HOGS!!!!

Woke up at 6:15 the first time, then realized that Tex wasn't even up for work yet. The sun makes me think I've slept in, but I haven't. I finally wake up around 7:15 and eat some granola and have some dank coffee thanks to Tex's stove-top espresso maker. We hit up MTBH by 8:30 for the Wed Group Ride. Only Johnny and Julia show up, and along w/ Lily, Rama, and I, we rocked out to some trails off the map (of course) near the shop. We chilled out at a couple of sick viewpoints and rode some really fun, flowy trails at a much more leisurely pace than usual. We cruised back to shop after emerging near the high school. Lily and I got some lunch at another vegetarian place- D'lish. It was good and the tempeh pineapple jerk burger, salad, and smoothie put me in the happy place!! We drove down Chavez Creek road and found the local swimming hole- near Buddah Beach. A rope swing greeted us and Lily guinea-d it. She hit bottom, so I changed trajectories and did a sweet inverted swing, except I slapped my nuts on the water when I landed and had to wait out the horrid pains that go w/ a good ball schwap. We got the therma-rests out of the van and took a power nap on the some rock slabs briefly before heading back to MTBH to meet up w/ Tex at ~3. I was under the impression that we were going to go to Beaver Flats to check out their jump park, but instead we suited up to do another pedal. We shuttled w/ Mark (who I rode w/ before during my first tour of duty in Sedona) over to the Broken Arrow zone (but parked at Pine-?) and met up w/ Dennis (long haired Asian). We rode up some newish climb and onto the Hog Trails. They were more techy than I remembered and Lily had a hell of a time on some sections (and rightfully so!!). We hit up Sub Rock and impressed some tourists with some steep slickrock antics. I even manned up and rode a steep line w/ some ledges in the fast runout. Lily got some videos and I took some pics. Then we climbed up higher and did High On The Hog which got even techier. There were a ton of cool moves that involved techy pedaling and utter commitment. Steep rocky DH sections inevitably had a steep, just as techy climb immediately afterwards. These trails are a clinic in tech. We finished on Szechwan Chicken which had a sweet swooping section up top, then it turned into some jumps and flow before spitting you out back where we parked. We rallied back to the top for another lap- the turnoff on the climb was just two rocks on the side of the trail and barely a hint of traffic on it. We finished up the ride and then back to MTBH. We went shopping and got some dank turkey and chicken brats, corn on the cob, and tasty beers. Kevin made a big salad and we feasted!! It was amazing- something about riding hard that makes food orgasmic. We hung out outside for a while, then bailed back to Tex's crib where Lily passed out on the floor after a massage, and I jumped in the shower before passing out around 10. What a day!!

Thunder Mtn to Chuck Wagon (Sedona)

Tuesday, May 18th

We rallied back into town, picking up a hitch hiker named Steve along the dirt road. We dropped him off at a coffee shop, and proceeded to Mountain Bike Heaven (MTBH). I got a new saddle (WTB Pure V) since my stock Specialized one was a taint torture device, and a new chain (that would be less than 10 rides in to the new bike folks!!). If only there were some Odi Rogue lock on grips I'd be really stoked. We rode from MTBH up to the Thunder Mountain trailhead, got a little mixed up (too many trails here!!), and eventually found Dry Creek Road. Thunder Mountain had a lot of steep techy uphill sections!! Good interval training!! We next hit up Lost Watch which dropped for a while through tight turns between oak trees and into some washes. This is a decidedly Sedona trait- riding through what most people would call a dried up creek bed- they call them washes. Your vision never wanders far on these sections- negotiating boulders and sand. Lots of power and finesse- requiring the complete package. We kept following trails and ended up on a small ridge top- way up high and past the pimples of land that were visible from the saddle that we dropped over initially. Then onto a rocky butte southwest of the ridge. I started to get a little worried about light and how far out we were so I called Tex. I tried to explain to him where I was- a fun task in Sedona- by that one wash with that rocky outcropping. We realized that we might have ridden the trail backwards when we had to hike a bike up some stuff w/ tracks signifying the trail flowing in the opposite direction. Undeterred we continued along some discontinuous rock bands and finally got turned downhill. It definitely wasn't a long DH and were back in the wash before we knew it. We hit the dirt road instead of climbing trail back out and were back at MTBH with a little light to spare. We made some yummy wraps w/ veggies and sipped a cold beer on the back deck as the sun faded. Exhausted we sat in complete bliss. Tex showed up and offered up his place. We followed him through "uptown" and onto 929 Circle street. We were delightfully surprised to see that he lived in a PHAT crib w/ a SICK view!! He and a girl got the place together but it didn't work out between them and she lives in CA, so he has the place for 800$/mo and she only shows up one weekend a month. We crashed in the back bedroom on a huge mat he supposedly slept on for months before getting a bed. When we woke up the next morning the views were STUNNING!! A huge rock outcropping w/ benches and jagged peaks and towers. Only some rooftops lower down among the trees hint at the settling of the land. I love the twists and turns of roadtrips!!

