Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I heard it was 65 degrees today in Ringwood. We may have had that heat wave on Sunday as it was 70 degrees here. Today it only got up to 45 and will drop to 27 tonight.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art is without a mountain bike right now. He tried riding my hardtail which is a size small, and while it worked, It may not be the best fit and asking for trouble. Luckily we have our road tandem and yesterday it finally warmed up enough to take the tandem out on the bike path. There are tons of other tandem riders out here in the winter tourist season. We ended up running into a group of DAWGS from NJ. They had some pretty tricked out bikes: carbons, ti, belt drive and coupled. Anyhow, it was nice to get out on a warm day and I am thankful to be able to ride the tandem. Neither Art or I last long on road bikes, but it is always a nice option.

I brought my road bike and old mountain bike out here to try to sell at the bike shop. My mountain bike has had a deposit put down on it. However not much action on my road bike, so I decided to pick it up and keep it rather than sell it for almost nothing. If I get motivated, I can go for a solo road bike ride as well. I do not care for the roads out here but the "loop" bike path is awesome! It stretches all around the city. You could do a century on it if you wanted. And there is always the Mt Lemmon climb once it warms up in the mountains. I have been off the road bike so long that I am uncertain if I could actually even complete that climb as it is a close to a 50 mile ride.

I keep waiting for these warm ups to stay, but we keep getting more cool weather. It is not terribly cold and I really can not complain, but I look forward to the arrival of spring. No pictures today.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Our neighbor was nice enough to lend Art his bike. Our neighbor had not been on his bike in quite some time, so Art was sure to go over things on the bike. However, Art must have been distracted and while he thought he put sealant in both tires, he must have forgotten to do the front. Monday was our anniversary and we went for a ride at Starr Pass. Art ended up stopping to refill his front tire about 20 times. He never gave up and kept going to salvage the ride. It was a beautiful day and the frequent stops gave me a chance to take some pictures of the dramatic clouds.

We have been having dramatic cloud days. Today it is raining with some snow mixed in, plus heavy winds. The last two standing agave stalks in our yard fell down in the wind this morning. Agave's send up a stalk before they die. We had four agave's send up stalks in April 2019. They have been great for bird watching, but eventually they fall. We were lucky to keep these two for almost 4 years. Anyhow, I am still waiting for spring to roll in and stay for more than a few days. I think the flowers are waiting too.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We had a few days of rain and the main wash is running big time. It was cold and windy yesterday so instead of riding I took a walk in my hood. Stuck in the house for a few days, I did another painting. I am not that good at it, but it is fun to try. Notice the stormy clouds.

Today Art and I went for mountain bike ride. He got his bike back ....YAY! Riding a narrow tech trail, I brushed by a prickly pear. I did not feel anything at the time, but I got some tiny spines in my outer thigh wear it meets my ass. I will call it my "Thass". The spines were through my short and liner so I had to drop all on trail and have Art pull them out with precision pliers. Just a few minutes and I was back in action. If you ride out here, I recommend carrying tweezers. I ended up having a super ride. The sun was out and temps were real comfortable as wll.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Not to sound like a broken record, but I woke up to the sound of rain this morning. I looked out the window and it was snowing giant snowflakes. Had to go out and brush the snow off the holes of the HB feeders three times in an hour and a half. I watched a hummingbird as it sat on the feeder and it was getting pounded in the head with snowballs. They had a very exciting day. Currently all the snow is melted and the sun is out. Started another painting. I really wanted to do an agave stalk painting but need more supplies. Hoping to maybe ride tomorrow.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art had a hard time saying good bye to the big agave stalk, so he sawed it off the roots, dug a 3 foot hole and stuck it in the ground. I doubt it will stay up past the next heavy wind day, but within a minute of it being up, two kestrels landed on it.

There was a dead pack rat in the fountain. I wonder if his home was under the agave. Art said he found strange items stored under the dead agave. So many symbiotic relationships in the desert.

So, it looks like we have one more snow system coming through on Wednesday night. I am hoping that it will become more spring-like by the weekend. Planning to plant my vegetables out in the "thunderdome" on Saturday.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Wednesday night we got over 5 inches of snow, but by late afternoon Thursday, most of it had melted in the yard. I was sorta sick of taking pictures of the snow. It was fairly cold out and I do not have any warm waterproof shoes out here. I may need to bring some next year. Because the ground was already saturated, it took a another day to dry out and washes are are running quite strong.

By Saturday it started to finally feel like spring. ... hooray! My vegetables are now in big pots outside, and temps are warm enough to ride in the late morning. I am hoping spring is here to stay. There is a possibility that we could have a super bloom of both wildflowers and cactus. Flowers are emerging.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Yes, spring is really here! I have been working in my yard every day and riding atleast every other day. I probably should be riding more, but have been going more for quality than quantity. It has felt good to push myself both in intensity and time on the bike a few times even if I get tired afterwards. The results have been good for my confidence but leaving me a bit tired at night. One night I slept almost 11 hours. ... Sucks getting old, but I am not giving in that easy. ... E-bike? ... no way.

