Spring is finally here

And I'm learning what all the hype surrounding Flagstaff is about. For the last month or so, as soon as the temperatures were high enough to not need a jacket, the wind picked up. No one told me about the wind in Flagstaff, but it's serious. Springtime wind is on average above 20 mph, with gusts around 40 mph. Then, yesterday it just stopped. Now that the weather is warming up, the trails are drying and it's time to ride bikes. I'm about a ten minute bike ride (on bike paths) to some amazing trails and I am feigning hard. Not being in school has freed up a lot more time for riding. Despite the fact that I'm working full time, I'm still riding more than ever. The sun comes up around 5:30 am these days and I'm starting to ride in the morning before work, and squeezin in about three rides on my days off. Yay. Here's a couple photos of those aforementioned rides.

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Thomas, a super nice dude on a summer bike tour stayed with us and we rode with him out of town

dirt road southeast of town

rad canyon wall along the Arizona Trail

AZT just south of town

the road bike rejuvenated

Superstition Wilderness Backpacking trip

This past weekend Lisa and I checked out the Superstition Wilderness which is about 45 miles east of Phoenix. It was already getting hot, but there was still a good amount of water. This place couldn't be any more different than the Humboldt Redwoods, where everything is soft and wet. Everything here wants to cut, scrape or poke you and with the exception of a few seasonal creeks is extremely hot and dry and we were very happy to be done hiking after three days. Nonetheless it was incredibly pretty and provided some amazing views. Here is a link to more photos.

Catching up.....

The last month and a half I was working for a small (one person) company that makes white water river gear. I was sewing bags of varying sizes and shapes which although wasn't extremely enjoyable, was a good learning experience. I have been wanting to improve my sewing skills and have been contemplating going into production making bicycle touring bags. I impulsively bought an industrial sewing machine and just finished my first project on it.  I made a one person, light weight (15 oz.) tent, something I've been wanting to make for quite a while. It's not the prettiest thing but it should serve me well. 

Winter is still going strong here, I'm used to the mild and short, almost non-existent California winters where you can still ride your bike on trails, or at least dirt roads. I tried going on a ride today, but came across more snow and mud than is allotted for an enjoyable ride. So it looks like we'll have to continue heading south for fun. 

In other news, next week I start my new job at Absolute Bikes. Pretty excited to be working in town (last job was 7.5 miles away), and to be working on bikes with cool folks. I took this week off, to go riding or backpacking, not sure which, but I will be sure to post some photos of whatever I do. 

photos of the recent past

most of these photos are various excursions  

made to Sedona to escape the cold and snow

view from Cathedral Rock

riding some dirt

Jakob and Lily made a visit

hard to tell from the photo but this was some massive gnarly canyon wall we hiked up

Not Sedona - Old Munds HWY passing under HWY-17

Kachina trail

home for the holidays

SF action

Tide pools in Pescadero

Jack, Tim and Lisa searching for sea critters

buddies

this guys was rad, I'm not sure what the heck it is though

Greg and I on our way to Fairfax/Tam from Santa Rosa

East Peak

one of many impressive views from Mt. Tam