Fat Camp Day 1

We picked up Nick on the way back from Fort Huachuca Saturday night. He is spending his spring break out here with us while we are on ours.

We started out Sunday with breakfast at the lake followed by a quick walk for the doodle. It was the first time we've seen these birds. Zach thought they were loons. There was one in the water and he'd dive down and stay under for what seemed like minutes. We had to walk right under this tree.

After that we packed up and headed over to Granite Mountain.

Based on his appearance, Zach and I were not expecting much of Nick. I was thinking we'd ride 347 (which is gradual, but rolling, climbing the entire way) from the Williamson Valley Trailhead then turn around and head back down. We ended up doing 347 to 348 and over to Mint Wash via 352. Rode thru Cayuse and up 349. Back to Cayuse up 346 and finally headed back down 347 to the car. I'm thinking we did around 15.5 miles. Not too bad for a kid from Illinois who's been riding once a week. And he's totally got the technical skills. Downhill, uphill. He was clearing everything. He'd just slow down a little (sometimes alot) on the climbs. To be honest, he was descending down stuff it took me a year to muster up the courage to do and he was climbing technical stuff that I still sometimes don't make. Brat.

At the top of 347, getting ready for our ride down.


We finished the day at the Brew Pub and Coyote Joes, but not before Nick cleared out with the neti pot.

Fat boy slim

Cookies

Tim and Elizabeth came up from Tucson this weekend to hang out and see the Christmas lights in Prescott. They got in around 7pm on Friday night. We were all kinda beat, so after catching up a little we went and had some In n Out burger and pretty much called it a night.

Saturday morning we drove up to the Lynx Lake cafe to find the gates closed for a month. They completely shut down from Dec 1st until mid January. Good for them, bad for me. No yummy french toast.

So we hit the Dinner Bell downtown Prescott instead. That worked out fine because then we were right there to go hike a loop at Thumb Butte.

When we got back home, Zach and Tim suited up and we all jumped back in the car. Elizabeth and I dropped them off at White Spar campground. They started their ride on 396.

From there we drove around and looked at the houses off of Copper Basin Road. A really neat little community with steep, narrow roads up in the pines with granite boulders that make up many of the yards. And then we did the drive that I've been wanting to do since I rode the area last weekend with Becker.

We headed up Senator Hwy and came back down Walker Rd (which parallels the 305). The drive takes you up by Spruce Mt and then down past Mt Union, which is the highest point in Yavapai County. And right where the two roads meet is Hassayampa Lake. It's a small dammed lake that is now privately owned high up in the mountains. It is completely unexpected. Of course I didn't have the camera with. It was an awesome drive with beautiful views along the way. Both roads start out paved but turn to gravel and it's a single lane road most of the way. It was a little scary that day because there was snow/rain in the forecast and the sky looked like it was going to storm. I was relieved to hit the pavement again!! That will be an awesome ride to do some day.

We went home and waited for Zach and Tim to make it back from their ride. We had a hard time getting Tim to take off the vest he borrowed. He wanted to wear it out that night, but we talked him out of it.

We (or I should say TIM) cooked dinner and then headed out to our new favorite night spot, the Raven. Get this - Saturday night happy hour from 9 till midnight! It was a really fun night out. Elizabeth and I had an interesting night of trying new things.

Sunday morning brought Zach's famous biscuits and gravy and a lot of laying around. Thank goodness for Elizabeth who got us motivated to go for a hike. We decided on Granite Basin. It was an awesome hike.

By the time we got home it was around 4, so Tim and Elizabeth packed up and started the trip back to Tucson.

Thursday ride

After building Mike's bike, the 3 of them went out for a ride from the Little Granite trailhead. Not a course I would choose 2 days before a 50 mile mountain bike race, but I was working that day.

Here's the Garmin data.



There was only one option for dinner. We went out for Mexican to a place Zach and I have not been yet. It was good.

(This is the before shot)

What the?

Backtrack

I have a problem when I get preoccupied and neglect the blog. I have a hard time not going back a little and at least highlighting on the major events. So here we go.

We went on some great rides while Zach was off. Christmas Eve was a tough ride. We climbed and climbed and kept on climbing (62 to 9854 to 299, up 52A to 297 and down to 305). All the work paid off though, heading down 297 and 305 is such a blast.

