Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats
- Thread starter pixychick
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Lounge chairs for iggs and .... I took a 15 minute sun nap yesterday. Success!
Today I rode down at Sweetwater and took our friends to show them some new trails. Awesome time! I have had both my forks serviced by the local suspension guru and they have been riding super. My siren fork was replaced by Fox a year ago and I never realized that they sent me an 80mm set up. I was able to get the spacer out and get it back to 100mm and it makes such a difference. Or maybe I just needed that nap yesterday.
Next pictured is the new door to the bike guest room. I aligned the bed so that any guest can look out the window ( which is also new) ( the famous 11 cut electrical wire window) and see San Maniego Ridge while in bed.
A cool pano shot of 3 walls in our kitchen.
I picked up this new hummingbird feeder that I thought was tacky looking but it was the only one that was ergonomically designed for birds to perch and drink. Many have the flowers at the wrong angle to the perch. To make a long story short. Mr broadbill was hogging all the feeders and bullying the smaller sized hummingbirds. So I rearranged them a bit to spread the food source and bingo. Little ones and the laddies are eating now. The new feeder looks kinda cool when the sun comes through. Happy critters!
I still look out at the mountains and can not quite believe that I live here. San Maniego sits right behind my house and Mt Lemon behind that. Coming from the east, these type of mountains and open vistas are not to be had, so it still seems special. Just to compare, Mt Lemon is over 9000 ft elevation. San Maniego sits at 7690, our house at 3020. Mt Washington in NH is 6288 and the nearest town at 3000. You can do the math. These are not only big mountains in AZ, but big mountains in general. ....An amazing place for sure.
Lounge chairs for iggs and .... I took a 15 minute sun nap yesterday. Success!
Today I rode down at Sweetwater and took our friends to show them some new trails. Awesome time! I have had both my forks serviced by the local suspension guru and they have been riding super. My siren fork was replaced by Fox a year ago and I never realized that they sent me an 80mm set up. I was able to get the spacer out and get it back to 100mm and it makes such a difference. Or maybe I just needed that nap yesterday.
Next pictured is the new door to the bike guest room. I aligned the bed so that any guest can look out the window ( which is also new) ( the famous 11 cut electrical wire window) and see San Maniego Ridge while in bed.
A cool pano shot of 3 walls in our kitchen.
I picked up this new hummingbird feeder that I thought was tacky looking but it was the only one that was ergonomically designed for birds to perch and drink. Many have the flowers at the wrong angle to the perch. To make a long story short. Mr broadbill was hogging all the feeders and bullying the smaller sized hummingbirds. So I rearranged them a bit to spread the food source and bingo. Little ones and the laddies are eating now. The new feeder looks kinda cool when the sun comes through. Happy critters!
I still look out at the mountains and can not quite believe that I live here. San Maniego sits right behind my house and Mt Lemon behind that. Coming from the east, these type of mountains and open vistas are not to be had, so it still seems special. Just to compare, Mt Lemon is over 9000 ft elevation. San Maniego sits at 7690, our house at 3020. Mt Washington in NH is 6288 and the nearest town at 3000. You can do the math. These are not only big mountains in AZ, but big mountains in general. ....An amazing place for sure.
From what I can see, some heavy snow is coming into to the mid atlantic and NJ area. All those with fat bikes must be really stoked for the real thing. I am happy for you all, but thankful to be here right now. I will check back for snow pictures.
Today the shed contractor came and picked up the ruble and their check. The shed is awesome! Double the size and tight from the elements and most critters. We have lights, power and room for much. Art has been doing the finish work. Today he installed a clay tile shed roof on the overhang. This was something he had never done and took some research and thought to weave all the pan and top tiles together with flashing. The roof looks great so far.
....Now it is time to face up to some issues: After some investigation, it appears that besides the hillside behind the house eroding, that part of the foundation under our bike room has been blown out and there are tunnels out allowing critters into the crawl space. When Art opened the floor, he expected 2 feet to a slab, and found 8 feet to dirt with a blown out wall and shit ton of scat of all sizes. Sorry I did not take any pictures, but without Capers as a consultant, I can only guess that there was a rodent/pack rat problem that was addressed by another predator. By the size and shape of the scat, I am guessing that it was a gila monster. Last spring we had a gila monster in the yard quite often.
