I could not bear to put the Heckler in the recycle bin, we’d been through too much together. So I took it out to the desert and gave it a proper burial.
with a great view
rain brought out all the ghetto-tubeless residue, and set the tone for ceremony
bottle opener on the frame still works
i made a toast
and poured some out for my homey
All killer, no filler.
Up Bell from the Scottsdale side, down Bell and Windgate to East End, up East End to Tom’s Thumb, down TT to Windgate, back up and over Windgate to Bell, down Bell to Parasdise. No nimby HOAs, no dodging herds of slack-jawed hikers around Sunrise and Lost Dog, no horrible dirt road, no push up Sonoran Trail to give back 500 vf coming down a sidewalk.
Nowhere as bad as one might think. There was 15 min of HAB near the top of Bell, and 25 HAB to get up East End. We relaxed and took pictures.
up Bell?
drizzly day in the Valley
the fountain is still shooting in Fountain Hills
up East End let us study all the switchbacks for the next descent
we hid from a snow flurry inside the oft-photographed boulders atop Tom’s Thumb
Maad caught in the act of blogging about his radness
The rain made for hero-dirt, I dabbed once on the descent. Maad also nailed switchbacks better than any prior run
20 miles, 3.5 moving time, and my best time ever down Paradise Wash 7:53! Stats show almost 5500 vf.
More pics on James’ site.
Rage Halloween Ride! Sitter and my number 1 Ho, what more could you ask for?
checking my makeup, not bad for using the front window of Fresh&Sleazy as a mirror after a 12 mile ride
Peter
Dan
Big Pimpin Cballs
Mikey and Kim
Donna
A-ron and Kim
Mo
KennyB
Scottsdale night life
Dixon
Beckie, Maad and Amy
Curley
BC
Shunk
undead peloton
last stop TT Roadhouse
Tobias!
Aaron
James throws a massive tailgating party every year for his beloved Sooners vs. Longhorns game. The one and only upside of Beckie traveling 3-4 days a week for work is that I can cut out guilt-free. The game started at 9am on Saturday, the brisket had been baking since the day before, so I rode out 30 miles to East Mesa at 9pm Friday, arriving in time to partay mostly non-stop til the next afternoon when Beckie and the kids picked me up. and ate, and swam, and tailgated themselves.
Long night rides across the Valley are deep and dark and mind-opening, stealthy spins across the grid and the grain of your angst and issues. When I finally landed at James’ I looked like Tron and felt peaceful.
On McDowell road near Val Vista in Mesa (a decent neighborhood),i got tagged by a couple dooshbags in a lifted light-colored pickup. I heard a loud rumble and realized i was not hurt and watched cups roll off my shoulder and into the street. Good shot fellas, you nailed my helmet. Seriously, thank you for hitting my best-protected spot. My next reaction after was ‘cool a car actually saw me!’
I never thought about catching them cause it was pointless, and other than a little wet i wasn’t hurt. I laughed, i suffer so much on a long ride and have so many injuries from falls…90 minutes in and a little ice didn’t even make me lose cadence. As i spun on i thought what if i caught up to them or i was packing, and then realized in AZ its just as likely the other guy is packing too. If I’d been hurt I probably would feel differently, but all I wanted was to get off the road, cause i started thinking now they’re emboldened and might come back. Fighting a car-full of dudes was equally stupid. I passed a Mesa cop 3 miles later and told him what happened, thinking maybe they will still be in the area. What else was i gonna do? jic the jerks picked up their pace as the night went on…maybe he’d see the truck and be aware of them. Mostly i’m glad that in all my years riding this is the worst I’ve had yet.
I arrived to a beer and a shot and The Man in full swing. Apparently the Meat needs towel service.
I woke up 8am, i have no idea when we slept, i was so disoriented and drunk i grabbed a bloody mary and jumped on the bike for a 45 min sanity spin around Las Sendas. I repeated later when the game became a blowout and my rhythm got antsy. Mid-day golf-course tresspassery, the Valley in the background, James’ absconded bike in the fore, Security chasing me on riders’ left. They’re hard to see in the pic, but they are there 
. dumb slow fockers 
.
