Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats
- Thread starter pixychick
- Start date
Only 4 days left out here. Tiny lemons and oranges have formed on my citrus trees. I added an additional drip line in hopes that the fruit actually grows this year. They had tiny fruits last spring but they all disappeared over the summer. One theory is that they did not get enough water and the stress gave up the fruit. I am hoping that next fall I will return to fruit. Mesquite and palo verde trees are blooming and bees are buzzing. Yesterday while hiking, I heard first swarm of the year. Art stopped and said "what is that?". I said "swarm!" and we both crouched down to let them pass over. If you stay out of their way, they will not sting you while looking for a new home. They are on the move and not protecting.
It is hard to believe that winter in Arizona is almost done. It went so fast this year. A few more rides and some packing and we will be on our way soon. I am looking forward to riding Ringwood and Sterling, as well as seeing friends. Soon the trees will fill in the landscape and moist air will fill my lungs.
This is a blooming agave that I took a picture of at the dessert museum a few years ago. I imagine ours will look like this in a month or so:
It is hard to believe that winter in Arizona is almost done. It went so fast this year. A few more rides and some packing and we will be on our way soon. I am looking forward to riding Ringwood and Sterling, as well as seeing friends. Soon the trees will fill in the landscape and moist air will fill my lungs.
This is a blooming agave that I took a picture of at the dessert museum a few years ago. I imagine ours will look like this in a month or so:
We do leave internet on so that we can control our thermostat by phone. A little wifi cam is a great idea. My neighbor has many of them to catch wildlife at night and they load right to his website. It is really cool. Not sure I have enough time to set that up in the next few days, but I will have my neighbor at least send progress pictures. Our neighbors fill our feeders a few times a week while we are gone. Today 3 male black headed grosbeaks showed up at the feeder. New birds arrive as they migrate back or through.
Art and I did our farewell to Starr Pass Ride today. Starr is one of the up and coming places in town. It used to be mostly crap trails, but the county has been on board with improving and adding new trails. The trails are now quite nice, and Explorer Trail is as close as you can get to riding Ringwood rocks when in Tucson. Unfortunately, Explorer Trail does not really go anywhere great and is crap getting back. The county is planning to add a new trail to connect which will be awesome when done, but today we did an out and back. Yeh, rocks are awesome! The only bad thing is that with all that rock I had to look at the trail so I did not crash, and could not admire the cactus flowers the whole time.
The Saguaro are starting to pop buds. They are so cool and look like tall men holding bouquets. This is amazing place for sure!
Art and I did our farewell to Starr Pass Ride today. Starr is one of the up and coming places in town. It used to be mostly crap trails, but the county has been on board with improving and adding new trails. The trails are now quite nice, and Explorer Trail is as close as you can get to riding Ringwood rocks when in Tucson. Unfortunately, Explorer Trail does not really go anywhere great and is crap getting back. The county is planning to add a new trail to connect which will be awesome when done, but today we did an out and back. Yeh, rocks are awesome! The only bad thing is that with all that rock I had to look at the trail so I did not crash, and could not admire the cactus flowers the whole time.
The Saguaro are starting to pop buds. They are so cool and look like tall men holding bouquets. This is amazing place for sure!
As I hoped, most the usual cactus in our yard have started to bloom. We even got a bloom on a rainbow cactus, which I never saw before. The first agave stalk is starting to grow tiny nubs that will be arms for flowers. I hope they open some before we go. The extra rain this winter has brought a feast for the eyes. Glad I am able to see some.
Art noticed some critters digging near the wall and could not resist going for the last 4 bags of concrete. He ended up laying down concrete and setting stones into it to make a hard surface under the seed feeder. Hopefully now the work is done for this season. We took our last ride today and rode local. We went out at 8:30 to try to beat the heat and it was comfortable. We made sure to end on our favorite section, "the chutes". We were both wearing big smiles at the bottom.
Art noticed some critters digging near the wall and could not resist going for the last 4 bags of concrete. He ended up laying down concrete and setting stones into it to make a hard surface under the seed feeder. Hopefully now the work is done for this season. We took our last ride today and rode local. We went out at 8:30 to try to beat the heat and it was comfortable. We made sure to end on our favorite section, "the chutes". We were both wearing big smiles at the bottom.