We have had a few contractors in to look at the back slope and the crawl space and no one wanted to touch anything without an engineer. So, the engineer came today and some solutions have been made. This place does seem like the money pit, but we may end up with a root cellar or cellar space if this works out. I guess it all depends on costs. Pictures 3 and 4 of the bank and the back of the house.
In the mean time, little things get done every few days and we are moving along at a retirement pace. Picture 5 is of our downstairs hallway where the doorway to a bedroom that was converted into a niche. As much as I would like to post some bathroom remodeling projects, it looks like our bathroom remodels may be getting pushed off to next year. I spent the last few days sealing grout and saltillo tile to hold us over for another year.
No bike ride today, but hopefully we will take a good ride tomorrow. Enjoy the snow in NJ!
Today the shed contractor came and picked up the ruble and their check. The shed is awesome! Double the size and tight from the elements and most critters. We have lights, power and room for much. Art has been doing the finish work. Today he installed a clay tile shed roof on the overhang. This was something he had never done and took some research and thought to weave all the pan and top tiles together with flashing. The roof looks great so far.
....Now it is time to face up to some issues: After some investigation, it appears that besides the hillside behind the house eroding, that part of the foundation under our bike room has been blown out and there are tunnels out allowing critters into the crawl space. When Art opened the floor, he expected 2 feet to a slab, and found 8 feet to dirt with a blown out wall and shit ton of scat of all sizes. Sorry I did not take any pictures, but without Capers as a consultant, I can only guess that there was a rodent/pack rat problem that was addressed by another predator. By the size and shape of the scat, I am guessing that it was a gila monster. Last spring we had a gila monster in the yard quite often.
We have had a few contractors in to look at the back slope and the crawl space and no one wanted to touch anything without an engineer. So, the engineer came today and some solutions have been made. This place does seem like the money pit, but we may end up with a root cellar or cellar space if this works out. I guess it all depends on costs. Pictures 3 and 4 of the bank and the back of the house.
In the mean time, little things get done every few days and we are moving along at a retirement pace. Picture 5 is of our downstairs hallway where the doorway to a bedroom that was converted into a niche. As much as I would like to post some bathroom remodeling projects, it looks like our bathroom remodels may be getting pushed off to next year. I spent the last few days sealing grout and saltillo tile to hold us over for another year.
No bike ride today, but hopefully we will take a good ride tomorrow. Enjoy the snow in NJ!
Believe it or not, today it snowed in Tucson. Probably not the kind of snow we get in NJ, more of an hour of sideways groppel. We have been having crazy winds which result in constantly searching for bird feeders, garbage can lids and any sheet goods. I decided not to ride today b/c of the cold (30's-40's) wind and snow.
Next Saturday is SSAZ and I have no idea what I have gotten myself into, but I will go out for a ride that day on my SS and see how it goes. It should be some good times, a chance to meet more people, and a ton of climbing. Riding has been going well. I can not say I am training, but I seem to enjoy riding my bike at a leisure pace. I even took lap on 24HOP course last Saturday. Buffed out not technical, and I still managed to crash. One problem with riding slow all the time is that my high speed handling does not get worked enough, and when I do hang it out, my reactions are a little slow. Luckily I did not hit any cactus or brake my bike.
Art and I have been working like crazy to get stuff with the house done so that we can take a few weeks off work for SSAZ, 24HOP and to spend time with a friend visiting. We are poised for pulling up the crusty carpeting on the stairs and do wood floors. I wish it was just that simple but everything seems to snowball with this house. So our prep involved making more holes in the wall, repairing framing, stucco and snaking more electrical wire. A job would not seem complete if we did not have some electrical debacle. This time Art accidentally solved a mystery non working electrical outlet. ...yay! And we found our first scorpion of the year in the house, ... boo!
I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow.
Next Saturday is SSAZ and I have no idea what I have gotten myself into, but I will go out for a ride that day on my SS and see how it goes. It should be some good times, a chance to meet more people, and a ton of climbing. Riding has been going well. I can not say I am training, but I seem to enjoy riding my bike at a leisure pace. I even took lap on 24HOP course last Saturday. Buffed out not technical, and I still managed to crash. One problem with riding slow all the time is that my high speed handling does not get worked enough, and when I do hang it out, my reactions are a little slow. Luckily I did not hit any cactus or brake my bike.
