Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Last week was the official ribbon cutting for the opening of the Augusta Mine Trail at Sterling. While construction will be ongoing over the next year on Redback and McKeags Meadow Loop, this small event was a nice chance to acknowledge all that has been done over the past year. It is also is an appropriate time to send out praise to Seth, Brian, Shepherd, Tom, Erik, Ben, Palisades MTB, NYNJTC, the Palisades Crew and all the volunteers that have made this happen. I look forward to seeing what amazing trails await for me when I return back next spring.

So, I pretty much predicted it in my last post: I froze my butt of on a rail trail road ride a week ago and I am officially looking forward to ARIZONA! I am a little out of practice with road riding and I totally forgot how to dress. The result was negative and it may have to be HOT before I want to road ride again.

It took me all summer, but I finally got my group ride in at Port Jervis. Although it was a chilly start to the ride, it turned out to be a beautiful warm fall day and a super fun ride. I am grateful for special friends that enjoy riding bikes as I do. Riding mountain bikes is fun by itself, but add friends and maybe a beer afterwards and you have good times x 3 !


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I did some trail work on Redback Trail in Sterling and it is coming along well! I think they are bringing in a machine next week to speed up some of the heavy work with volunteers helping out with finish work. Glad to be able to get a day in working before we head out west.

Monday was my six month check up with the doctor in the city and I am cleared to return to AZ for the winter. I guess I need to start packing soon. I am a tad bummed not to be spending all my free time with Marianne this past week, as she got covid. Good news is that Art and I did not get it, and Marianne is already feeling better. Hopefully we can get a few bike rides in together before we leave. The weather has been great!!! .... and it looks like the weekend is setting up for some Indian summer. ...Soaking it all up!


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We left NY after voting as planned and drove to NC for a visit with Art's mom and sister. That went really well and we had a great time catching up. With rains from the hurricane predicted to be coming through that area, we kept our visit short and proceeded on our way to AZ. In all, the elapsed travel was over a 6 day period as compared to our usual 4 days. While all of our driving days were under 9 hours per day, 6 days seemed really long.

It feels great to finally be out here. So far sunny and temps in the mid 60's. I plan to get on the bike tomorrow. We have been working like crazy the last few days just getting the house ready. The outside will start in a few days. We have a few things to repair as well, but in general, things do not seem as bad this year. Not sure if things are different or I am just looking with different eyes.

So that's it for now, but I will try to get some more pictures up soon.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
This year we seem to have another bumper crop of limes. Our neighbor harvested all they could use, and we were still left with dozens of slightly over ripe ones. They are super juicy and make great margaritas. Our lime tree is only a dwarf lime, but it is very productive. We also have random tomatoes all over. I guess the birds pooped the seeds around. Anyway, cleaning out the gardens is moving along quickly. Maybe 2 or 3 more days for the gardens within the wall.

My mom had a mini stroke the day after we got out here, so I have been distracted, stressed and on the phone a bunch. I am grateful that my sister was with her when it happened and called 911 and was able to manage all the stuff at the hospital. Anyway, she seems to be stable and did not suffer any bad lingering symptoms. She is currently home with my sister and doing well.

Been out for a few rides as well. ...
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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Rode around the mountain yesterday, and conditions were not that great. There was some erosion, with ruts, sandy and loose spots, which is pretty typical October through December. Droughts followed by monsoons and lack of bikers leave the trails up behind my house seasonally damaged. None of these trails are bike optimized or even sustainable. However, a little moisture and bike traffic will improve them over the winter. The terrain is outstanding and I do wish forest service would acknowledge and implement improvements, but that is not the case right now. Forest service has started some improvement programs on the other side of town, so maybe some day here too.

As for the views and serenity, this place is awesome! It takes a little fitness and skill to get up here, and sledom see any hikers or horses up this high. Just the few crazy tech loving bikers like us. I got to ride some slickrock and while my confidence has been way off with all the sand and ruts, I made most the usual rollers and they were fun!

I hope to ride tomorrow before thanksgiving cooking begins. I just took the pie out of the oven, so one less thing to cook tomorrow. Feeling very thankful right now, and wishing all my MTBNJ friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Well, would you believe that the day after I post about forest service not being pro active with trail improvements on the trails behind my house, they go and release an assessment and draft plan for public comment. It was 94 pages long, but I read most of it and it did state that 17 of the 18 miles behind my house are slated for being adopted and possibly improved. So I guess that is good. Not sure of the timeline, but that would be a sweet deal to have trail work opportunities close to home.

We have had 2 scorpions in our bathroom which is not good, because at night we walk in barefoot in the dark. The one this morning was huge and right in the middle of my pathway. I am glad I turned on the light. Art got a half sting the other night by stepping on one. I think it could not inject a full load as he claimed it did not hurt. So I spent an hour cleaning behind things today searching for them. All I found was a black widow. There are some crazy critters out here. A week ago we had a lizard running around our bedroom. It was not that easy, but we caught him and took him outside. The scorpions and black widows get squished !!!!


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onetracker

Well-Known Member
Well, would you believe that the day after I post about forest service not being pro active with trail improvements on the trails behind my house, they go and release an assessment and draft plan for public comment. It was 94 pages long, but I read most of it and it did state that 17 of the 18 miles behind my house are slated for being adopted and possibly improved. So I guess that is good. Not sure of the timeline, but that would be a sweet deal to have trail work opportunities close to home.

