i had this great idea for this post as a photo essay. it didn’t really start out that way. it started out as a ride up National, then i cracked my derailleur hanger, but managed to complete the final hour of the ride due to it all being road and downhill. and it was worth a picture – seeing my hanger cracked halfway through, and my deraileur dangling just barely to the outside of my spokes! It was quite something while i stood at Telegraph Pass at 4:30 and wondered if I could do the 7 or so miles up the road to Buena Vista, down Geronimo, and then the canals and Javalina back to the office. i did have a spare hanger, but the prospect of doing that job on the trail and then going back in near dark was not appealing. so i figured i’d shift carefully, and give it a go. then as the ride went on, several other pretty cool photos expressing this theme appeared before me. but i had no camera, which is ok, cause i had no actual carnage either.

an unlikely combination of circumstances led to my ride today. lately i’ve been wanting to push myself on technical rides. some skills have really been sharpening, and its getting easier and easier to handle harder and harder trails. so why not do more? i was alone today so could hammer, the question was: up National instead of Mormon, or really push myself and go out to Telegraph, which i’ve only done about half a dozen times, and adds roughly an hour of solitude and staircases. Secondly, with the office moving, I feel compelled to take advantage of these mild winter afternoons while i can still ride from work – its not like the mountain is going anywhere, but i shant be this lucky with a work location anytime again soon. the elegance of taking 3 hours off of my workday to ride is an amazing perk. Finally, all the ssl certs on our test hosts expired today!!! not my product, not my responsibility, and impossible to program when you don’t have a working run-time environment! Its like I was forced to take the afternoon off. To Telegraph it would be.

was rolling by 2:30, strong up Mormon and up National clearing the Upper Waterfall lift twice, and at BV by 3:50. The next stretch was fun, i dabbed on a couple things but they keep seeming easier, and i feel like every time i ride this stretch i get more confident in it. I cleared pretty much everything, and then there was one hard turn and rockface up on the Catwalk, easier than much of what i’d hit already, but exposed and near the end of the stretch where in the back of my mind i was saying “you are due to fall.” and thusly i did.

the pads protected me, but i could immediately tell the derailleur was wrong. since i just did this same thing a few months ago, i was able to pretty easily spot the problem, but the bike was ridable. so i up-shifted and just gave up on my 2 or 3 lowest gears, hit the slot, and dropped the last few hundred yards down to the road. Now on flat ground, the more detailed analysis could begin, and immediately the chain shifted off the cassette. in the process, it must have finished what the crash started, because in getting out the chain suck i could see a crack right through the hanger. NICE! and thus i present my photo essay, of non-photos.

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picture of derailleur hanger, cracked between the bolt holes

picture of derailleur, hanging about 30 degrees the wrong direction

picture of my jersey, where the zipper has come undone at the bottom, exposing my belly-button

picture of the coyote that crossed in front of me around 28th St.

picture of a plastic bag full of dog shit, lying next to the trail, within 5 yards of a garbage can

Ok it was actually more like 15 days, basically starting from the last day of work til the next weekend when work got rolling again. and i ate way too much junk food and cookies.

I managed to work out about 2 hrs a day, a averaged about 9 hrs a week on the bike for 3 weeks.

Friday 12-21: Javalina to Mormon to National to Geronimo to Javalina, with Byron, JB, Kathleen and others. took Beckie’s shoes by mistake. oops! rode in my lightweight-hikers, and gave up on making many of the ups I normally make. well, at least i didn’t wear Tevas to work, but descending was a headtrip having to think constantly about ramming my feet into the pedals to stay on. one drop near the end i lost the pedals and nose-wheelied, but the Heckler saved me and put me down. nice thru axel, nice shock, RIGHT BRAKE ONLY! RIGHT BRAKE ONLY!

Sunday 12-23: Saguaro Lake and back, windy as shit, i am slow and fat, but ready to enjoy the suite for the Cardinals game. big spread, lots of free food and beer, learned not to try to sneak into any other suites for free beer again. and there was a football game!

Monday 12-24: Black Canyon Trail with Ray and his buddy Pete. we stopped short of the final descent into Black Canyon City, still did 22 miles, 3500 feet and 3.5 hrs. then for the first time, i rode the trailer with Kila out to pick up G from daycare and to the park. Alex’s Xmas eve party!

Xmas Hike Tower Trail

Wednesday 12-26: fixed my seat from creaking, then rode Sunrise and the lower trails on the Scottsdale side of the McDowells with Beckie. 2.5 hrs, 16 miles, 3000 feet. She ascended Sunrise just a few minutes behind me, which is not an easy thing, considering I am somewhat fast and have ridden it 6 times and got all but one short steep on the first summit. Natural Wash and Paradise are fun in both directions when you are not exhausted, for a change. Beckie smashed her shit and walked out the last mile, i did not know. but in my kindness and good karma, had beers ready when she arrived.

Thursday and Friday: assembled my new truing stand and used it and the rotor gauge to fix the Blur from the crash on Tower Trail 2 weeks prior, and fixed up Beckie’s crash. mmm…tools.

Saturday 12-29: Goat Camp. 3 hours, 16 miles, ~3000 feet, 3 miles of the gnarliest downhill i have ever been on. the 12 mile climb rocked, the descent scared the living shit out of me. several times on the descent i practically froze and was just plain skeered to get back on the bike. well, at least i was in the lead to the top so had nothing left to prove. that which does not kill me makes me stronger. no blood no broken parts, a long scary day with some good friends.

Sunday: Dacite Super Loop. 5 hrs, maybe 6 miles, at least 3k, much bushwacking. we thought, hahahaha, that this would be easier and safter than Flatiron. G was a trooper, though this was almost certainly a case of foolish parenting, made right only by Beckie and me being strong like ox. hauling G the stakes go up, and i think about being strong instead of being tired.

Monday New Years Eve: Saguaro Lake\Usery on the roadie.

New Years: family ride to Phon D

Thursday 1-3: Javalina to Mormon to National to Geronimo to Javalina, with Byron and Alex. fun fun fun, more fun, then i slid my wheel under a chain link fence 4 blocks from home and poked a hole in my sidewall. really. its even more unbelievable to write it down, than to have caused it to actually happen. do i know how to handle a bike? so i walked back to the car. i’m an idiot.

Saturday 1-5: Pass Mountain, then Red, White & Brew. Then i felt encouraged and in rhythm and just the least bit emboldened by vanilla porter, and decided today was the day i upped my free-riding. so i took Kila for a run, with my pads and my shoes and my helmet and my Heckler – gonna go play hard, why not be safe?! down to the church and we hit the staircase of 4 x 3 stairs about 5 times, and i cleared it up for the first time. down to the jump pit below Red Mountain Ranch for some reps. I hit 10 or so 2-3 footers, and really started to feel the feeling of getting the nose up on small jumps. then near the Hawes Walgreens there is a staircase with 2 flights of 7 and i got that for the first time – been psyched out by it for a looooong time.