Zach on 62











Me on 297











That night we went to dinner with Ken and Pat...I think we went to The Office. But before dinner Pat and I treated ourselves to Egg Nog with a little nutmeg and JB. We thought of the other Stanford women who were not with us to join in the fun. (I've decided I like mixing my own vs the gut rot from years past).



Christmas day we drove up Iron Springs Rd to ride out to Granite Mt. We did 37 to 40 up the road a little to 351, 346 and did an out and back on 347. Then took the new 332 back to Iron Springs Rd and rode that back up to the trailhead. That is a fantastic loop. You start off climbing for about 15 minutes and then head down 40 which starts off with big drops, roots and eroded gullies.

That afternoon K&P came over to our house for a nice simple Christmas dinner.

The next couple of days were cold, cold, cold. We had to wear full winter gear at least two of the days.











And then thank goodness we took care of this table before Ken and Pat left; it took all 4 of us to rig it up so the glue could dry properly.

fluorescent illini

Saturday's ride. Parked at trailhead 37. Both of us completely overdressed. The last time we checked before we left the house it was 23. It probably got up into the high 40s.

Rode 37 to 40, then down and back up 347. Back to the trailhead via 332 and Iron Springs Rd. It was a great loop. First time we've done that one. We saw a big group of riders and knew a few of the people.












His house











Stylin

The Fisher and Bob

Wow, this is getting bad. I'm writing on Thursday about our Sunday ride.

We were meeting Robert at Granite at 7:30. We were a little late. It was hectic trying to get out of the house that morning for some reason. We were very unorganized. I had unpacked Zach's jersey from the Element, so we had to go back and get one for him, and I was riding a new bike. The front rotor was rubbing the brake and we needed to grab the right tools so we could fix it at the trail.

We finally made it Williamson Valley Trailhead and met young Ian (the 21 year old) who was joining the ride also. Didn't know what to make of him, he was in a cotton t-shirt with a Top Fuel. The ride was fun, not super hard, I was glad. I was recovering from the Skull Valley Loop ride from the day before. We stopped alot and chatted. Ian was struggling up the long climb on the way out. Turns out Ian is coaching track at one of the Prescott High Schools and is working on his Physical Education degree! He has been running, but bought the Fuel this summer in hopes of getting back into biking.

This ride was especially exciting for a few reasons. Number 1: I have had the Procaliber for 2 months now. Before we moved, Zach became obsessed with getting me a full suspension race bike. He figured I would get more use out of a second full suspension bike in Arizona, versus keeping 2 steel hard tails. He wanted me to get rid of the salsa to come up with the cash for the new bike (I would have preferred keeping the salsa and getting a new bike, but that wasn't in the cards). So we did it; he found a buyer and ordered the Procaliber. It arrived at Sumbaum's just a few days before we left, so we left it in the box for the move out. Zach built it up in the first few days we were here, but I wanted to get used to the riding out here before taking it out. Plus they forgot to pack the little metal crank arm end protector things. With the way the rest of my crank arms look, I wasn't going to ride it until I picked up a set of those.

The point of all of this is that I had not realized what a freaking awesome bike I had, sitting there waiting for me. The fit is great and the components are incredible!! Check it out. I haven't been this excited over a bike since the Sycip. There are a few minor adjustments I need to make. The pressure in both shocks is too high, and my shrimpy thumb has a hard time reaching the lockout. I think I just need to slide the shifters and the lockout towards the grips a little. Wow, what a bike.

The second cool thing about this ride was that we met a few new people and saw the California group (Peggy, Pete - the 65 yr old, and Jim) at the trailhead. It was neat to run into people that we have met before. Towards the end of the ride, Robert and Zach took the more technical way back to the parking lot (the trail where I smacked my knee cap) and Ian and I took the more tame, haul-ass way back. A rider that Zach and I had spotted on two other occasions followed Ian and I. His name is Bob Berry. You can tell by looking at Bob that he rides a ton. He's on a carbon Trek hardtail that is just beat to crap. I don't know how it's still ridable. He just moved here from Tahoe (Mike, his remarks mirrored yours - loved it out there, but his job didn't work out). Bob was finishing up a 35 mile off road loop. Not too bad for a Sunday morning before getting back to his family. After talking to him for a few minutes, I'm thinking - this is the guy that Zach has too hook up with to ride. Zach has had a hard time finding someone that his looking for the same.....abuse... that he is. We may have found a good suffer partner in Bob.

