early bird

Up at 3:30 am. With the Coconino 250 looming on the horizon I felt the need to lay down a few miles than I normally would on Sunday (I'm still going to be out of shape).
I rode from home with some vague idea to meet up with an mtbr ride.




































As I rode down Central Ave. I rode right past a scene that looked like it was about to be a felony stop.
I rode a little faster.
We've been getting some rain and it was muggy.














There was a line of cars at the entrance waiting for the gates to open. I chuckled as I rode past them all and made my way into the largest city park in the USA (over 16K acres).

I rode up to Buena Vista Lookout to join National trail.




























I was sitting at the top of 24th St. waiting for the group ride when Gordon came around the corner.














He had an inclination to ride Corona Loma so I opted to join him.
So back up National to the split off.
































Corona Loma is a nice techy diddy that drops you onto Desert Classic.














Not much room for error.
































Prune hands.














I cheated and caught a ride home with Gordon.
32 miles and done by 8:30. Nice.

batty thnr

Just three of us for the ThNR this week.




























We found this red sidewalk that takes you to
and through the Biltmore from the trail.
























































A colony of 5,000 bats begins their departure.
























































It rained a bit on the way home.

not much...

...riding this weekend but it was still good.

The munchkin moved up to the next bike size after a 15 mile tandem ride on Saturday.

Not bad for a 6 year old.
































If he keeps this up he'll be ready for a mountain bike in a few months.

biltmore weekend

We missed this one last year - every summer we have a parents weekend at the Biltmore AZ.

I enjoy staying in a different part of the resort. This time we ended up in one of the casitas that was originally used for kids and nannies.

We had a decent view of the peak.














































































Mmmmm - smores.


















Last time it was Scrabble nerds, this time it was the Cooties. More on this later.











Shortly after getting our smores and heading back to the room the storm hit.














It was nice, but muggy, in the morning.




























I tried to ride one of these before - it's harder than it looks but makes a good way to deliver food to rooms.














The cooties were a lively bunch.


































































ok, ok, I'll stop. Back to the pool.




























Sunday morning we let the help drop off the kids.
They may or may not have eaten.














































Apparently we're raising fish.