Walk Beside Me

For all the rides I do, I remember the summer rides on the Coco the most.  After a solid month of working with no time off but to interview, I was sorely in need of some head space.  Combine that with a healthy recovery from endurance riding over the winter....I was itching.  Setting out from the command center off of west Route 66....I set out with a singular plan....ride without a plan, without a destination and without a purpose but one:  Ride until out of resources.  To quote Tim O'Brian, "I don't know just where I'm goin', but I'm gonna get there anyhow...."

That came a bit sooner than expected.....the low snowpack from the winter of my discontent left pottery shards in place of water holes....the elk I found along my way supported this observation....I encountered 4 different heard of cows and a few bulls on my 6 hour ride....all grubbing around watering holes nearly dry....lets hope the rains come soon.....

Rounding A-1 Mountain, I sat and watched some cowboys rounding up a heard of beef in a beautiful park; open in its expanse and offering a cool view of the peaks; peaks which hold the spirit of the old ones as well as the new.....

Burn areas from last season gave my ride a smell of neutral charcoal and acrid pitch warming in the sun....the sight of mule ears spread out before me in a soft, shag-like carpet were a sign that the black hulks reaching skyward were tall reminders of the past....the green and soft forms below, the future.

Moving on, a different kind of destruction was encountered.....tornado damage.  2 years ago, a rare tornado cut a swath across the fall air leaving sticks 30 feet tall, robbed of their verdant foliage.  I stand in this place in awe of the power....anyone at this spot would have died.  I've shaken in my tent during powerful storms wondering if the end was near...this confirms that if it is, you'll never know....best to ride like it's your last......

After a few hours moving north, skirting the path of the tornado, I decide to link up with little spring for a water refuel.  Making an error, I wind up exploring the trails of the to be determined Bear Jaw Groove race.....my water begins to run low.....

Climbing into the alpine meadows below the peaks, the flowers born of crystalline winter tears come into focus.....

I've stared at the star like glow of the Rocky Mountain Iris petal for hours over the past few seasons; mesmerized at the amorphous transition from pearl white to royal blue and purple.  The heart of her form holds a dusting of gold along the spine....each speckle unique and never to be repeated...just like the snowflake that fell last year; transformed into a new form equally beautiful yet unique, I introduce myself once again.....

As I take in the beauty, I became aware of my thirst....I was out of water.  I still had 15 miles of riding ahead of me....but it was downhill for the most part on perhaps, the most beautiful section of AZT in the entire state......a flowy, curvy, banked section of single track from Aspen Corner all the way to Flagstaff.....I could ditch my ride to find water at snowbowl.....or.....well......the dude abides.....

The next day, I went riding again, this time on a ride around Elden...the first time I've been on some of the trails since the fire 2 summers ago. The last time I was here was with splitchimp...and so we were here again....splitchimps like Nut Butter......

We stopped for a while before descending Sunset trail to talk about skunks, beer volcanos and investment capitol.....a perfect business meeting conducted in the best of board rooms......a room that smells of conifers still breaking out of winters grasp; needles born new and soft like puppy ears.....

Stopping beneath Elden Spring, we spy something hung up on a bush.....a dead baby owl still fresh from the sky.  As we marveled in the beauty of its form, we handled it with the utmost respect.  This was perfection in function....perfection not realized....a fact of life.  As we sat it down at the base of the tree, I placed it facing west towards the setting sun, wings folded across its body.  We each silently wished it a good journey hoping that when ours end ,we too will have kind people marveling in the beauty we left behind.