We rolled out of Tucson on Sunday morning and took our usual northern route out of Arizona which is scenic. However we did try some variations to the route as we wanted to stop in NC at Art's mom's.. The drive went well. I am starting to get the hang of the long road trips. Every time we stop, we stand and walk, whether walking circles around the truck while fueling or eating salad standing up. We had decent weather as well. We took 3 days to get to western NC where Art's mom and sister live. Letting the gps figure out our route on day 3, we had an interesting accidental routing. Some traffic recalculated us onto to US 129 in Tennessee which was just some random twisty looking road along a river on the map.
So we were driving along this beautiful road behind a mini and a FL plate SUV. There were some weird warning signs for dangerous motorcycle road ahead. Then the FL plate pulled off and the mini took off. The road was so twisty that we could barely drive 20 MPH. Pull outs every 50 feet, and Art started pulling off to let motorcycles and mini's by. I could no longer check my phone to see where the route was taking us as the tossing back in forth in the truck was making me nauseous. This went on for 20 miles. There were photographers posted on turns taking pictures. It seemed crazy! Apparently this road is a local legend called the dragons tail. It added some time to our day, but was well worth the adventure.
For the past 4 years, it has rained every time we visit NC. I assumed we would not get to ride, but luck was on our side and the sun came out Thursday morning as we were headed back to NJ, so we stopped at Dupont State Forest for a short ride, which was awesome! Always better to break up the drive with riding. It is good for both the mind and body. I was quickly reacquainted with humidity and felt sweat dripping down my head for the first time in 6 months.
Although it was somewhat dreary today, it was good to be back and ride Ringwood. I hope things dry out enough to get up to Sterling soon, but I hear it has been wet up there. I could probably use a rainy day to put my house back together, but as soon as the weather is good, we will be jumping right into our trail building projects. ... Let the trail building begin!
So we were driving along this beautiful road behind a mini and a FL plate SUV. There were some weird warning signs for dangerous motorcycle road ahead. Then the FL plate pulled off and the mini took off. The road was so twisty that we could barely drive 20 MPH. Pull outs every 50 feet, and Art started pulling off to let motorcycles and mini's by. I could no longer check my phone to see where the route was taking us as the tossing back in forth in the truck was making me nauseous. This went on for 20 miles. There were photographers posted on turns taking pictures. It seemed crazy! Apparently this road is a local legend called the dragons tail. It added some time to our day, but was well worth the adventure.
For the past 4 years, it has rained every time we visit NC. I assumed we would not get to ride, but luck was on our side and the sun came out Thursday morning as we were headed back to NJ, so we stopped at Dupont State Forest for a short ride, which was awesome! Always better to break up the drive with riding. It is good for both the mind and body. I was quickly reacquainted with humidity and felt sweat dripping down my head for the first time in 6 months.
Although it was somewhat dreary today, it was good to be back and ride Ringwood. I hope things dry out enough to get up to Sterling soon, but I hear it has been wet up there. I could probably use a rainy day to put my house back together, but as soon as the weather is good, we will be jumping right into our trail building projects. ... Let the trail building begin!
JerseyPete
Well-Known Member
The GPS took you on Tail of the Dragon. That's like Hawks Nest NY or Rt 9 Anthony's Nose area.
https://tailofthedragon.com/
You may find yourself photographed.
https://www.killboy.com/find-your-photos/
https://tailofthedragon.com/
You may find yourself photographed.
https://www.killboy.com/find-your-photos/
I did get up to Sterling for a short ride yesterday, and it was awesome! I just did an out and back on the Hutchinson side which was pretty dry. I think riding anyplace with the sun out would have been great. The sun makes such a difference to me, which makes this time of year tough.
Spring 2019 critter update on our pond: 4 gosling, 6 signet recently hatched and walk daily across the street to our pond, resident beaver, wood ducks, mallards, blue herons and kingfisher. Hummingbirds are back and filling our feeders as well.
Spring 2019 critter update on our pond: 4 gosling, 6 signet recently hatched and walk daily across the street to our pond, resident beaver, wood ducks, mallards, blue herons and kingfisher. Hummingbirds are back and filling our feeders as well.
Finally after a few depressing days of rain, the sun came out. I'll tell you that multiple days of rain really get to me. I seem to struggle each year when I return from Az. It is a combination of no sun, cooler temps and muddy trails. All of that makes the sunny days seem even better. So I grab em when I can. It was nice to be outside and see the signet and gosling getting bigger. Even a blue heron was fishing and walking very close to me.
I have been out on the trails a few times, some to remove blow down trees from the winter, some to inspect and some to just ride. While some trails are mainly dry, there are mucky spots all over. Even in Ringwood. We may need a week with no rain to really dry things out. However, we hope to begin trail building next week. We have our next work section flagged and have a big volunteer day planned for Jun 1 National Trail Day. We, ( Jorba ) are hosting with the NYNJTC and REI. Dirty Thursdays begin as well. Those out riding and coming down the Alligator trail will see flagging on the south side. That will eventually hook into the trail from Lot A.
