The grass is always greener, as they say. So, why is it that I spend so much time driving elsewhere? Doing an audit of our first quarter spending yesterday reveals that the petroleum companies, and the gas stations in Flagstaff and Moab, like us a lot. I want a free ice cream sandwich.

So, I resolve to spend more time close to home. Before a month ago I’d never ridden around Thumb Butte, and saw a ton of fun new terrain yesterday. I should use it more. A hit list for future reference:

-Trails and roads all around the area, especially south. Putting together a viable one day course around the valley will be the catalyst.

-Canyons by Sedona. Lots of good stuff, and lots that will fit into a good hard push-in-a-day.

-The Kaibab northeast of Ash Fork. Gotta scout for elk.

-Climbing. I haven’t been climbing at all since October, and want to do some solid ridge traverses in the Sierras in September.

I’ve always done this stuff. When we lived in Moab I was often off in the roost doing canyons, In Saint George often off to Zion. I want to build some new habits and resourcefulness.

So, I think I will not do a scounting trip for the KTR. I’ll ride the Mary’s singletrack the day before, and otherwise try to not get lost. I’ll probably also keep the 30:20 for the race, spinning a ton in the dark seems preferable to dying on the climbs. Ed, I can’t believe you used a 34:16. For me, that just isn’t a mountain gear under any circumstances.

We’ll see how the weather behaves, and I’ll do the Kaibab scounting trip either this weekend or the weekend after. That I am very much looking forward to.