September rides

[emily_in_nc]

Good luck re-adapting to the chilly weather, NWG! We too have dodged a few tumbleweeds over the past few years while traveling in various spots! They're still kind of cool to me, growing up in NC and never seeing one until a few years ago!

I think I could live in Florida half the year; not sure about the other half. To me the ideal would be Florida or Arizona for a third of the year (winter) and somewhere north (probably Oregon, Washington, or Minnesota) for a third (summer), then traveling the other third (shoulder seasons). We may well evolve to something like that in our RV rather than racing around quite as much as we have this first year. It's been fun, but I doubt we'll keep up this pace forever!

[north woods gal]

I understand, Emily. I think it would be fun to do all that traveling, day after day, but not sure I could keep up the pace. Sooner or later, my nesting instinct would get the best of me and I'd want to to settle in to an area a bit.

Woke up, this morning, to high winds, temps in the upper 40s and a very cold rain - Florida, this ain't. Looks like indoor riding on the trainer, today, but after traveling all day, yesterday via plane and car with no riding, I really NEED to ride. I find that riding helps me to regain my balance, so to speak, anytime I've had a break in my routine. Just one of many, many benefits of riding, of course.

[Sky King]

Tumbleweeds... Last year the DH got a flat tire when the tumbleweed caught in his spoke actually stabbed through the hole in the rabbit rims on his Surly Troll. Over labor day weekend we fought them for several stretches in the Jabridge desert but thankfully no flats.

This past weekend we finally had our first Owyhee Pedal Patrol trip. The Wilderness Ranger at the BLM office is a customer of the shop and he put together this great program of volunteers. We are all Leave no Trace certified and have up to date First Aid and CPR. This trip there was only 4 of us. We camped together Friday night and rode about 6 miles as a group on Saturday then we split into 2 groups to check out specific areas of the Owyhee Wilderness. The DH and I had an awesome camp site overlooking the river. We hiked down to filter water and even saw a fish. Happy to say we didn't see any people besides the two other riders we went with. Sunday we met up about 1:30 and then had the "joy" of climbing back up to the truck - about 4,000 foot elevation gain. We were really pooped. Had to laugh at the Ranger as he learned the valuable lesson of never passing up the opportunity to filter water and top off your supply. We all shared water and we knew there was a spring about 2 miles before we ended the ride. By the time we got there everyone was out of water. We saw Antelope, Deer, coyote and a rattlesnake and the other team saw some elk. Super fun but I am really tired today!
I put a bunch of photos on our facebook page so won't go wild here.

[north woods gal]

Thanks, Sky. Have always liked that area for its stark, rugged beauty and, of course, its isolation. I could be happy, there, rattlesnakes and all.

As for my riding, had planned to sit out the cold and rain, yesterday, my first day back from sunny Florida, but being trapped in a house always drives me nuts, so bundled up, put on the rain gear and just hit the trails around the house for an hour with the fat bike. Had to hose down the big Salsa to remove all the mud when I was done, but that's all part of the game when you ride in dirt on a rainy day. Yeah, send me some of that Owyhee dryness my way.

[emily_in_nc]

Ewww, that sounds like a messy and chilly ride, NWG. I am sure I would have ridden the trainer. I hate mud -- walking in it, riding in it, hiking in it. Just don't like the mess of it nor how it feels underfoot. Ugh.

We are in Kansas now and had a really nice ride today. The campground is HUGE and along a beautiful reservoir, so riding around that a few times plus the road in and out netted me 27 miles. Temps were 65-75 with a light breeze and sunshine. Almost no one here this time of year, so I got passed by maybe 2 cars in 2 hours. Really nice! And I'm breathing much easier being down in the lower elevations again. The mountains are gorgeous, but the elevation made even a little bit of climbing tough for me.

[emily_in_nc]

Meant to add that I just published a blog post on cycling in Dinosaur National Monument, Utah. It was just lovely! This was a couple of weeks ago.

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...ional-monument

[north woods gal]

Know what you mean about the elevation thing, Emily. Really is a factor, especially when you don't live in a high elevation, year round.

As for the mud thing, well, it's all part of the mountain bike image, I suppose. As they say, a clean mountain bike is a mountain bike that is not being used. For sure, I HATE indoor riding and will be doing enough of that this winter when temps fall well below zero. Would rather ride in the rain or even snow, any day. An indoor girl, I have never been.

That Florida heat and sunshine was nice, though, now that I'm back to my north woods. The memory should helpto keep me warm on my upcoming winter rides in the snow with the fat bike.

PS Really enjoying your blogs!