I finally sold my old 2013 pivot, but my new bike purchase is on hold because of my lack of finances, and to be honest, I still love my newer pivot. I did some major scratches on my fork uppers a week ago when losing my footing on a failed step up. They should be ok to be filed down and serviced twice a year. However, in leu of not getting a new bike, I may opt for an upgraded fork like the new Fox 120 step cast. It could lighten my bike and extend the life of the bike. I know people are not lightening their bikes anymore but going for more travel these days. However, I still want to race nationals this year if my health allows. So I am currently pondering over that fork upgrade.

No pictures today, but will try to get some up next time.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I rode downtown at Tucson Mountain Park West (ironwood) yesterday and noticed my first cactus buds. Many early wildflowers were in bloom as well. The temperatures were just ideal with a light cool breeze. I usually call the ironwood section "zombie land", as I usually feel like a zombie after 45 minutes because the trails get a tad monotonous. However yesterday was so nice that I had a great ride. No zombie activity reported in any form. I was able to ride a "pedally" 21 miles/ 2.5 hours without too much trouble.

After the cool, wet winter, this spring like weather has been well received. Spending more time hanging out doors, we see much more wildlife which is nice. Migration has begun, so new bird spotting every day. Today I saw an american kestral, 4 harris hawks, a kettle of vultures, road runners, quail, lizards, gold finches, cardinals, pyrrhuloxia and a gazillion hummingbirds. It is a great time year to experience Arizona.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Wildflowers are blooming, birds are migrating, snakes are out and spring is finally here! I have been giving mountain bike tours the last week and really enjoying the social part of mountain biking. I love my New Jersey peeps! We had a great few days riding.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
When my New Jersey friends left town, tour guiding came to an end. This brought me back to riding with an additional purpose: getting back in shape to race nationals this summer. I can not bring myself to call it training. After 25 years of racing, burning out and taking a 5 year break, I am just going to think of it as riding with more intensity. Well, I am going to at least try to ride with more intensity, and probably only when I feel like it. I know this may sound lame, and I do not think anyone should follow my practices. From experience, I have found that too much discipline 30 years into this, may not be best practice for me. I need to enjoy what I am doing. Many people enjoy training, I do not anymore.

I have been riding with my friends who live out here that are in very good shape and surprisingly, I have been feeling pretty good trying to keep up. When my legs get tired, I switch to a higher cadence and let my lungs do the work. I used to do this way back to prepare me for racing in spring. It seems to be working so far. We'll see how that goes the next month or so.

Yesterday's ride was awesome. The clouds were amazing, which made for great pictures! Flowers are popping and I expect the brittle bush will come in more and make for an amazing spring bloom. My friend Brenda took the picture of me. Not only can she ride, but she takes awesome pictures. She happens to love flowers too. :) It felt great to push and get challenged while having fun.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We had our first home yard rattler spotting. We have seen them out on the trails and in neighbors yard, but never so close to us. It was just over the wall about three feet from the house. It is sitting right next to a rodent hole. I guess I need be carefull where I walk.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Our rattler friend was in the same vicinity for 3 days in a row and then nowhere to be seen. My guess he was just coming out and warming up enough to catch his first meal of the season. Not sure if the rodent hole was actually his den or if he was waiting for a meal. Either way, now when I weed, I water first and poke around with a hoe if it is dense. I am not looking to put my hand into a rattle snake. Still waiting to see my first annual Gila monster. They should be out any day now.

The local volunteer group for federal land ( the cool upper stuff behind my house ), installed a swing gate/roll over combo last weekend. This is a big deal. Forest service is collaborating with volunteer groups to make improvements as part of their new trails plan. Art went to the work day and has connected with other mountain bike volunteers and is currently out on an assessment hike. It may not be in our time, but if it is, we would love to be able to be a part of improving such a great resource. I am both excited and hopeful.

Yesterday I rode down at Starr and was so tired last night that I could barely function. I went to be bed early and feel much better except that my legs are toast. The route we did at Starr was quite chunky and not conducive to super spinny riding. It was more power over the chunk style riding, and today I feel it. My knees actually hurt when going up stairs. I may need two days rest, but will try an epsom salt bath today and see if that helps my legs.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
The flowers in my garden are progressing nicely. Every day something new appears which is quite enjoying. We also had our first cactus bloom of the season. I enjoy spending time outside, so the garden ends up being a great place to spend time when I am not on the bike.

I am excited to report that Art's trail assessment hike went ok and got word that the meeting with land management the following day went super well. We are currently planning to join land managers and trail designers tomorrow for another assessment / flagging hike. I do not know any timelines on trail improvements, but it is looking really positive. It looks like land management mountain bikes, which seems to be happening more often nowadays. .....Hoping for a positive day tomorrow.

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