Weekend recap

Had a couple of good rides this weekend. Friday we stayed close to home and hit Granite. Did the same loop as last weekend, but did one section in the reverse direction. It was pretty hard. It felt like alot more climbing!!! Zach was a little crabby...which you can see from one of the pictures. He wasn't feeling so great.

Saturday we did the Skull Valley Loop (we did a portion of it last weekend). It's a 54 mile road loop with only 2 turns! It starts off at the Safeway on 89 (South side of town) and heads north. The road twists and turns and changes names a few times through town until it turns into Iron Springs Road. We made our way through a short patch of construction and started climbing. Up, up, up, up and uuuupppppp Iron Springs for a good....10 miles give or take. Amazing views from the top. Then you start heading through some ups and downs, and then down for a good while into Skull Valley. Hang a left at the Kirkland bar, cruise along for a short bit, and then hang another left back onto 89. Once you are back on 89, it is a long grind up to Wilhoit. I was holding about 8 miles an hour. Really wiped on that section for some reason. Zach was going nuts. I could not hang on to any acceleration.

I was so grateful to see the Corner store in Wilhoit. I brought one dollar. Forgot to bring food. Went inside and headed straight for the candy bar aisle. Politely asked how much the candy bars cost...I only have one dollar. They are all seventy five cents. But if there is anything else you need, you just go ahead and take it and you can pay me back next time you're through. We get all sorts of you riders in here and that's how we do it here.

How about that. I went right ahead and grabbed a diet dr pepper. Gave her my dollar and promised to pay the 50 cents back next time we were through. (Zach quickly informed me that I should have gotten a regular instead of diet). A snickers bar and diet dr pepper never tasted so good. That did the trick.

Once you reach the corner store I think it's still a 3 or 4 mile climb up before heading back down. I never thought I was going to make it.

The road twists and turns along the side of the mountains so there are countless switchbacks where you can see the road heading up on the next mountain side. Nothing too terribly steep, but mentally it is a challenge to see those climbs approaching. Zach loves it because he can spot other riders and speed ahead to try and catch them. The first group he found he quickly came back and told me that I could catch them. Funny, that was all it took and I somehow seemed to find a little pep in my pedaling. It also helped once I shifted into the granny. I know, kinda pathetic, but I've never been proud. I love my granny gears...even on the road bike. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can ween myself off of it. We caught that first group of 2 as they were pulling off the road to regroup with their other riders. They had a support van (I wonder if they did the full 100?). A few of them didn't rest for long; they were trying to bridge the gap back to us but we didn't let that happen. One of these days we'll take the camera and get some pictures on that loop. It is really breathtaking.

Sunday deserves it's own post. More later.

We Got People

Okay, not quite, but we are making progress.

I added my name to the Prescott Cycling Group's email list this week. After only a few days of being on the list it seems they are really good about keeping everyone informed about the various group rides that are going on. Zach decided on a potential all-dayer for this morning. I decided to go out with the group that moved here from California that we met our first week out here at Thumb Butte. I've seen them once out at Granite and Zach and I ran into them this past week also. Up until today I couldn't quite put my finger on their age.

I met Pete and Peggy at 7:15 (I was on time!!) this morning out at the Cayuse, one of the trailheads at Granite Basin. We did some of the same trails that Zach and I have ridden, but in a different direction.

It was about an hour and a half ride. At the start I brought up the rear, but after the first climb, Peggy had me ride in front of her. Pete and I would ride together and wait for Peggy at the top of any climb. It didn't take long before I heard the basics of their story. Peggy and Jim and Pete and his wife are all from Southern California. Jim and Pete are old biking buddies (they've been riding for 10 yrs). Peggy and Jim moved here a few years ago and built a house. Pete and his wife moved from their original location in Cal. to an area farther out. After they moved, they quickly decided that it was still Southern Cal and still too busy. They ended up having the same builder build them a house down the street from Peggy and Jim. Over the last year and a half they have ridden just about every great mt biking area in the region. Utah, Colorado, Arizona...their list was really long.

At one point while Pete and I were waiting for Peggy, I mentioned how lovely the morning was and how biking has to be one of the greatest forms of exercise. He quickly agreed and started talking about all of the other benefits of biking...then mentioned that he does have to lift weights to keep his upper body strong...especially at 65!!!!! This guy was softpedaling our entire ride!!!! Holy cow. Can't believe how strong this guy is. I can't wait for him and Zach and Jim to go out sometime. I am not kidding when I say I'm not sure who is the stronger rider.