Sedona Day 1!!

The first morning we rolled over to the shop just in time to catch George opening up. Luckily we waited around for a few minutes because Rama showed up in his drop top Miata w/ Max living a dog's dream in the passenger seat. He remembered me and we shot the shit as he scurried around the shop. We had to buy a couple Slime tubes each to resist all the cactus spines. We rode from the shop and hit Airport to Bandit to Ridge Trail, then over to Buddah Beach, across the Red Rock Crossing, along Oak Creek and then climbed the switchbacks up to the slickrock bench at the base of the massive rock formation. We rode along it for a while, then dropped across the highway and onto Bell Rock Trail. We pedaled to the Bike and Bean and met up w/ Tex (Jeff Harris- Kevin's landscaping boss). Chewy was working and we caught up for a minute and exchanged numbers. We ate some lunch at Desert Flour (yummy chicken sandwich and salad) and took off up to ride Slim Shady. We originally were going to ride Highline, but it required climbing the switchbacks again. Slim was super fun and swoopy. We climbed back to Bike and Bean. We jumped in his truck and rallied over to MTBH and up to Skid Mark. The climbing was fun for a while, then we got onto some exposed slick rock benches and some seriously techy moves started appearing- riding onto steep off-camber rocks slabs, wallride climbs, etc. We stopped at the boulder below Tea Pot Rock and got safe before watching Tex style out Skid Mark. I scoped it, tried to commit, but after crawling across the slick rock I couldn't commit to the stair step transition into the steep sliding section w/ a "mandatory" hard R. It continued w/ a steep rock waterfall line and more steeps before spitting you out below. I chickened out on most of the whole line, but my new bike and the stock 2.3 inch single-ply tires weren't inspiring the most confidence!! I would have done it on the Sunday, but the climb was prohibitive of that idea. We rode some really fun stuff, then detoured off to check out the step-down to natural wall-ride move which I chickened on again (an emerging theme here). Wrong bike set-up. Need DH tires and plushness, not a glorified xc bike. Then we hit another trail which had a "short and long" crux section. I chickened on the short line- a drop to steep rock chunder, but rode the long line- another crawling move out some slickrock before doing a small drop, negotiating some steep rock terrain, then I accidentally aired a roller section, and had to immediately drop again- to flat this time- and "shut er down" since there was a small cliff below. Tex was pretty stoked an I was relieved to have ridden a section that I deemed slightly over my head (or my bikes head, or both). We rallied back to MTBH along a maze of trails that seemed longer than they should have been. Lily and I hit up a delicious vegetarian restaurant a few doors down from MTBH and threw down. Spring rolls, I got a falafel platter, some ginger lemonade, and a piece of chocolate ganache for dessert. She even brought us a sample of their hot chocolate which has coconut milk and honey as well as raw cacao. Off to 525, but this time across the street and down along the creek (thanks Kev!!) to crash for the night.

Vegas to AZ

Catch-up again........