Finally, The Meat was ready.
Sunday i was very weary. Beckie schemastizized, and it was brilliant. All of us with Kila on bikes to the Library, Horizon Park, Cold Stone, then home.
Kila enjoying Tuc Fxs Leftovers.
Climbing on the Bird is finally less-than-utterly-pathetic. My legs and balance are coming around. There are ~10 big ups on Somo from Javalina to Buena Vista, and each ride for nearly 10 years their ticks have located a climbing performance meter in my head. I think i got 4 last ride, which was 3 more than the first time on the Bird. Coupled with a vigorous pace chasing Chongoman up the mountain, i declared myself a winner! 40 minute sprints up the McDs and 2 days at Rancho are paying off in enough balance and strength to power over challenges, and enough confidence to commit to finishing them. Each of the last 5 rides have been better than the one before it. Descending is so copacetic it hardly merits the attention to type. I’m developing a trust in the big fat fork and the stiff sticky rear end, learning to jump safely jump into chunk. I got the s-curve on 24th St. for the first time in far too long, and on Highline let the bike take me down through danger by going faster. Paradise Wash time trials are pushing me into new comfort zones of speed. Last run was 7:59; descending the AZT in Flagstaff was a rainbow of emerald and olive and moss and malachite.
I’ve started again picking the girls up from their school(s) with the bikes and Kila. I slam a beer on the ride over, its like happy hour, where fatigue and anxiety slip away in adventures with my pack. G’s climbing gets stronger, less sprinting and more spinning. Sometimes she zig-zags lazily up the hill while we talk about her school day. She too unwinds, kindergarten happy hour on 2 wheels. At the Hill Park she followed me down a 5-stepper. She stopped and asked before trying it — can i do it? When i told her no problem, and reminded her how, her body language spoke her understanding to unweight the front and trust gravity. Summer PT days have sharpened and relaxed her to ride out the momentum. She can climb every table at Rage and knows which to avoid at McPump, absent are the out-of-control backward flops, finding her comfort zone between attacking and retreating from a big up. She finishes our sessions filthy, shweaty, unscathed, and starving! The last time rolling home from the Hill Park she shot off the front, stopped and looked at every intersection, and then pulled out of sight on the long descent. I half-expected to find flashing lights and twisted metal at the bottom, but I found G waiting for me before crossing Thompson Peak, just like she knows to do. A 2o yard skidmark led up to the intersection. She said she made it on purpose. Gnar junkie unleashed, the downhill is what inspires her to climb.
Alana can barely reach the pedals, has no balance, and the slightest shift of the front wheel knocks her over, but she can’t wait to ride bikes. Sometimes riding means dressing up in helmet and pads, sometimes its cheering wildly from the back of the trailer, sometimes its standing around holding her bike and admiring the fresh set of streamers that to a 2-yr old make it all seem brand new. It seems fanboy and voyeuristic, but its not her fault she can’t fit the 12 incher yet. She’s still 6 months ahead of where G was on that bike. She’s happy to get propelled around the pump track, barely a dozen laps for me hurts a lot more after pushing Alana around another 15 times. She cheers and squeals and diabolically giggles when a tumble almost happens. Someday she will pedal, sometimes she goes down the street and back, her psych is the triumph that presupposes all the others.
Rancho 6 was a mulligan, Alex’s re-decorating year. Hard to believe its been 2 years; hard to believe its been 7 years.
Just me and James were able to make it, and we three made a tight little ManClan. Alex’s riding is so much like mine that he easily fit with James. James is so much faster than us and likes fiddling with his fancy camera. I made salad.
Friday was Highline in Sedona. My pics suck, the ride was so good i spent no time with setup or light. Kinda pointless anyway when Maad has his fancy glass and makes me look like a rockstar.
My 3rd time on Highline and the DH has totally slowed down, which makes it even cooler to now reflect on just how intense is the 5-minute unbroken string of challenges. Steep roller, steep slot, steep chunky staircase, 10 nasty switchbacks.
It was too hot for late September, over 90. Buddha Beach was wonderful.
despite James refusing all weekend to smile cause it hurts his CORE-ness.