I have not been able to get Dirty Thursday on the Jorba calendar, but anyone looking to work, should just message Art for a meet location. He usually starts work mid day on Thursday, but will wait for anyone who wants to work at 4pm. He usually will wrap things up by 7pm.
I have been out on the trails a few times, some to remove blow down trees from the winter, some to inspect and some to just ride. While some trails are mainly dry, there are mucky spots all over. Even in Ringwood. We may need a week with no rain to really dry things out. However, we hope to begin trail building next week. We have our next work section flagged and have a big volunteer day planned for Jun 1 National Trail Day. We, ( Jorba ) are hosting with the NYNJTC and REI. Dirty Thursdays begin as well. Those out riding and coming down the Alligator trail will see flagging on the south side. That will eventually hook into the trail from Lot A.
I have not been able to get Dirty Thursday on the Jorba calendar, but anyone looking to work, should just message Art for a meet location. He usually starts work mid day on Thursday, but will wait for anyone who wants to work at 4pm. He usually will wrap things up by 7pm.
Ten days later, and the trails are finally drying out. I have been on my bike 4 days in a row and I can't believe I am holding up this well. I can honestly say that the last 2 days were better then the 2 before. However, I am riding slow as a snail. I will take that on any day that was as beautiful and sunny as today. The ferns at Sterling are more than knee high and the laurel have all this wonderful light green new growth. Only a few more warm days and tiny buds will start to appear. With all the rain we have had, I am really looking forward to the laurel bloom. Just a week ago I was thinking: "why did I come back from Az so early?". Today I thought: "this is why I am here right now! "
Tomorrow I will finally get a day off the bike, as I have a Dr apt, an on trail planning meeting and a family dinner to attend. I hope the sun continues to shine.
I have not paid much attention to races happening this year, and that is actually feeling good. As much as I love racing as a motivational tool, I think I need a break. I am hoping to try and encourage some more women's rides. I have been waiting for the trails to dry out enough to put some on the schedule. That may be in the near future.
Tomorrow I will finally get a day off the bike, as I have a Dr apt, an on trail planning meeting and a family dinner to attend. I hope the sun continues to shine.
I have not paid much attention to races happening this year, and that is actually feeling good. As much as I love racing as a motivational tool, I think I need a break. I am hoping to try and encourage some more women's rides. I have been waiting for the trails to dry out enough to put some on the schedule. That may be in the near future.
With all the rain we have been having, Art was having more doubts with our revised re-route of crossover trail to be done this year. Every time we go back to plot and pin flag turns, we end up moving things again. There just is so much water draining on that whole side of the mountain. Art has brought in more eyes on several occasions, and everyone agrees that the location is best possible. However, trying to align a trail across fall line, out of low areas, less than 10 percent and not overly switch backed or stacked too tight for hikers has not been easy.
Neither Art or I were completely happy with the lay out of the upper section, so we went back one more time on Tuesday to start moving tapes again. Art kept trying to tweak what we had and we got nowhere. We were both searching different but important things. Still we could not find the happy line that worked for us both. So finally, I opened pandoras box and went for something completely new. There was a jumble of downed trees that blocked some prime high ground, and working with some new lines I found a route going through them. Art claimed it would be no problem to clear them, but he did lose some sleep about the job. With the help of another experienced trail builder, today they are successfully cleared and we are both more positive with the route.
The reason I share this story, is that as a trail designer it is important to revisit, get an extra set of eyes, and not settle for anything that is not the best. I often see amateurs put a trail in a crappy place because of a cool feature or the need to visit a cool location. Every time we have reluctantly left behind what we thought was a really cool feature, we have found an equally cool feature or better feature with all the other requirements that make a great trail. Ringwood is full of cool stuff. If you do not see it, open your eyes. It is almost everywhere.
Neither Art or I were completely happy with the lay out of the upper section, so we went back one more time on Tuesday to start moving tapes again. Art kept trying to tweak what we had and we got nowhere. We were both searching different but important things. Still we could not find the happy line that worked for us both. So finally, I opened pandoras box and went for something completely new. There was a jumble of downed trees that blocked some prime high ground, and working with some new lines I found a route going through them. Art claimed it would be no problem to clear them, but he did lose some sleep about the job. With the help of another experienced trail builder, today they are successfully cleared and we are both more positive with the route.