Left Vegas on Friday May 14th. Went to Bootleg for some riding while Bowman finished up w/ work. Rode 3 laps- once down Armageddon to warm-up (w/ Snakeback all the way down to Reaper). It was actually flowy and I didn't have to dab or get off once. Then I tried Ginger. Still having a couple of spots that I can't "man up" on. One is a steep chute w/ multiple ledges, and the other is a steep, multi-tiered rock section w/ mega consequences. I'd need full body armor and another buddy that was talking shit to me to try those sections!! Finished the day off w/ Snakeback to Kevorkian and hit the 30' gap, then into the Love Channel (rock wash that swoops back and forth). Lily took a couple of runs and cleared more stuff w/o any carnage this time (she had a lot of bruises from not making a switchback corner). We jumped back in the van and zoomed across Hoover Dam. They're making a separate bridge through the area so you won't drive across the actual dam anymore, and traffic was a bit of an annoyance.

Once into AZ the traffic moved a bit better, and we charged along onto Hwy 40 towards Flagstaff. Near the town of Williams we made a turn north and drove some FSR's for a bit until we found Brian off to the L of the road past the normal parking area for the Paradise Forks. We hung out for a bit, then crashed in the back of the van. Woke up and headed out from the campsite to the climbing directly after some granola and coffee. You had to hike through a couple of dried up waterfalls and along the top of the cliff band. A canyon w/ basalt columns/cracks emerged from within the ground and split in two different directions up the valley. We rappelled in off a tree and began "warming up" on 5.10+ cracks- Torpedo, Retard's Recess, and another one that Lily scraped her way up (you had to climb out) that had a ledge half way up. I fell at the very top of that one- trying to make a move on face holds instead of staying in the crack- that's what I get. I made a prayer of a send on RR- a bulge at the top that required some flaring hands- Brian grunted his way through it so I knew I was in for some business. Sandra cruised all of them w/ grace, style, and barely a huff or puff. Then we moved over to the Prow area. Brian set me up so I could solo climb w/ his Mini Traxion device. You just had to use that and some "shock cord" that you looped through the device and put around your neck. The only caveat was that you couldn't lower yourself down- at all. I tested it out on the Prow-11a. There was some super solid crack climbing down low, then it turned into "ring locks" where you couldn't slide your hands in the crack, but it was too small to use fingers. You had to counter-oppose thumb and ring/middle fingers- making an A-OK sort of sign. It felt really insecure and I peeled off a couple of times. The feet were really small and required smearing along the lip of the crack- which was super polished. It was really strenuous and I was grunting, sweating, and cursing my way up it- but I made it!! Then as Brian was working his project I moved the rope over and did Jolly Roger (5.10). It was really cool- had some roof moves on big face holds, some pure hand jams, some stemming, and topped out on broken blocks. I was pretty happy to end the day on a send. Lily split out early after her rappel meltdown and working over on the one climb she got on. She graciously made a huge veggie saute, pasta, and red sauce and greeted us w/ a big salad too. We partied down for a while, then the girls crashed and Brian and I stumbled around in the dark for a while before returning to camp and crashing.

The next morning (Sun. May 16th) I felt like someone ran me over. Full body edition. Getting into all those awkward, contorted positions took its toll on my weak, unconditioned body. Everything hurt. I limped around getting breakfast, slugging down coffee as fast as I could. We made our way back to the first zone again, and Brian was already sussing out the moves on Paradise Lost (5.12a) when we finally staggered up. Lily and I sat on the other side of the canyon in a daze for a while. I was going to get some shots of Brian on rappel but he was too amped to send and charged up it before I could set up. He sent and we moved back over to the Prow area. I set Jolly Roger back up and he set up next to Mayflower. Lily and I rapped in and I went up first. I struggled a lot more than the day before- probably b/c I was climbing at my limit for a warm-up. The bulge resisted me mightily, but I found the key foot and pulled through the crux before finally scraping myself over the blocky exit moves. Lily took a LONG time on the climb and finally resorted to jugging her way up the rope. She was rightfully frustrated and gave back up on climbing at the Forks. I lowered myself back in to the climb next to it. It had a brutal roof boulder problem at the bottom that I wasn't prepared for. I struggled and had some laughable (later) moments since I couldn't lower myself down- dangling a few feet above the ground while a couple other parties sorted gear nearby and looked back occasionally. Finally I pulled through it and the climbing relented back to a reasonable level. We called it a day after Brian sent his project (I got some video on Lily's camera b/c mine died). We said our goodbyes and packed up the van- heading to Sedona next. We cruised to the 89a exit off of 17 and wound our way down Oak Creek Canyon- the red and white spires and rock bands unfolding before us like the pages of a familiar book. We passed Red Rock Slide State Park and then onto the tourist mecca that is Sedona. They changed the roads up a bit and now have roond-a-boots (round-a-bouts in Canadian) that are more easily managed. We rolled up to Mountain Bike Heaven at around 6PM and ran into George who hurriedly sold us a one page map for 6$ and shooed us out the door. We went a few doors down and ran into Kevin who had a lady friend over (he got divorced and didn't have the now 10 year old daughter around). We had some Sangria and some laughs before jumping in the van and cruising out to FSR 525 where we found a spot to crash for the night. SEDONA!!!

