T-shirt Touring in December

With my last papers turned in for the semester, we celebrated the beginning of winter break with a short 4-day bike tour. The route totaled 155 miles of dirt and back roads, taking us from Sedona to Jerome, Prescott, Camp Verde, and finally back to Sedona. At first I thought 50 mile days would be a breeze, however I soon realized that dirt "roads," short winter days, and my protesting legs that haven't seen a loaded bike since the summer, makes for a challenging and full day.

We learned several things during the trip. One is that it's hard to predict the condition of backroads in Arizona, and that many of these roads aren't marked at all; there were several "where in the world are we" moments and plenty of backtracking to get on course. One road that we planned to take for about 20 miles ended up being pretty much a giant un-rideable sand trap that wound through rugged no-man's land hills of the desert. The alternative route ended up in mixed blessing of unsigned middle-of knowhere hike and bike hill climbing, followed by an insanely steep/treacherous descent into a canyon, followed by one of the best rides I've ever had, darting through rock fields in a lush oak and cottonwood lined river canyon. That about sums up the trip: insanely burly riding, epic views, and best rides ever, all in a t-shirt in December. Weird. Here are a few pictures, the rest are here.

Our first taste of dirt riding leaving Sedona

Derek over the hood of a law enforcement car. Not in handcuffs!

Looking down on Jerome after the long climb up

Day 2 Leaving Jerome

Javelina

The faces of Derek: Happy Beer Face

Happy Snickers Face

Happy Downhill Face

Looking down on Camp Verde

The Rawland lives!

Here's the new bike that has been in the works this winter, a Rawland Drakkar:

It's a steel frame all around awesome go anywhere bike designed for 650b or 29er wheels. I chose sturdy Velocity Dyad 650b's since the plan is to use it for loaded touring. Disc brakes, mountain gearing, a tall head tube and Salsa dirt drop bars round it out as a comfy dirt touring bike that fits like a glove. Since I was breaking the piggy bank, I sprung for these as well:

Our first test ride was through muddy snow covered Forest Service roads just south of Flagstaff. Strangely I don't have any pictures, although Derek has some up on his site. We rolled though mud, rubble, and 6 inch thick snow drifts which were actually a lot nicer to ride through than the mud. We also got lost just enough to put a little fear into my gut, making it back in time to load the car while a fiery sunset lit up the hills.

Over the whole sliding around in the mud and snow thing, we headed down the hill 25 miles to the red rocks of Sedona for a ride along the Bell Rock trail. It was fun, especially since we were riding bikes in t-shirts in December. The final verdict on the new bike is I couldn't be happier. It fits great, handles great, and at 27lbs isn't too shabby for a touring bike.

 

Sustainable Food Documentary Series

This guy is awesome. He is making a series of short films (as in about 5 minutes each), of his adventures in sustainable eating in Minnesota. Think bearded young man learning about morel hunting, squirrel hunting, cranberry harvesting, etc, to gypsy folk punk bluegrass music.

http://theperennialplate.com/

We're Moving!

Slightly boring picture of our new place which is actually not in any way boring

My roommate and I went last night to look at a new house to move into and couldn't stop giggling like high school girls as we walked around. The place is amazing and we're so excited; I could barely sleep last night from the anticipation of moving in. It has solar panels, raised garden beds, a full garage, a mudroom, a chicken coop, and the list goes on. It's the most amazing place for a biker/gardener/cook/musician/social person who likes to have people over. The fact that we're trading in our townhouse for this and will be paying less rent is even better! Either we have good (make that amazing) karma, or we're getting away with murder.
As the semester draws to an end, those pesky papers and final class meetings, bike builds, and holidays, are an exciting sign that I made it through a semester of grad school and life in a new place, but I can't help but wish it would all go by faster so we can move into our new house in December and I can cozy up by the fire and plan a garden. Better pictures to come!

Greetings From Arizona!

To get some friends and family caught up on the latest, here are some pictures and descriptions of what has been going on this fall.

After a summer of botany work and stints of bike touring I packed up and moved to Arizona for grad school. For those who know me well the traveling part shouldn't be such a shock, however the proximity (or lack there of) to the ocean should be. Rest assured I didn't just move to just anywhere in Arizona, so wipe the idea of dry desert, heat, and towering saguaro cactus from your mind. Flagstaff is a beautiful mountain town with about 60,000 people. We're situated at about 7,000 feet in elevation and are on the western edge of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in the US. Several blocks from my house is hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, cross country skiing in the winter, and of course bars with good beer (oddly a lot of delicious California beer which reminds me of home).

For the first time I have a drivers license from a different state than California. It looks like a fake ID and I'm still surprised to find it in my wallet when I'm carded at the bar. For the first time I also voted in a red state where I'm in the minority; mom will be happy she has her vote back (we always canceled each other out). Living here is a weird blend of newness and excitement along with possibilities and challenges. I'm quickly falling in love with this place and I think it was a good move. My roommate and I are looking at a new house later this week and it has me very excited about the prospect of getting carried away with a big garden, chickens, a workshop space for bikes, art and other projects, and of course sharing it with my boyfriend Derek who is coming out from California.

School is going as well as it can for someone who has spent the last two years free from it. At times I wonder what the hell I'm doing in the strange world of academia, and at other times I'm so glad to be challenged again and to benefit from what grad school can offer. My program is a hippie one for sure. We meditated in class last week and devoted a whole month to political organizing. It's interdisciplinary though, which is where I thrive, so my thesis on making community level sustainable agriculture socially sustainable and just is more possible here than it would be at most schools.

Enough talk, more pictures:

The drive out from California

Down the mountain 30 miles to the warmth and red rocks of Sedona

Signs of fall on campus

Part of the urban gardening program on campus that I organize

Halloween at the neat bike shop where I work

Climbing with great people in beautiful places

 

The view from what will hopefully be my new neighborhood!

Because there isn't enough going on in life

Yup, here we go. We'll see how long the blogging phase lasts.