The reason I share this story, is that as a trail designer it is important to revisit, get an extra set of eyes, and not settle for anything that is not the best. I often see amateurs put a trail in a crappy place because of a cool feature or the need to visit a cool location. Every time we have reluctantly left behind what we thought was a really cool feature, we have found an equally cool feature or better feature with all the other requirements that make a great trail. Ringwood is full of cool stuff. If you do not see it, open your eyes. It is almost everywhere.
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Yesterday was our National Trail Day event at Ringwood State Park. I would say it was a big success. The weather cooperated and we had 30 volunteers pooled from Jorba, NYNJTC and REI. By the end of the event the next section of Crossover Tr is cleared and roughed in, with a few sections complete. We had volunteers of all ages doing many jobs including raking, pruning, rock armoring, benching and transplanting plants. I actually did not do much myself as with a big crowd you end up running around and checking on people. I was delighted to find 2 ladies that were both ex state park employees that jumped on the opportunity to do transplanting. Most mountain bikers like rock work, but not many take interest in plants. Many times invasive plants just get cut out, but I feel some non invasive plants are worth transplanting. Being so wet this year, the transplanted plants should do well. Expect lots of ferns on this new section.
Afterwards Art and I got out for a ride at Sterling with Erik, the builder over there. As tired and hungry as we were after a day in the woods working, it was awesome to ride late in the day. I love the evening light just before sunset. With building fresh on our minds, it was great to hear about all the plans over at Sterling. Erik has some amazing ideas that inspire me for sure. Good to stoke the creative trail building process!
Afterwards Art and I got out for a ride at Sterling with Erik, the builder over there. As tired and hungry as we were after a day in the woods working, it was awesome to ride late in the day. I love the evening light just before sunset. With building fresh on our minds, it was great to hear about all the plans over at Sterling. Erik has some amazing ideas that inspire me for sure. Good to stoke the creative trail building process!
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Last week I decided to ride the road. This was my first road ride since back east. The only road rides I did in AZ were bike path on the tandem with Art. I had visions of pedaling up to Harriman with the wind on my face and climbing big hills and all, but from the minute I got on the bike, it felt like crap and just right out wrong. The handlebars were so narrow and restricting. My neck hurt. My shoulders were getting pushed up. It was like I was riding a bike that belonged to someone else. I am not sure what has happened, but my body does not seem to like my road bike. It felt too small or something. The bike was fitted to me when I got it, but I have since changed. After my neck issues began, I swapped to a riser stem. Not sure what I can do, but I will try a few fit changes before I completely quit and sell my road bike. If anyone has any fit recommendations based on personal experience, I am all ears.
My mountain bike seems to fit me well. In between the rain, I have been getting out on the mountain bike 3-4 times a week. Yesterday I took a silly little biff, which seemed like nothing at the time. Today I am sore all over. Falling down at 60 just isn't as easy as when I was 50. I know I can not complain, but yesterdays ride got me a little down. My confidence was off and I did not seem to have the legs to get things done. Thankfully it was a beautiful day and no matter how bad I was riding, I still could not help but enjoy being out on the trails. These last few sunny or non rainy days have been awesome! I hope the sunny days keep coming.
My mountain bike seems to fit me well. In between the rain, I have been getting out on the mountain bike 3-4 times a week. Yesterday I took a silly little biff, which seemed like nothing at the time. Today I am sore all over. Falling down at 60 just isn't as easy as when I was 50. I know I can not complain, but yesterdays ride got me a little down. My confidence was off and I did not seem to have the legs to get things done. Thankfully it was a beautiful day and no matter how bad I was riding, I still could not help but enjoy being out on the trails. These last few sunny or non rainy days have been awesome! I hope the sunny days keep coming.
With all the wet weather, I only rode twice last week. Both on the mountain bike, both in Sterling and both with perfect weather and beautiful Laurel blooming. Sadly, rain is predicted every day as far as I can see, and the laurel will probably be gone by the time I get out. It certainly has been nice to enjoy the seasons through my trips into the woods. I realize that many people in urban areas never experience the seasons in this way.
Yesterday I could not pass up on the lack of rain and did a very short ride on the road. It was not as bad as the time before. I am not saying I like road riding or have worked out my fit issues. Just a better day. I also noticed that there is so much pedaling! wow, I've become a lazy coasting mountain biker! No wonder I struggle on the road.