VEGAS!! Chilling w/ Brian Bowman and Sandra

Vegas

Let's see here.....we drove from Bishop to LV through Pahrump. We randomly stopped to gape at Mt. Whitney (highest point in the lower 48) and I had to use the bathroom, so I stumbled into a museum that commemorated all of the movies filmed in the area. It was mind blowing. They had a car that had coins all over it w/ guns mounted all over it w/ spurs on the mirrors. Other random stuff.....kind of cool actually. We also pulled over at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, and it had some amazing land formations (would have passed it if we didn't have to pee!!). We drove in from 160 along Black Velvet Canyon and the front side of the majestic mountain range that is Red Rock Canyon. It is 4-5 IMMENSE mountains w/ a ton of facets and walls on each mountain. We drove the loop rode and climbed at the Magic Bus (classic 5.8) as the sun was dropping. We woke Brian up (at ~9:00 PM) and shot the shit for a while (it was his first day back to work the next day after a month off) before he went back to bed. We also met Sandra, his Chilean GF. She's super nice and looks like a gymnast (small little thing that looks like she could pick you up over her head).

Next day went to the Black Corridor in the second pullout. Warmed up on a 10b w/ a cruxy little boulder problem (two crimps to a toss to a jug), then a couple more 10's on the top wall. Then we climbed a 9 on the lower wall, then I climbed another 10 on lead before finally falling on a top-rope 10b on the steeper side of the canyon. We finished the day back at the Magic Bus for some sunset action.

Tues. May 4th

Went to Bootleg Canyon today. Last time I was there I left at ~9AM for the hospital w/ two gashes around my eye from eating it into a rock. This time I was back on the Iron Horse Sunday. I studied the map and decided I wasn't going to warm-up on Ginger since it was the only triple black diamond rated trail there. Well guess what? I ended up on it. It was STEEP w/ loose rocks ON the rock slabs w/ mandatory corners on loose dust/sand/rock. Oh and there was never a continuous line. There was always something that just didn't seem right about "the line." Maybe something to hook a pedal on, or a gnarly G-out, or it appeared that you would pick up too much speed on a steep section and come into the next section w/ WAY too much speed. I walked more on that trail than probably any other trail I've ridden in the past few years!! I felt like a total GAPER!! Lily and I took turns shuttling each other and she picked off some of the blue squares and single black diamonds (w/ one wreck in a rocky swithback). I checked out Snakeback to Kevorkian (double black- had to dab/walk one or two sections), then checked out but didn't ride the Poop Chute (WAY steep w/ jagged rock and pedal catching zones). The Love Channel was a cool small canyon that you could swoop through, riding up on the walls, w/ one steep move to a hard G-out that I talked myself into riding. I also hit the 30' gap a couple times (w/ a loud creak out of the bike every time). Last lap I rode Armageddon, then only trail I on-sight cleaned. It had some cool moves- a turn w/ a rock steepie immediately, a cool rock garden, and unfortunately some chunder that claimed my first flat on the DH bike since I can remember. At the bottom I stuck the road gap a couple of times for the camera. Besides coming out way down the road from the van a couple of times this place was a fun, but humbling encounter. I'd have to get some more armor and get more aggro before sending it all here!!

