High Jinx

Fritz is in town, and it was my (self-appointed) job to find lines that scare him. We did a loop of the lower 50 and chutes with Paula, then headed for the High 50. It’s always good riding up there, and the weather couldn’t have been better.

How do you know Fritz is being challenged? Two words: “Oh boy.” He uttered those words on the above spine. Also on the move below.

Damn impressive stuff. He rode anything I pointed him to.

This one is scary — it doesn’t look it in the pic, but the top of that rock is concave, resulting in some free fall action. He reported that his rear tire was off the ground for WAY too long.

He found a great way to cut across the same rock (above). He’s the wall ride master. He rolled out smoothly, grabbing a handful of brake in order to avoid the ensuing cholla catcus in his path. There was a bit of grass that shouldn’t have been slippery, but he wiped out like he was on ice. I wasn’t expecting it at all.

Most Catalina moves add to the excitement by having almost no run-out. You land and have 0.05 seconds to slow down and turn to avoid vegetation. I had a run in with cholla as well, after coming off one of the steeps on the descent to mid-gate. Didn’t quite make the turn and ended up nose wheelie-ing into the cholla. I kept my arms in the bars and brought it back down, so the damage was just some spines in the back of my neck (!!).

I had a pretty good day, being forced to ride up a level. I rode several moves that I had only done once before, and only after much analysis and watching others ride. Fritz takes about 3 seconds to look at a move, then he’s on his bike riding it. Ridiculous.

Blazing a trail through the sonoran desert. This weekend was also an AZT event. I was assigned “TR” (technical resource) duties. One TR for eight crews meant I put some good miles in on the boots. Biggest challenge was making sure all the crews finished their sections, and where to direct those that finished early. There were a few route questions, and a few route errors, as well. Overall we got a good distance of trail built.

There are some champion trail builders out there. Such a great group of people.

The other challenge of the day was breaking in to my car. I had my house and ignition keys, but not the door key. It was sitting on the dash from when I gave it to Paula while she ran. Doh! With Tim and Zach’s help we were able to roll the window down using a piece of a ranch fence. Who knew a ranch fence would actually be good for something.