After a night of Rancho shenanigans, Saturday was going to be a big day. Schultz->Little Gnarly->Jedi->AZT all the way to Aspen Corner. 30 miles and about 4.5 hrs spinning.
It took us almost 2 hrs from Jedi to our stopping point along the AZT. By the end I was cracking, but the rest stop was worth it. Slack bike, flat pedals, and almost 9k altitude made the long climb hurt. The new stretch of AZT is absolutely fantastic; bermed and benched and armored in all the right places. I let it hang out on the 5 mile descent as The Bird got payback for all the suffering on the climb.
Steaks and shots back at Rancho
James’ fork seals blew up at the very end of our ride on Saturday, and Alex found out he needed to leave much earlier than anticipated. So we opted for a sweet little hike Sunday morning to end the weekend.
4 rides, 4 wrecks. All of em climbing.
$4000 and another grand in swapped parts — i really wanted to lurrrrrrrrrrvve it.
I’ve got painful dingers on both elbows, right butt cheek, left ass crack, and right wrist. The Bird is beating the crap outta me. Yesterday i flopped over backwards doing a manual, much to the delight of the assembled masses.
The Bird’s taller fork, shorter stem, and slacker geo all make climbing harder. The DW link performs better under strain, vs. the Heckler’s single pivot which took the punch then eased into a rebound. I need to recalibrate, pull my weight up on my feet and over obstacles, frequency-sync to the suspension’s shorter wavelengths.
Maad and I climbed a couple hundred feet above the Valley, then lazily took in the aurora of the megalopolis, Summer finally revealing a hint of weakness in a gentle breeze. A little positive feedback for an easier climb than going up National while its 105. The Bird and I needed some quiet moments together.
Paradise Wash is a new trail on a 6.5inch bike. Deflections, wheel grabbers, and precise steering ignored in favor of gravity’s pull on a squishy stable platform. The closest I’ve gotten on a bike to snowboarding through trees. 8:28 – fastest time in 50 tries. It almost completely muted the pain of the falls.
I rolled into the Hill Park and launched a 5 stepper in the dark, didn’t see the bottom til i hit it. Without letting the wheels stop rolling I dropped the rockface next to the curvy slide and then the steep boulder into the sand pit that I’ve been eyeing for 1.5 years on every trip to the park. These trials do not lend themselves to bike trailers. Then we ran from Security, slaloming down suburban streets through the non-light-polluting glow of McMansions.
Stay tuned while I polish the route and come up with a diversion for the security guard.
sunset bike ride to the grocery store for treats
1st day of school
2nd day of school
James, Doug, Dara and I, with guest appearances along the mountain by probably 10 Phoenix peeps. Getting up at 5 sucked, but the family outta town meant I had the whole day to enjoy with my friends.
Schultz-> Dogfood-> Pipeline-> Yo Moma’s Secret-> Secret-> Supermoto-> AZT-> Schultz-> Lil’Gnarly-> Brookbank-> Sunset-> Lil’Gnarly-> Jedi-> Schultz-> Beer and pizza from Fratelli’s.
4 hrs riding, 25 miles, 4k vf. Beautiful weather, no traffic, the only bummer was Doug crashing on Jedi and needing 10 stitches at Urgent Care. It didn’t phase him, which is why we love Dougmore. Meanwhile we hung out at Erik’s awesome house in downtown Flag – thanks Erik great to see you again.
i have no clue what this is, but it gave me a break on the HAB up Brookbank
top of Sunset
Dry Lake Hills
Jedi
Go see some far better pics over on Maad’s site.
The title is kinda poaching, but I can’t be blamed if its licensed users bail and leave me with the intellectual property rights. John joined James and I out in east Mesa, that makes the copyright infringement ok. The route was Fenceline->Power Road->Phon D to the River, then the back way along the canal into TRW, to the Red Mtn Ranch golf course. I can’t believe i never thought up this route before, chasing eachother crit-style sprints for 20 miles. This route needs to be hit more than once every 11 years. John did it all on his CX bike, my suspension was locked out the entire time. It was all about sunsets and water, fast rolling on easy terrain during another 100 degree evening, sailing in shadows through sand and sprinklers.
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