Wed. May 5th

Climbed Frogland (5.8- 6 pitches- ~800'). Rallied the Toyota Sienna back on some GNARLY dirt road w/ lots of rocks and some steep ups and downs- a lot gnarlier than I remembered it. Grabbed way too much stuff, and waddled off into the desert. We hiked and stashed the packs after ~25 min. I harnessed up and hiked the steep part up to the base of the climb w/ all the gear clanging around w/ each movement. There was a party on the first pitch and they looked kind of slow. We started up the climb and caught them at the second pitch. I goofed up and stopped at a rappel station where I should have kept climbing another ~50' to another small blocky stance. Lily had a little trouble w/ her huge pack on and some solid climbing on exposed moves, but she worked through it. I ran the next two pitches together and had a little mini-epic trying to finagle gear for a belay (forgot my cordolette). It had a sweet move where you had to chimney through this big boulder chockstone that is wedged up in this slot. You get on top of it and set up another belay (super wild belay stance w/ a CRAZY view of the mountains and Vegas). Lily had her second mini-epic while trying to chimney through w/ the pack on. She got stuck a couple of times and I tried to talk her through it. Finally she just unbuckled the pack, got an arm out and put it in front of her while grunting and squirming her way up the last 10 feet. She threw down the pack in disgust and had a few choice words to say to it (she was fired up!!). She mentioned "surreal" a few times while describing the views and the stance that we were now chilling at. I finished up the last pitch on some RUNOUT slab climbing. I almost went the wrong way a couple times because there were a bunch of ways that you could go. It topped out and I set up a belay near some blocky terrain. She finished out the last pitch and we spent the next ~40 min steeply descending a gully w/ lots of sharp, pointy vegetation. Thankfully we didn't have to hike back to the base for our packs!! We wandered out amongst the yellow, red, blue, white, and purple flowers that turned the harsh environment into an "as far as the eyes could see" blanket of color. We finished off the night w/ some turkey burgers, a cold beer, and THE COUCH!! YEEEEEES!!

Thurs. May 6th

Went climbing at the Black Corridor and Sweet Pain Wall. Stuck a 10a, b, and c on lead, then got goofy on a 5.9+ TR and had to take a fall. Undeterred, I went and led another 5.9 on the lower wall, before heading over to Sweet Pain. There was the Nova Scotia group (Sam, and Jeff from Vancouver) working on Sweet Pain. I got geared up and BARELY made it up Glitter Gulch (11a). First good pump of the trip!! There was a horn at the lip of the last bulge that I wrapped my whole hand around (thankfully because I couldn't hold onto anything other than a horn!!). Lily got to the first bolt but didn't get the love from the steeps. Next I went next door and TR'd an 11b that a girl had just lead w/ one hang. I made it but had to utilize the "saddle up" rest where you literally straddle a large feature. It was desperate and there was no way that I could have led it!! We bailed and got Brian off the couch for an evening lap on the Cottonwood Trails (rode from Black Velvet across the street, then DH back to the parking lot, then Little Viagra across the street- a never ending ribbon of flowy trail at the base of the Red Rocks Range. A short climb led us back to the car. What a great day!!!

Fri- May 7th- rest day in preparation for Epinephrine!!

Sat. May 8th

Woke up at 5:15 to get breakfast going. Today was going to be a BIG day.......finishing some business left over from 1997 when Rondo, Bowman, and I tried Epinephrine. We were in Bowman's 4-runner at 6AM and bouncing down Black Velvet's approach road before we knew it. The hike in was fast (trying to keep up w/ Brian). When we got to the base we were dismayed to find a guide and client in front of us (still on the first pitch) and then a very amped group behind us. The group behind us ended up passing us (the leader passed us while Brian was on lead)- they linked a few pitches together that we didn't. The guide group hung us up for a little while and Brian comically climbed RIGHT behind the second, occasionally offering up advice of where to go, or which direction to point. After the second pitch we started hauling the two mini haulbags that we were toting. Brian would lead w/ two ropes, then once at the belay he would have me clip the haulbags on a butterfly knot. When that rope came taught to me I would start climbing (as would Lily). It worked well, and we were in the chimneys before I knew it. The 3 chimney pitches were a mix of funky, strenuous, and tricky. I had to employ chicken-wings, fist jams, foot jams, and lots of "shimmying." Both feet on one wall; one foot on each- lots of weird body positions. Then we were on top of the Black Tower. From there 6 pitches of beautiful climbing led to the top of Black Velvet Canyon Buttress. We started climbing w/ the packs again. At the "top" there was still a 10 minute hike up to the true summit, where we filled out the summit log and reflected on the magical day that had just unfolded. From there, we could look DOWN on the Frogland summit (a good 1000' below). There was one sketchy spot of scrambling that Brain roped us up for. It was a "sidewalk" that was ~1' wide and had over 1500' of exposure. You had to make a few high step moves on less that perfect feet and although Brian only put in one cam, it made or a "piece of mind." We both moved through it w/o any problems- just between our ears!! We hiked along the ride for a while, seemingly on 3 separated summits. Then it got turned downward and we steeply scrambled for a good 90 minutes straight. After ~1 hr we were at the descent for Frogland. By then we were in cruise control and went through the motions of down climbing and scrambling, the ground slowly getting closer. The cars still looked a LONG ways away!! Eventually we found ourselves back at the car and giving out some serious high fives!! We made some pesto pasta, asparagus, corn on the cob, and garlic bread for a worthy feast!! What a day!!!!