We have had 2 scorpions in our bathroom which is not good, because at night we walk in barefoot in the dark. The one this morning was huge and right in the middle of my pathway. I am glad I turned on the light. Art got a half sting the other night by stepping on one. I think it could not inject a full load as he claimed it did not hurt. So I spent an hour cleaning behind things today searching for them. All I found was a black widow. There are some crazy critters out here. A week ago we had a lizard running around our bedroom. It was not that easy, but we caught hime and took him outside. The scorpions and black widows get squished !!!!


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Yikes!!!!!!!

 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Yes, not fun to get stung by scorpion. Most people just have a few hours of pain, but some people get days of numbness and even breathing problems. This is why I kill any in the house. I also check shoes and clothes. The bark scorpions are very small and give a whopping sting.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
For the past four days I have been riding solo. There is something nice about doing your own thing. You can ride at your own pace, stop only when you want and for as long as you want. I usually look around more and take more pictures as well. Today I rode well getting through some eroded stuff seeing it first time of the season. Weather was perfect. Being a Sunday after Thanksgiving, the trails had a few people, but not crowded. I may have pushed a little too far, as I bonked on the way back. Pixy bonk is tired and super hungry but still able ride safely, so not too bad. I got home up the big hill and had a big lunch when I got back.

Art threw his back out a few days ago and is still not able to ride or do much work. He is just waiting for the spasm to let go. I gave him my herbal muscle relaxers today. Hopefully that will help. In the mean time we are enjoying the desert. It always feels like vacation when we are here. It is an amazing place with so many outdoor possibilities
in the fall and winter.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We had two days of rain amounting to about and inch of rainfall over the weekend. Rain in the desert is always good. The plants are happy, the trails tighten up and we get some super clouds for pictures. We went for a ride yesterday and local trails were in good shape. Great to have Art back on a bike too. His back is not 100% better but good enough to start doing stuff. I think the rest will heal itself now that he is moving.

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Zack 54

Well-Known Member
We had two days of rain amounting to about and inch of rainfall over the weekend. Rain in the desert is always good. The plants are happy, the trails tighten up and we get some super clouds for pictures. We went for a ride yesterday and local trails were in good shape. Great to have Art back on a bike too. His back is not 100% better but good enough to start doing stuff. I think the rest will heal itself now that he is moving.

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Looks like an awesome place to live and ride..!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
We have had a week of fantastic weather and great riding, but Monday Arizona winter arrived. We have had a few days of rain and some snow up high. Mt. Lemmon may have gotten 16 inches of snow yesterday, so those trails may be shut down for a few weeks. Today it did not get above 45 degrees, and it will drop below freezing the next few evenings. Art is currently in the shed pulling out frost cloth for the small citrus trees and the last few remaining flowers. I will need to bring in sugar feeders at night and get them back outside by 6:30 am. I hope to get back on a bike tomorrow. Trails usually dry out in a day and should be improving every day with the extra new moisture.

The mountains are beautiful with some snow!


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
It has been slightly cooler but riding has been great both locally and down by Starr Pass. We decided to re-purpose an agave stalk for an x-mas tree. It was quite desiccated so Art sanded it a bit and then painted it with gold spray paint. I was going to skip the tree this year, but This helped change my mind. Always better to make something and do local.

Our pizza cutter broke so Art ordered a new one. It is like the 29er's of pizza cutters ... Check it out below:

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
These are some pictures from our ride in the Tortolitas, which are the mountains across the valley from our place.

There is a really nice loop over there ( Ridgeline and Wild Burro) that we like to ride now and then. The climb over is really brutal but the loop once over there is quite nice. We used to only do this once a year because the access has been difficult in the past with ongoing trail head closures and the sheer fact that the old access added 18 - 25 miles to the already climb heavy 12 mile loop. Now we can drive farther in to park and just do the loop if we like. 13 miles sounds short, but the climbing is brutal. The 1.5 mile pass section has multiple steep, off camber, loose, chunky and sandy sections that I have to fight for traction the whole way and when maxed out. If I ever wanted and e-bike, this would be the place.

Once onto the prime single track loop, the climbing continues and it is steep in spots, but the trail is well built. I would call it technical cross country and really scenic and fun. Short or long loop, this ride usually whoops my ass. I am glad to have had the energy to get through it today.


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rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Looks amazing @pixychick ! I always love riding in Arizona...seems no matter where i ride there are always amazing vistas!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art and I did some volunteer day trail maintenance yesterday at Starr Pass. It was drainages, a minor re-route and a "b" line jump/drop. It has been a couple months since we have done this kind of work, so we are both a tad sore. I am even sore in the legs from the long hike in to the work site. I definitely need to walk more. Anyway, it felt great to be out there working and to re-unite with some trail work people. I hope there are more volunteer opportunities in the weeks ahead. Just to let you know how tired I was last night: I went to bed after taking an epsom bath at 8:00 and slept until 6:45.

We have some friends coming to visit over the next week, so may be a few days before I get around to posting pictures. We also have big rain coming in tomorrow. Slight chance of the wash running, but most likely just a day or two off riding and outdoor activities.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Some pics from Starr Pass Explorer trail work and herbs started in my windowsill. I hope to start vegetable seeds indoors next week. Desert rain happening right now. I was hoping it would clear up in time for a walk or short ride, but it seems to be lingering.

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