission accomplished, as long as his bones don't change much in their degree it should mean only a cast for 4-6 weeks. By day 5 of the ordeal he was able to sleep thru the night again without the need for my comfort in his bed. Now he is jumping about as he normally does and we are on the way to recovery. I really didn't picture riding this week but when I knew he could sleep thru the night I wanted to wiggle a night ride out somewhere to relieve some steam. So Friday night I went to San Tan, it was a quiet evening as usual and quite pretty, my mind was very very busy, I found it so distracting that after and hour I was back to the car 30 minutes early.

South Mountain Rainbow

So I done slapped the big gear on the back of the superfly and got my butt over to South Mountain for a change in scenery. I got there by 5:30am and the palce was half full, never seen anything like that, also was greeted with a sprinkle and a rainbow. Quickly moved past hikers and then the trail got much more quiet and few users. Climbing up was good, as I cannot conquer Mormons biggest climbs on one gear I can pretty much handle all the rest. It was a solid ride to the top and was looking forward to the way down with plenty of time. Bike and ride enjoyed the spin down National, it was a good time and end to a good week of riding.

Feelin it

Finally starting to feel better out there on the trail, this one had fitness and attitude going more towards the right direction. The lines keep changing as the storms keep moving the dirt around, loving the clouds in the valley. Cleaned the biike up real good and rid of all the creaks, rolls like buttah now.