Sunday, May 9th.

Official rest day after the full body soreness from Epinephrine. We hung around, made a phat breakfast, and watched the Cavs get dismantled by the Celtics to even their series at 2 apiece. We went to a camera shop in town and I scored a Tamron 18-200mm lens, so that my zoom is much more substantiated!! We went back to the house and caught Brian coming back from the "secret 13's" crag where he got 2 5.13 climbs w/ one hang each. We mowed down some left-over turkey burgers and collapse BACK into the couch!! Rest days rule!!

Monday, May 10th

Rallied out to Pine Creek around 12:30 for a early afternoon ascent of Olive Oil (700' 5.7). The hike took a little longer than I remembered and was very close to the surreal Crimson Crysalis which I had done previously w/ Bowman and Andy (party of 3 epic story for another time). The first pitch (a slabby "rib") was a bit runout, then a quick crux over a bulge and onto the "sandy alcove" where I skipped the first belay point in order to make it to the semi-hanging belay of pitch 2. The second pitch ran up a corner for a while then to a perch off to the R where we could stretch out a little more. Pitch 3 traversed up and R before terminating at the base of the 190' varnished black corner that summits the Rose Tower. I ran the rope out and set up a belay just below the finishing ledge. Lily brought up the last of the gear, I belayed her to the last ledge, then we both untied and scrambled another few hundred feet to the top. There weren't any cairns so we loped along the ridge for a second before plunging ourselves down yet another STEEP hike off. It only took ~30 min to get off a 700' climb!! Before I knew it we were back at the base, retrieving my pack from under a big boulder. The wind picked up pretty good and some gnarly black clouds rolled over the Red Rocks Range as we finished out the hike in near darkness. Back to the car at ~8:15. We stopped by the grocery and made some chicken burritos and corn on the cob before settling into the couch for the end of Silence of the Lambs.

Sun. May 1st, 2010- Buttermilks and Lower Rock Creek DH

Woke up around 8:30- sun blazing and the wind gently rocking the van back and forth. We made coffee, ate some granola, then had a dip in the best pool there. My hip is absolutely killing me. I did a TON of accupressure and myofascial release on myself. We had another gentleman named Joe join us w/ his dog Maggie. He was remembering a friend of his that had passed a year before. He told us a few stories and had some interesting body language w/ clenched fists and contorted hand posturing. I didn't feel intimidated by his presence, but you could tell he'd make a LOT of people uncomfortable. We rallied back to Lower Rock Creek for another round of DH. Lily rallied the first lap and got to ride the bottom section (the best part in my opinion). I surprisingly feel good and charge the run at nearly full force. The trail takes ~45 min at full clip. We pack back up and drove into Bishop. We hit up a coffee shop for a quick turbo boost and then wander around town (Wilson's Sports). Then we rallied the van out to the Buttermilk's. Let's just say that the van in its currently loaded down state isn't a gnarly dirt road destroyer. I had to gingerly drive it around rocks and holes. I would have loved to have a truck at that point!! I thought we were going for a joyride since the road we were driving down was stunning visually, but not panning out for the Buttermilk Boulder search. Then we rounded a small mountain and BOOM there they were. We hiked around for a good few hours- mainly just gawking, but we did throw on the shoes and got on top of Green Wall and a couple others. My hip wouldn't let me get rowdy and I felt pretty worked in general. I need to stretch and do some yoga!! We watched the sun go behind the surrounding mountain range from on top of a cool scramble/climb that we did (I actually got nervous watching Lily free climb it from below, so I charged up it in my Chaco's). We scrambled down, then headed back into town and hit the Upper Crust for a huge pizza and yummy salad. We lucked out and got to watch most of the 4th quarter of the Cav's game 1 series w/ the Celtics!! We waddled out of the pizza joint and out to the hot springs camp. We got to soak for about 20 minutes before we got invaded by 10 young teenagers who I wanted to slap each and every one of. They were rude, stupid, and LOUD. We tried to block it out for a while but succumb to the wrath of the teenager. With all the bodywork I did on my hip it actually felt better and I was able to sleep soundly on it. California dirtbaggin it!!

