Trails

11/9

Riding to the Pima Trails Association’s meeting/banquet turned into a bit of a fiasco. I knew we would be somewhat late, since I had to pick Paula up at Reid Park and pull her away from her workout. But as we headed away from the park, Paula crossed (legally) in front of a policeman, who then decided to pull her over. There happened to be another person matching Paula’s description riding her bike on the wrong side of the street, so he puller her over instead. I was still on the other side, so I minded my own business, pretending not to notice. I tried to hop over on the next street to meet up with Paula, but after being chased by dogs and looking for police on every corner I got completely mixed up and ended up on Tucson Blvd–which I thought was Broadway! After some time we eventually met up at the restaurant.

They presented me their “Extra Mile” award for building, protecting and (mostly) GPS’ing trails in Pima County. It is true that I’ve volunteered a bit of time, but I did feel that I owed the people in the room far more thanks than they could possibly owe me. I daily benefit from their strong work over the last few decades. My contribution, in that light, is almost insignificant. But I have been happy to help.

11/10

More AZT flagging. We hammered out quite a few tricky sections. This particular section (about 2 miles), when built, is going to be very fun to ride. Believe it or not, it will likely get completely built this weekend. I’ll be there Saturday to help get it done. But I must admit I enjoy the mental challenges of flagging/aligning the trail more than the actual construction.

In flagging these 2 miles I ended up walking over 6 miles, sometimes to get back to where we were going, but mostly wandering around, considering other possibilities or pulling flags from ideas abandoned. It was a calm, beautiful day out there. I couldn’t really imagine anything else I’d rather be doing. I can’t get enough of the Rincon Valley, it seems.

11/11

Woke up with a nasty head cold. I’ve been dribbling away the day, almost useless. I hope this devil bug’s exit will be as abrupt as its entrance. Tonight, fever is slowly setting in. But I suppose it is well timed, since I’m resting from the bike for a bit anyway. I promised myself no long rides for two weeks after the ride de soul.