Art and I have been working like crazy to get stuff with the house done so that we can take a few weeks off work for SSAZ, 24HOP and to spend time with a friend visiting. We are poised for pulling up the crusty carpeting on the stairs and do wood floors. I wish it was just that simple but everything seems to snowball with this house. So our prep involved making more holes in the wall, repairing framing, stucco and snaking more electrical wire. A job would not seem complete if we did not have some electrical debacle. This time Art accidentally solved a mystery non working electrical outlet. ...yay! And we found our first scorpion of the year in the house, ... boo!
I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow.
Ellen good luck at the race! I was just showing my wife a bunch of your pics and we both agreed that its just stunning...hopefully I get to see some similar sunsets in Sedona in a few weeks!! Also my wife wanted to know what camera you used for those beautiful sunset pics?
Brian
Brian
Thanks!!!
Last Saturday was SSAZ. It was brutal! I knew I wasn't in great shape going in, and I have only been on a SS a few times in the past few years, so this may have been over ambitious, but I decided months ago to do this in memory of Chris Schilling. Art gave me a pink 20T cog and I decided to go for it and just try to pull all I had out of my ass. I think I was overdue for an effort, so even after the course route leaked out on FB, I kept to my plan.
The first 8 miles were a neutral roll out on pavement to the base of Redington Pass. We then were instructed to remove our front wheels and cross the street. From there the pain began, climbing like I could barely turn my wheels, back aching for what seemed like forever. besides the brutal climb at the start, it was somewhat of an adventure navigating a scantly marked route punctuated with forever hike a bikes, more climbing, stream crossings and one kick ass gnarly descent, which I walked way too much. Seven hours later, I made it back to the campsite with a smile on my face. It was a major effort for me and I will probably be tired for a week, but I am glad I did this, and have a lot of respect for those that do long hilly rides on a SS.
24HOP is coming up this weekend and I hope I get my legs back enough to enjoy the race. In the mean time, flowers are starting to bloom and retirement is treating me well.
Check out the thorn on the right side of the tire in the last picture. ... just one of many in this prickly place.
The first 8 miles were a neutral roll out on pavement to the base of Redington Pass. We then were instructed to remove our front wheels and cross the street. From there the pain began, climbing like I could barely turn my wheels, back aching for what seemed like forever. besides the brutal climb at the start, it was somewhat of an adventure navigating a scantly marked route punctuated with forever hike a bikes, more climbing, stream crossings and one kick ass gnarly descent, which I walked way too much. Seven hours later, I made it back to the campsite with a smile on my face. It was a major effort for me and I will probably be tired for a week, but I am glad I did this, and have a lot of respect for those that do long hilly rides on a SS.
24HOP is coming up this weekend and I hope I get my legs back enough to enjoy the race. In the mean time, flowers are starting to bloom and retirement is treating me well.
Check out the thorn on the right side of the tire in the last picture. ... just one of many in this prickly place.
Dejay is just a prankster, and I'm guessing he just wanted to add some grief to the lemans start.
My Teammate, Marianne is visiting. She was 6th person in and first woman finisher in SSAZ. Art, who rode with her for most of SSAZ before missing a turn and extending his loop half way up Mt Lemon, was 8th and I may have been 15th overall. I am not sure if I was 2nd or 3rd woman in. Either way, both of us girls are still suffering tired legs, which may better than a hangover if we had indulged in whiskey like some of the other riders.
24 Hour Town: Our campsite is set up and we will move up there to camp tomorrow. With 3000 people moving in Friday night, we got a county permit and set up a few days before. It will be wall to wall tents and campers by Friday. The weather is looking perfect! We are camped in an area with the local club and beer sponsor! Although we joined the local IMBA club, we still belong to Jorba!! ... Jorba for Life!
24 Hour Town: Our campsite is set up and we will move up there to camp tomorrow. With 3000 people moving in Friday night, we got a county permit and set up a few days before. It will be wall to wall tents and campers by Friday. The weather is looking perfect! We are camped in an area with the local club and beer sponsor! Although we joined the local IMBA club, we still belong to Jorba!! ... Jorba for Life!