April 30, 2010- Driving to Bishop/Hotsprings

Woke up to Delheimer getting ready for a day of skiing. Got moving since today was the day that we had chose to bail from Truckee. Luckily my transceiver turned up in Delheimer's toy bin in the basement, and we lugged all our stuff up his steep set of steps (his house is on a steep hillside). Lily has a little system for the packing that makes it pretty easy. We headed over to Nate Dawg's house to retrieve our bikes and got a pretty legit lock and cable at the hardware store. We changed our oil (the Sienna takes 5 quarts I found out), and had the unfortunate task of taking back the wrong oil filter once I had already changed the oil out. We got on the road and made our way to Lake Tahoe. We stopped at T's Burritos on the way through Incline Village and munched on some of the best burritos anywhere. We stopped along the drive around the Lake for some photo op's (crazy blue/green water and huge snow capped mountains in contrast w/ one another). We got onto 395 and took it along Bridgeport and into the Eastern Sierras. One amazing view after another for hours. A funny thing happened along the way. I called Brian Bowman on a whim and found out that we were nearby a kick ass downhill mountain bike trail- off Lower Rock Creek Rd. We stopped and I jumped on the Enduro and sped off down the trail. The first couple sections were fun and flowy and followed a creek bed w/ HUGE snow capped peaks off to the right and a rocky canyon w/ crazy fingers of rock on the other side. I was pretty much content to call it good at that point, but Lily spurred me on to ride the next section. The road peeled away immediately and climbed way up w/ no idea of where it goes in relation to the trail. "Oh well" I said as I ripped off down the trail. It wove through boulders near the creek and had lots of flowy sections w/ some sandy corners sprinkled in to keep you honest. I honestly started to panic when the trail turned upwards into the talus field above. I pictured myself hiking my bike out after dark because I foolishly thought I could milk some more vertical pleasure. But it quickly turned downhill again and I rode on with purposeful quickness. It got a little more tech-gnar at the bottom and had some slow rocky tech sections. I almost ate it a couple of times trying to clear stuff w/ my xc bike and clipless pedals. When I ran into a jogger going the same way I was pretty stoked to know I wasn't going to be spending the night spooning my bike!! I finally popped out onto LRC Rd. in the middle of a hairpin corner. I only had to wait 5ish minutes until Lily rounded the corner. She had been waiting down below but decided to make a couple of sweeps. We quickly returned her to the top and she rode the first two sections. She was pretty stoked on the trails (not SUPER gnarly and no BONKER climb). We rallied back into Bishop and did some shopping at Von's (the only grocery store in town was of course in a strip mall w/ K-mart). We then headed out to the Kenoi Hotsprings which Daron recommended. Sure enought- there was a stream that came down the mountain and filled numerous pools. We had to poke around a bit to find one w/o people in it (It was Fri night). We soaked in a couple of different pools- the first one was NOT hot- and finally found a nice temped pool. In a daze we stumbled back to the van and crashed nearby the only vegetation in the whole place- a tree that shaded us a bit from the wind/sun. A weird thing happened that night. My hip just absolutely KILLED ME every time I moved and especially if I rolled onto it. Hmmmmmm....maybe those couple of days of feverish skinning caught up with me?!! I'm definitely getting older!! Snore!!