I also found out that Peggy has only been riding a year and a half. She has recently dropped 30 pounds...she was up at 188. So she doesn't quite have the endurance that Pete has but she is certainly a skilled rider for the amount of time she's been riding. It was really cool to hear her story.

It was a fun morning. I asked a million questions [Pat, I reminded myself of you:)] at every stop. I am sure I made them late to their next "appointment" at the local swap meet.

Zach rode for about 5 hours with some stops along along the way. Hit some spots we probably wouldn't have tried on our own. Tomorrow morning we are doing a group road ride. There's a 54 mile memorial ride coming up September 16th we want to prepare for.

Bang

Went the left kneecap on the big boulder.




Darnit, I very much dislike injuries. It was such a nice ride too. Did the 347 again but went a little farther today. Out onto 332 which Zach and I did on Sunday. On the way back I took 345 to the lot instead of staying on 347. 345 takes you closer to Granite Mt and it has lots of rocks and boulders compared to the mostly smooth 347. Here's a coupla pictures from Sunday and today. Mike inspired me to try the timer function on the camera. I had to pull out the manual to remind myself how to do it.

Aug 10, Friday morning walk

Yes, that is Zach and Grace out for a walk on a Friday morning. One of the perks of his job is a 4 day school week. He will end up working only 1 or two Fridays of each month. The days he is teaching though are a bit longer compared to a traditional school day. So far he likes the schedule. We are heading back to the Williamson Valley trailhead on the 308.

August 4, Yardwork, Granite, The Last Supper

The first real off-road ride. Thumb Butte only took us about 45 minutes and Groom Creek was a bust because of the rain. We left our hired help back at the house to finish up the yardwork. It was really taking them way too long to get the yard in decent condition. If anyone can recommend some good help that we can hire, please let us know.

Earlier in the week, Ken, Pat, Grace and I stumbled upon Ironclad Bicycles in Prescott. Pete gave me a few a trails to try out, so we packed up the car and headed back to Granite Mt. This time we headed south on 347.

The trail starts out fairly flat, dirt/sand mixture, little ups and downs. You are pedaling along with houses that are off of Williamson Valley Rd on one side and Granite Mt on the other. After a short time you head west and start a gradual, rocky climb up to the junction where 347 and 345 meet. Turn south, head through the gate and this is where it gets interesting.

The trail turns into fun ups and downs, twists and turns, a little bit of sand, and a nice mixture of rocky sections, slickrock, and flat smooth sections. With all of this fun stuff comes a constant gradual climb up. The first time we rode the 347, I did not think it was so fun. It's hard to find enjoyment when you are in a constant state of oxygen deprivation. I don't know if it was my lack of fitness or the altitude, but I could not breath. My legs had no spunk. I was hurting. So when Zach thought it would be funny to tire rub me on almost every climb, I started to get a little bit crabby. Plus the sand was still damp from the rain, and it felt like pin pricks when it flew up and hit my legs. I had to stop many times to catch my breath. Had to walk up a few hills. But then we got to the end and turned around and it was sheer bliss. The perfect combination of heading back down combined with just enough climbing. Zach thinks it may be the most fun he has ever had riding. At the end of the ride that day, I didn't think so. I thought he was crazy. I was so exhausted. But since then I have gone back when the sand wasn't wet and I went solo. I took my time on the way out so I could breath more evenly and understand better (ie.. my brain was able to process and absorb the ride instead constantly being on the verge of blacking out) why he loved it so much. And now I understand. The 347 is where Zach will take Adam and Aaron when they come visit in October with Stacy and Amy.

That night was the night before Ken and Pat headed back to Plainfield. They really took care of us in so many ways while they were here. We went back to the Prescott Brewing Company for dinner. MMMmmmm..they have good food and good beer.

2nd Ride, Saturday July 28

2nd ride, 2 days later. Again, we hopped on the bikes and left right from the house. Headed out to Granite Mountain, where Zach and K&P had been walking Grace. It's an 11 mile paved road ride to the trailhead, gradually climbing most of the way. I'm thinkin it took us about 45 minutes to get out there. Once there, we didn't last long on the trail we chose because it got pretty rocky. Zach was on this Wojcik and I was on my cross bike. I'm not sure what the look on my face is all about.