The River Tao

Today’s walk: 1.6 mi., weather 75°, sunny. My ankle seems to have come around after a few days' rest. I decided to take the long grade uphill route just to get a little extra something into the walk. Don’t be too impressed though because the elevation gain is only 60'.

I’ve kept busy these past few days doing busywork. I think the worst habit I have is dawdling away the morning. Sometimes I’m not ready to get anything done until about 11AM or so, and then I wonder why the day is so short. Yesterday I slept in until 9 AM - a little unusual, but it’s not like I get up at 7 AM or so on a regular basis. Coffee, a walk, skimming the news/email, shower and breakfast seem to take up a good chunk of the morning.

The best day was Wednesday, when I got to take my first moto adventure. I took the Honda Trail 125 out on two of the nearby canyon roads just to see what I could do. The first canyon road just led to some private preserve, but it was very pretty. You get into these canyons and there are a lot of junipers and small pines that provide a good deal of cool shade. All the creeks are dry, however, as rain hasn’t apparently been much of a thing here for the past couple of months. I did drive up to Brown Canyon Ranch, which is a small historical site on the edge of the Coronado National Forest. I didn’t have my pass with me, so I turned around and drove up into some of the side roads.

I discovered I am not exactly a skilled “technical” rider. These back roads were rutted and full of rocks, and after a bit of time trying to ride over them, I realized I needed more skill. There was one uphill which was completely covered with rocks, and if there is one thing I have come to learn riding on dirt and rocks, gravity is not your friend. If you drop the bike going uphill, trying to pick it up against gravity and then mount it is really hard. If you’re going downhill, gravity wants you to go faster than you want to go, so braking and controlling speed without skidding out is also difficult. I decided to park the bike under a tree and take a little walk around instead. I took a few pictures of the scenery, had some water, and moved on.

The second canyon road was the Carr Canyon Road. This one I knew well, as I had attempted it the first time I came out here in 2014. That attempt was in a passenger car, and I backed out from going too far at that time. This time with the bike I managed to get up to the point where the gate was closed for the winter, and saw some nice views. The entire city of Sierra Vista was spread out in front of me. More pictures, a snack and some water, and then back down - slowly!

My next ride I hope will be over Montezuma Pass and a ride down the International Road, which runs along a picket fence that serves as the border between Mexico and Canada here (I’ve seen no signs of The Wall). Part of what I’ve been doing as busywork is setting up my replacement Garmin Zumo XT and getting it secure on the bike. I had intended to take a short ride today to test it out, but I didn’t sleep too well last night and succumbed to a nap instead. I like the Zumo because it’s waterproof and the screen is bright and large, but I hate it because it’s complicated to set up and modify with maps and routes. Garmin is a very frustrating company because they make the best hardware but the shittiest software. So I might take a short sprint tomorrow and see how it works.

I’m also getting back in the podcast saddle again. I have one interview scheduled, an email out for a second, and I have to get the third email out tomorrow or Monday. I did a little more organizing and choosing interview subjects, and I think at the moment I am set until the end of May. I usually take the summer off, and I think I might only do it for one more year. We will see when the time comes. It’s not much work, but it is something I have to pay attention to.

Two interesting observations on the weather. The combination of high temperature, low humidity and high altitude seems to occasionally make me feel a little woozy. Not enough to pass out or anything, but enough that I feel the need to sit for a moment or two. The sun is quite fierce, and the day can bring with it a swing of 40° from morning to afternoon back to evening. Also, because it’s so warm out, I equate warmth with summer and therefore with long days. But it’s still winter, and the sun sets here about 6:15. That throws me off, because all of a sudden it’s dark out, and in my head I was still thinking that after dinner I could go for a ride. Nope!

AML and I now have a schedule of touristy things to do in Tucson and Phoenix. A Renaissance Faire, a Sabino Canyon tram ride, a drive up the Catalina Highway, and a stop to get her iPhone SE battery replaced. We also have plans for spring training, the Grand Canyon, and some Phoenix attractions. I’m glad we got that done otherwise we’d be finished with this vacation before we knew it and would not have accomplished anything. I must say I do feel a little guilty at times when I look at the weather back home, but the light and warmth is truly a blessing, as I am not at home feeling depressed and suffering from SAD and cabin fever. I think we picked a pretty good winter to bug out.

I find Micro.blog’s photo uploading process quite clumsy and slow (one photo at a time), so here’s a Google Photo Album of a few pictures I took. I’m not a photographer; these were taken with my Pixel 7 phone. It’s enough for me.