Its been 3 yrs since we had a genuine summer escape…*sigh*. Vacation time and fundage did not align, i am almost used to it, i will not whine: Costa Rica in January, and the Keys this Fall! Hunker down for summer, Arizona! charge your lights, stop wearing socks and underpants, enjoy the logjam on I-17. All my July rides started at 3:30am or 9pm, and rarely climbed more than an overpass.

It didn’t seem like we did much, but putting together all these pics, I still missed our weekend to Pittsburgh, day trip to Horton Creek, sub24overnight bikepack along the Verde River, and a follow-up swim trip with the kids, 110 degree canal tour around the city, Ice Den, and swim meets.

3x a week. Genevieve is fearless and Alana no longer a fear – I sure couldn’t do a 50 when i was 5yo

G and Jasmine at the start of the Mud Run

Alana and Julianne

4:38 FIP
up Bell Pass in the dark->Fountain Hills stuff so fast southward i’ve never before not hated the FH McDs until I rode them clockwise, up over the stellar new Sunrise bypass, north through Scottsdale. 4hrs of awesome and home before the family woke up.

cat bonding

SCIENCE! Camp week taking things apart and putting things together.

road warmup to meet Seron at Lost Dog TH, out and back Sunrise to the bypass, 3 hrs of awesome and home before the family woke up

the AC died

Another outstanding John idea: Cabin Loop and AZT up above the Rim, Blue Ridge Reservoir and Clint’s Well.

the one an only pic i took this weekend

Lots of great pics and writeup on Seron’s site, and on John’s site.

A day at camp making this 3×3 mural, which now hangs from G’s ceiling.

impressive transformation from the take-home version to production. some rule-of-thirds and quality control shit i did not teach her.

girls and i took a day trip to West Clear Creek, NW of Payson. Not too many pics, too busy spotting them for 3 straight hours. Adult:Monster ratio might have been a bit lean on this one. The hike in is about 500 vf down a canyon, lot of rock scrambling and downed trees. G was awesome, Alana did a great job taking instructions.

both girls, but Alana especially, ripped the climb out. Rockwall everyday at Lifetime summer camp was evident,  only Alana’s conditioning slowed her down. such a difference from the precarious descent and wading.

Beckie’s cousins Tom, Sasha, Marin and Oscar visited from Baltimore, and took the girls to Bartlett Lake.

Overnight in Prescott – Granite Creek Park PT!
standover height on the Malice is about the same as on her 20 inch, and it rolls much better. G fumbles using 8yo vocabulary to express what an $1100 purpose-built bike feels like.

Soccer camp at Embry-Riddle University; a week staying in the dorms and practicing 5hrs a day. I wish i had her life.

then we took Alana for a hike in the Dells to Watson Dam

zzzzzzzzzzzz….

Alana and i survived a week alone with each other. Broccoli w bacon grease is still broccoli, and its still good for you

pickup the next Thursday. I missed her THIS much!

Suddenly Turtle started fading. then her hind legs stopped, and a week later she was gone. I don’t miss her much, but I respect our 14 yrs together. Beckie wanted another kitten, before the body was even cold. I don’t get that, 6 months later and I still can’t look at pictures of Kila. But I don’t really love cats, rather enjoy snuggling with them and grabbing their bloated tummies and making 2 of them chase a laser pointer at once. They come and go into our home, where they shake Valhalla until they vanish, and feast on Pounce. Goodbye Turtle.

Welcome Bugs! You are white with a splash of brown on your tail, siamese with beautiful blue eyes that will never fade.

Crumb and Bugs – brothers from another mother. Two days of hissing, and then they were magnets.

Top of Mt. Elden in Flag. Short hike along Organ Donor adjacent to a storm, yellow and orange high-altitude flowers we never get to see

G and I rolled Elden Lookout Road, 7 miles\2k straight down, all the way to the Schultz Y, ruts and ruffage that is much harder on a 20inch. The entire time she could have hurt herself, and only once did i get skeered. Ride out the wobble, G! And she did. We chatted, and enjoyed the cliffs and the slopes and forest, squared up on the ruts, took breaks when our hands got tired, reveling  top-to-bottom of a real mountain. We hiked up Wasabi til above the boulder roll, so I could show her what she can aspire to, and we paralleled while I followed Lower Oldham next to the road. Today we went up the AZT at 418 2.5 miles almost nonstop til a storm turned us back. It took more than 2x longer last year, and it shrugged off her. She might just be my #3 riding buddy of all time, definitely no lower than 6th. And she has the opportunity to close.

What would you do if you knew you just met your #1 riding buddy of all time? We couldn’t stop fist bumping.

Training Camp