Testing

Finally got out to do an overnighter prepping for the Coconino 250. Over all it was a successful trip and found a few bugs to work out.

Whew!

Finally smarter. Wrapped up the MBA in 19 months and managed to carry a 4.0 to the finish line. What has suffered is training miles which should make the post-MBA celebration ride more interesting.

Celebration ride will be the Coconino 250 starting on October 7th. Better get off my butt and start training…

Was hoping for Wilson River Trail…

and all I got was this stupid sign.

Personally I am glad they told me it was a rapid landslide area as I was thinking it was a normal rate landslide area.

Actually there was 6 inches of the slimiest snow even down at the Footbridge trailhead so I just turned around and headed back to Portland. Worked on my paper for the week and headed here for the second day in a row –

Had a great IPA and a tasty dry-hopped red.

Later…

Not warm, but warmer

Sorry, crappy cell phone pic. Had to sneak in a quick ride last night before spending ALL day tomorrow at a conference. Can’t believe I will be sitting in a class while the Super Bowl is going. Who do you think planned it that way?

I still think Phoenix did some great work and planning to get trails so close to downtown. Will be out riding Black Canyon on Wednesday after the conference is over.

Later…

Phoenix in 15

It will be great to get off the trainer and get some miles in/continuing education hours. I have a feeling that the amount of continuing education hours will depend on the weather.

Bikepacking test – melting snow

My break from paper writing this morning was melting snow with my cobalt alcohol stove. Temperature was 24 degrees. Decided to try one ounce of fuel.

One ounce ended up getting a bit over half a pot full of water almost to a boil before the fuel ran out. Next time I will try 1.5 ounces.

Really looking forward to getting my Backcountry Broiler to try out. It will be nice to not have to pre-guess how much fuel to use in the stove.  Another plus is not having to worry about running out of fuel.

Cold and snow

Bit late, but Tuesday we got to wake up to 8 inches of snow.

Temps since then have not made it back to the forties during the day with a couple of below 0 nights – one down to -12F.

More snow on Thursday night and Saturday. This may be the pattern for this winter. If so, it is looking like the Paddy Wagon will be inside on the trainer.

Thule Box Surgery

After about 90,000 miles the Thule box finally needed some help. I now know why you occasionally see these things in pieces beside the road. Mine was cracked around all four mounting plates and if I had given it a couple more months you would have seen it in pieces beside the road.

After taking it off and thinking a bit, I decided to weld together a rectangular support for the bottom that the box will bolt to in twelve spots. I will also make bigger plates for the inside and use the stock mounting hardware so that I can swap it between vehicles.

I know – I should be working on this week’s paper…

Snow in them thar hills

Took a spin up Phils to Helipad and then back down Storm King and COD. The snow was pretty darn consistent above 4600 feet.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.

My butt is cold along with my feet and I am coated with mud so off to the shower.

Looks like Waldo will have to wait until next year.

WTF?

The other thing to do when in a funk is get a new (or different) frame to build up.

Mine showed up today…

I bought one of the prototype Van Dessel Whiskey Tango Foxtrot frames and am building it up as a monstercrosser. Finally getting to run those Jones XR 1.8 29er tires that I got for another monstercrosser and then they did not clear the fork.

The frame even came with its own bell. I think I will leave it.

Should be fun…back to homework.