Bandwidth

Last August I left California and moved to Arizona. Several trips back and forth at 500 miles each way was a total pain in the pocket and ass. Gas prices were cheaper in Arizona but the traffic in the Los Angeles traffic jungle are painful.

Yucca at sunrise

In Arizona I have Direct TV and can watch the morning news. We (my two dogs) are several hours drive from the Interstate 10 and the morning traffic reports. All of this reporting in a waste of time as where I am we don't even have a traffic signal and the country road is at the end. 

my house

The pictures here are entirely random as I need to do some planning.

My connection to the internet is through a Verizon phone that has a mobile hot spot. It is not surper fast but it does work. On the Telly several vendors are pushing for DSL sales but I am beyond their reach. 

spring flowers

The elevation here is 4250 feet and the mountain across the way is 2 thousand higher. This winter it snowed several times breaking some snowfall records. 

Court House Butte

Since I moved here I bought a 29 inch bike on EBay that was a total POS, then other one that was much better but the front shocks needed upgrading. So I got the upgrade discount and the front fork was tapered so my headset didn't work. I made a bushing out of discarded copper wire and it kinda worked but not very well. 

So after much wasted time I bought a Marin hard tail bare bone frame. It took quite a while to build it using parts from another bike but now it is almost finished, no bicycle is ever finished.

Big Dog in Creek

Another waste is television trying to sell me something I can't buy. The Village of Oak Creek which is 2 miles away has a Subway and a Wendy. No Starbucks, no Big Macs, No Taco Bell but three bicycle stores.

second 29 inch

My mailing address says Sedona but It is a ten mile drive to get there. Cottonwood is 22 miles if you drive through Cornville on the way to Wally Mart.

Flagstaff is an hour drive away. 

More Winter

The last day of the year is here

Looking out my window to the south I see two dozen small birds

Scurrying in the snow

They are flying about from the tree branches

They dive down to the bird feeder below

It has been snowing since early morning

The weather man on Channel 5 said the mountain snow would start at noon

But he lives in Phoenix or maybe Yuma

The snow is almost a foot deep

My German Shepherd thinks he is in heaven

By three o'clock the snow still in falling

One minute from the north, then from the south

Riding in the Snow

Well the rain and snow that came through Wednesday left its mark in the desert. My plan for Saturday was to go out to El Mirage and ride my Yamaha but I was afraid it would be too dam cold. The weather report for the area was showing a low temperature report of 14 degrees in the morning and a high of 41.

So I included bundles of clothing and a blanket but that wasn't necessary as a t-shirt would do as the sun was bright and the blanket of snow reflected the sun's energy to make for a more than pleasant day. Riding with a parka on in the snow made you to warm and trying it without it made you too cold. The effort to stay straight and upright required a great effort in muscling the handlebars. You never knew if the rear tire would break through the snow and give you some traction.

If you got the bike moving fast enough it would float through the snow making riding woops or sand washes a total blast. Powder would blow up off the front wheel and your rear wheel would throw up a giant rooster tail which would land on the back of your seat. After a while your butt would get wet and cold so would would have to stop and dry out and rest your arms. There was snow everywhere and without tracks as nobody had been out riding since the snow dumped.

The lake bed has been closed since the previous rain but with all the snow cover cross country skiing may be an option (if you like it flat). All the white flatness reminds me of Bonneville.