I finally got out on the trails up here in flag today. I rode the bottom of schultz and dog food both directions, and then still had some time so I jetted up rocky ridge and back down before dark. In case you were wondering, they were both pretty clear of snow (read: dry as a bone). That’s a good thing for right now, because it’s nice for early season riding. I’ll let you know in a few months when it’s dry as a bone here, and I’m going through the ‘damn, I might have to buy a road bike because the forest is up in flames’ phase again.

I wish I could say that I felt pretty good, but the truth is that I was slow, both in speed and reaction time. My legs felt OK, but my lungs hate me. Thus is the plight of riding at 7000 feet and losing conditioning over the winter. So it goes. I’ve got a little time before the whiskey to acclimate.

Rode in sedona on sunday with Dan and Ben. It was pretty fun, except the mechanicals, and the crashes, and the general crappy riding we were all doing. We did a ride that should have taken in the realm of 1.5 hours, we were out for over 3. Ben went over the bars, and broke the chain on his 29er singlespeed 3 times (he ran the last 1/2 mile, because at that point it really didn’t matter). I had a spectacular crash when I washed out around a turn at high speeds, and had two flats. My crash gashed up my arm pretty bad, and therefore left a puddle of blood and water on the rocks where I washed it out which most likely rivaled a dinner with charles manson’s family. I’m sure it disturbed some people who came along after us. Mission accomplished.

If you have a strong stomach, you can see the carnage of my arm here. If you don’t I wouldn’t recommend it.

Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering, we hosed it out with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol, and slapped some butterfly bandages on it. I now know the feeling of exposed nerve endings burning. It’s a rush, lemmie tell you.

A quick admin note: If you have ever gotten frustrated posting a comment because you have to be a registered member, fear not, I have listened to the voice of the people. No more being logged in (or even registered) to post a comment, just do it up. There’s a little random word you have to type in to make sure you’re not a spambot, but other than that, have at it. However, if you are registered and logged in, you don’t have to do that, and it fills your info out for you. Never let it be said that I didn’t listen to my loyal readers (all 3 of you).

Oh yeah, and before anyone asks, I did come up with the list of 20 or so random words. I am taking suggestions for other amusing words to make people type when they post. No random strings of numbers and letters here, just pure adolescent humor.

Finally, I leave you with what came of my face when I got ahold of j-money’s new macbook pro and some little program on there called photo booth.

Eat your heart out andy warhol.