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Last weekend was 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. I was on a non competitive 5 person team. The weather was wonderful! 80's during the day and 48-50 degrees low at night. The campfire smoke and dust was awful, but the vibe of the event was awesome. My guess is that there were about 3000 people there this year and maybe 1500 participants. My impression was more newbies than I noticed last year by the amounts of people I passed on course. Everyone was so accommodating and friendly on course. This is a great event in that respect. The desert is amazing at night!. Even though I have to get up and take a walk to pee at night, I really loved seeing the stars, moon and the sparkle of racer lights across the desert at night. It was was truly magical! Although the course is not that technical, it is much more fun at race pace when you are diving in between cactus. I ended up doing 3 laps, and our team went from 5 to 3 people after one lap, which was part of the deal beforehand. I opted to stop and catch some sleep and Art and Marianne followed which was great! We enjoyed it much more with some sleep. I am feeling like I need some time off the bike. Good thing, cause we have some crazy busy projects lined up.
We currently have a crew building a stone patio and a retaining wall behind our house. The foundation repair will fit in with this too. We finally were able to to find someone who came up with a solution that we could afford. Unfortunately, we are a full construction site again as Art opened up a wall to get to the crawl space under the bike room. The cement crew, that Art calls the "mexcivators" will put in a footing and block wall there as well as behind the house. Hopefully they can dig out enough to lay a slab, so that we can have a mini cellar. Art is currently digging in the scary rat infested hole right now. He pretty much built a wall across the doorway to rest of the house to close off the construction site from the living space. Snakes are just starting to emerge, and I would hate to wake up to a snake in my room.
Aloe are blooming, hummingbirds activity has increased and the warm temps must be melting the snow on Mt Lemon as the wash is running and it hasn't rained in a month.
We currently have a crew building a stone patio and a retaining wall behind our house. The foundation repair will fit in with this too. We finally were able to to find someone who came up with a solution that we could afford. Unfortunately, we are a full construction site again as Art opened up a wall to get to the crawl space under the bike room. The cement crew, that Art calls the "mexcivators" will put in a footing and block wall there as well as behind the house. Hopefully they can dig out enough to lay a slab, so that we can have a mini cellar. Art is currently digging in the scary rat infested hole right now. He pretty much built a wall across the doorway to rest of the house to close off the construction site from the living space. Snakes are just starting to emerge, and I would hate to wake up to a snake in my room.
Aloe are blooming, hummingbirds activity has increased and the warm temps must be melting the snow on Mt Lemon as the wash is running and it hasn't rained in a month.
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It has been a crazy few weeks with contractors every day starting at 6am. The patio and the retaining wall are done. Monday they bring the last load of concrete to lay a slab floor , backfill the wall in the cellar and lay the slab around the french drain, all part of the cellar project. Then they will remove a huge pile of rubble/dirt. Then it is goodbye to the "mexcavators". Art is at Trail maintenance today but I did not go. My body is so sore from transplanting and moving dirt yesterday. We slid a 10 foot tree with roots down a hill with ropes and moved about 30 aloe and small bushes. I have only been on my bike a few times in the last few weeks, yet I am exhausted. I am not saying this is a bad thing, just not the typical retirement plan. I suppose while I am able to do physical labor, I will try my best to keep active, but I can feel a break coming soon.
I am currently at the computer with the windows open, listening to the birds, while people back home are racing Short Track. I hope it is a great day for racing, however I am happy to be here right now. Spring is amazing out here, and now I can sit out on my new patios and be a part of it. Hopefully I will get on the bike later today.
I am currently at the computer with the windows open, listening to the birds, while people back home are racing Short Track. I hope it is a great day for racing, however I am happy to be here right now. Spring is amazing out here, and now I can sit out on my new patios and be a part of it. Hopefully I will get on the bike later today.
The last few weeks have been quite hectic with 5 different visitors staying with us. During this time, we continued work projects. However, we managed to get in a ride in the Tortolitas with my teammate, Willy one day. If any of you come out this way, and want a big ride, I will gladly show you this one. It is pretty nice and only 20 minute drive from my house. Art and Willy pictured on the Ridgeline Trail in front of a crested Saguaro. The other picture is a tangerine tree that we planted. I wanted to get it established, so that I might have fruit next year or at least in my lifetime, if next year is too ambitious. I spent a few days planting and transplanting around the patio, and it looks great! It has been record setting hot lately, so NJ is not the only place having unseasonably warm weather. I hope my plants make it to Monsoon in July/Aug. I can not believe how the ground sucks up water out here. It is truly amazing that anything grows. I will hope for the best, but between drought and free range goats that my neighbor lets roam around, it could all be gone by next year.
Temps are supposed to drop tomorrow, so I hope to get out and ride some this week.
Temps are supposed to drop tomorrow, so I hope to get out and ride some this week.