My new favorite Somo route!

Park off Central Ave at the BF Parking Lot.   Up Kiwanis, up the road, down Holbert.   woof woof woof.   Blast up the road 30 min to come down Kiwanis.   Pads for the downhills, spandex for the uphills, roadies and hikers swarming like flies, hauling a brick uphill against gravity at least has its payoff, my Heckler with the seat lowered extra low has been gobbling big drop after big drop, to a place where I have never until now felt so calm gobbling big drop after big drop.

Confidence is a powerful opiate.   DurtGurl split open her chin riding hard on her 6inch and not her DH bike.   I kept it small, worked it all and noted the scary parts for the next time.   The next time — the fourth time ever — will go very well.   I have a lot of confidence that it will go well.   i should explain my history with Holbert — one of the toughest double-blacks in the Valley.   i rode it once 5 years ago on the Blur and went OTB in the first tenth of a mile and walked the rest, kicking tiny turds out of my chamois the whole way down.   It was as if my ass was handed to me by a front-loader.   here ya go buddy, a half ton of ass for ya! I can put it in the driveway, or the back of yer pickup — all 1000lbs of your ass! Then 6 months ago i rode it with Bob and got all but one spot in an adrenaline rush of first(nee, second)-time fear.

This time was more about evaluating, scoping the hard spots for the next time when I think I can ride them clean, more caution than fear.   Except for how seeing a friend’s chin split open gives you fear, except I never really saw Kathleen anyway as I still brought up the rear.     I think next run I can get the entire trail.   Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but its definitely within the realm of my capability.

Doug and I turned and hammered 4 miles up to the top of Kiwanis, and stepped it down.   Wow.   nothing that steppy in the Valley that I’ve ridden yet, what a cool new skill to pick up. It also scared me when I rode it for the first time a year or 2 ago.   Doug rode with a lot of confidence, I rode like a guy who was tired from chasing Doug and did not want to end an otherwise good day with bloodshed.   Off to the 2nd Annual Cactus Joe’s Swap Meet.   I picked up a new old fullface helmet from C&L, a scooter for G, some presents, and some new old grips for the Heckler.   LostBoyz is a closer, the man knows how to push someone off a fence. I sold a tire.   I drank some beer.   I left $5 up, better than Casino Arizona.   Except the Eagles lost a division game on Sunday night, again.   CURSE YOU SWAP MEET!!!

G and I rode down to the park, where she got busy chatting and lost sight of the curb and tumbled into the street.   Confidence is a powerful opiate.   Then G listened to me carefully as we crossed a big intersection – she acknowledged the danger, the requirements of listening to my instructions, more caution than fear.   I wanted to practice without the training wheels, but having the presence to cross streets safely after spilling hard seemed enough of an accomplishment for one day.   She had some blood on her knee.   I had some blood on my ankle, scuffed open while carrying my bike up a steep part of Kiwanis.   I showed her my owie when she was crying about hers.   I offered to take her the rest of the way to the park in the trailer, but she insisted on riding.   And riding home too, at least for the first 50 yards of the climb.   She’s not into self-shuttling just yet.