3 brand new rides, in the dead of Summer.   Whodathunkit?

thursday night i joined Yuri for a roll in the PMP.   He picked out a route that i had never done, i could not recreate it if I tried. notables were the Wash Trail, Fenceline and 220.   There was just enough gnar to keep it tough along with fast, and we dropped a cool wiggling staircase in the neighborhood on the way home.   I had a bad exit on Fenceline, thinking the Hei Hei could swallow chunk like the Heckler – it wasn’t the suspension, but the head angle. Finger got a little owie, but not real bad owie, but definitely owie enough. 3 days later and I’m just beginning to bend it.

Yuri aptly noted that i have a game face.

This is not the first time i’ve seen my O-face.

so now i must concentrate on smiling when someone is taking a photo, which will likely distract me, make me nervous, make me crash, and end up in the hospital. thanks Yuri!

Friday we were gonna get out of work early, so i figured combine a workout, a casual ride home, and a trip to the pool with The Monsters.   A few pics of some of the scenic parts of my ride to work.

Camelback Walk multi-use trail

crossing under the 101

I left work a 2. it was 112 out.

I tried the Scottsdale Greenbelt all the way north, figuring the grass and water would keep me cool.

I spec’d out a beer stop at 90th and Via Linda – The Tavern – where i could catch some AC and a Moose Drool. A couple cute Scottsdale ladies were day-drinking when i rolled in, flirted and bs’d with me, and sat down 2 seats away at the bar. Then a 6’2″ tranny walked in and sat right between us (not that there is anything wrong with that).   All i saw was shoulders, huge fake cantaloupes, and adam’s apple.

Friday night I replaced both tubeless tires on the Hei Hei.   This explains some of the wonkiness in front.

Saturday morning i met Yuri, his bud Devon, and Doug for a west siiiiiide Somo ride on some more trails I’d never tried. 35 painful, unrelenting minutes up Ranger trail put us on the ridge atop National. The morning breeze blew us dry, then we dropped 620 towards the south.  It was switchback heaven, comparable to Tom’s Thumb. We felt the summer at the bottom, were rocked by the din of cicadas, and slogged our way west around the mountain on Gila, then back east to the cars on San Juan road – the mind was willing, but 2 prior rides in 36 hours deemed the flesh unfit to tackle Bajada.

I stopped at Pro’s Ranch Market on the way home.   There is a dearth of good, affordable vegetables in Scottsdale – apparently everyone thinks we want either hella expensive organic veggies, or hella expensive rabbi-blessed veggies.   I just want a lot; i’m not a vegetarian, but i play one on TV.   The place kicked ass!!!!

Gobs of afforadable fruit and veggies, mexican music, and a bunch of stuff i’d never tried or rarely find in the caucasian supermarkets – brown sugar candy cones, red chili chips, pork chorizo, plantains, and carne adovada.   Dinner on the 4th is gonna crush!!!