It has been a few years now on the "almost vegan" meal plan. While I love a big salad for lunch, preparing meals has become a bit of a drag sometimes. I just can not get excited about just another plate of steamed vegetables. Many vegan recipes come out awful and it is hard to get excited about trying another. I have tried "Beyond Meat" ( not to be confused with "impossible burger" ) sausage and burgers and they are awesome! However, I need to expand my non processed protein choices. I also have started up my every 2 week 16 hour fast. I got weighed at the doctor a month ago and was 6 pounds more than I would like to be. Have not been weighed since, but bathing suit season is here, and I could still use to loose a few. If it ever stops raining, I would like to get back to 5 days on a bike as well.
Yesterday I could not pass up on the lack of rain and did a very short ride on the road. It was not as bad as the time before. I am not saying I like road riding or have worked out my fit issues. Just a better day. I also noticed that there is so much pedaling! wow, I've become a lazy coasting mountain biker! No wonder I struggle on the road.
It has been a few years now on the "almost vegan" meal plan. While I love a big salad for lunch, preparing meals has become a bit of a drag sometimes. I just can not get excited about just another plate of steamed vegetables. Many vegan recipes come out awful and it is hard to get excited about trying another. I have tried "Beyond Meat" ( not to be confused with "impossible burger" ) sausage and burgers and they are awesome! However, I need to expand my non processed protein choices. I also have started up my every 2 week 16 hour fast. I got weighed at the doctor a month ago and was 6 pounds more than I would like to be. Have not been weighed since, but bathing suit season is here, and I could still use to loose a few. If it ever stops raining, I would like to get back to 5 days on a bike as well.
Art had purchased a cheap hand truck in hopes that it would make transporting buckets of dirt easier. We had some giant dirt mounds near the section we were working, and the dirt was needing to go farther and farther with each trip. The wheels broke off the hand truck on the second work day. Art did a fix for the hand truck and we will see if it works. Needless to say, last Saturday a bunch of us carried dirt till we dropped. Good news is that this section is done and we are ready to move on to the last section of trail later today!
I am excited to finally be connecting the trails below Shepherds Lake Rd with the main part of the park. We have been working on re-routing the Crossover Tr for close to 7 years and it is hard to believe that we are nearly complete. What started as a vision and/or dream of a few people, has worked into something much bigger. The most amazing part is that it is all volunteer built. Mountain bikers rock!!
It looks like summer has finally arrived. I am hoping that we have a few more dry days so we all can get out to ride bikes, build trails and enjoy some outdoor time.
I am excited to finally be connecting the trails below Shepherds Lake Rd with the main part of the park. We have been working on re-routing the Crossover Tr for close to 7 years and it is hard to believe that we are nearly complete. What started as a vision and/or dream of a few people, has worked into something much bigger. The most amazing part is that it is all volunteer built. Mountain bikers rock!!
It looks like summer has finally arrived. I am hoping that we have a few more dry days so we all can get out to ride bikes, build trails and enjoy some outdoor time.
That's awesome and the beauty of building with rocks that big is that it will be there for many years to come.
Below are a few shots of the complete section of Crossover just east of the causeway. Thursday we got a good start on the first few turns of the next section. There will be 9 switches up the next section before crossing the road. This next section will be a harder build for sure because it is on a peninsula of high ground in the middle of a western facing drainage. Next Thursday is the 4th so we will not be working because Shepherds Lake will be crazy. We are hoping to get up there a few days our self, but will not be advertising for volunteers.
I have been on the bike 3 days in a row and have felt better each day. It's funny how that works. I went to Waway today only because my team mate wanted to go. I thought I would be flat, but really wanted to ride with him because it was his second ride back on the mountain bike since he broke his hip in February. We both did great. It was nice to ride somewhere other than my home trails, and even nicer to ride on dry trails. Double pond was the muddiest I have ever seen, but almost everything else was in great shape. I really enjoyed myself and actually got my heart rate up on one climb. That felt good. Waway is awesome!
The temperature and gentle breeze today was just perfect! Topped the day with dinner outside on the patio. ....Feeling thankful.
I have been on the bike 3 days in a row and have felt better each day. It's funny how that works. I went to Waway today only because my team mate wanted to go. I thought I would be flat, but really wanted to ride with him because it was his second ride back on the mountain bike since he broke his hip in February. We both did great. It was nice to ride somewhere other than my home trails, and even nicer to ride on dry trails. Double pond was the muddiest I have ever seen, but almost everything else was in great shape. I really enjoyed myself and actually got my heart rate up on one climb. That felt good. Waway is awesome!
The temperature and gentle breeze today was just perfect! Topped the day with dinner outside on the patio. ....Feeling thankful.