Bishop Gravel

It's funny how it seems injuries heal in a nonlinear fashion. Days, even weeks, go by with little if any improvement. Then one morning you wake up and WOW, you feel better. Noticeably and significantly better.

Perhaps healing is a quantum like process whereby you heal in steps as opposed to continuously. Or maybe the mind just perceives the healing in this manner. Who knows, but in any case I am pleased to say my knee feels much better. The doctor believes I have a sprained MCL, so I am getting an MRI to verify the diagnosis.

The shoulder, however, seems more or less stuck in a mildly painful, but not all too bad state. I am getting PT for it, so I am hoping the stretching and strengthening will lead to a similar breakthrough. Soon.

The body felt good enough to ride nearly four hours on dirt east and north of Bishop last weekend. I hooked up with my buddy Reed and we spun our way through a sparkling spring day.

The monster cross treated me right.

It sure felt terrific to be out for a long cruise. Funny how injuries increase the gratitude.

Update

Thought I'd let you know the knee is gonna take a while getting to where I'd be comfortable skiing on it. Might not even happen this season just because I tend to be pretty conservative about these things. We'll see.

The good news is cycling seems alright in moderation.

Southeast Basin Mountain

I woke up yesterday with no specific plans, but after coffee and a little breakfast I got an itch to get up in the mountains.

The southeast side of Basin Mountain is an area I visit pretty much every year because it is close, has some nice runs, affords access to bigger country below Mt Humphreys, and is just a beautiful locale.

This is the current view of Basin.

Dang thin!

The good news is one can drive all the way to the usual road end (which is now about a quarter mile higher) and easy hiking (about twenty minutes) brings one near the end of the approach gully, which is filled in nicely.

The SE chute of Basin is probably skiing pretty well now.

I skinned up to the ridge for views of Mt Locke.

And Peaklet.

The view down. A strong cold front passed while I was up here resulting in high winds and dust down in the valley. Fortunately I was sheltered from the winds for the most part.

A real mix of snow, with soft, eroded snow high up, funky crusty snow on east facing slopes, corn/supportable sun crust on southeast facing slopes, and a little recently deposited wind slab in the gully - which skied real nice.

The bad news is I took a freakish little fall and twisted my knee. No pop. No swelling, but not good. Likely down for a week or two.

Sheesh!

Xinalani!

I spent last week down at Xinalani, a yoga retreat south of Puerto Vallarta in Old Mexico, with Mary and a gaggle of good friends.

This is truly an amazing place.

The beaches at the retreat were stunningly beautiful.

Most every morning was spent riding the great waves. Me!

Mary got into the act too!

Most every afternoon was spent reading and relaxing in our delightful palapa.

Each day we had a morning and an evening yoga session with our instructor from Bishop. I made a lot of progress in my yoga practice.

 

Absolutely fantastic!!!

Going South

Headed here.

For a some of this.

Maybe a little of this. Probably on a boogie board though.

Lots of this.

I am ready.

It better snow while I am gone!

A Fine Slog In The Mammoth Frontcountry

This weekend the energy was a lot better, so I got a hankering for an adventure off the beaten track.

It turned out to be a terrifically long but mostly pleasing slog out to an unnamed, yet attractive peak just east of Valentine Lake.

Found a cool tepee frame along the way. 

 
We liked the sweet views of Pyramid Peak and Para-chute.

Para-chute up close. Another Sierra gem.

About three quarters of the way up the peak the snow quality, our energy, and thus our enthusiasm took a sharp downward turn.

So we called it good and did some downward turns.
Which were pretty darned good.

Seven hours out. 1,200 feet of turns.
Not the greatest ratio, but still a great time.

Weekend At Home

Catching up time.

Weekend before last I was hit with a spell of low energy, so I took it easy around the house.

Hung out with our boy Bristle.

Finished up a couple of projects.

Another incarnation of the Surly (see surly for a previous version).

Classic monster cross now with Conti Race King 2.0 tires mounted on Velocity Dyad rims, bar end shifters, wide as heck Nitto bars & a sweet Brooks saddle.

Got these babies mounted.

About time! Now all we need now is some fresh snow. 

Cleaned up the garage a bit. Worked on shop taxes.
Not the most exciting weekend, but satisfying in a different sort of way.