Get a Little Mud on the Tires

My husband never ceases to amaze, or surprise me.  Last Friday, when I got home, he and the kids met me in the garage as I drove slowly in.  I'm not sure what I was so preoccupied with when I got out of the car.  We were headed out to the boat that night and maybe I wanted to make sure we got everything packed.  I didn't realize that the kids and Brian were all pointing to something in front of my car.

It was a shiny new Diamondback Mountain Bike!! With a note saying "In case you got bored with your BMW, here's a new set of wheels for you!" A Mountain bike?? I never even mentioned to Brian that I wanted a bike.  I was content in just riding around my daughter's beach cruiser if I needed to tag along on Brian and Trenton's rides.  This one was really nice, and even had head and tail lights for those late night trips to the Yogurt Bar.

Brian said he wanted to go biking on Sunday up in Flagstaff.  This was all so new to me. Not mountain biking.  I used to have my own bike, but it was old, broken and we got rid of it.  We would bike the trails in Briones and Mount Diablo when we lived in the East Bay.  I never though about biking here because it's always too hot and I really got into running.  What was new to me was that we were going out (yet again) on Sunday.

I thought Sunday was finally going to be my day of rest.  After 5 days in Mexico, partying at the lake for the 4th of July followed by 2 days of work, we would be boating on Saturday and then finally, blissfully on Sunday I would be able to finally catch up with all the house cleaning and laundry.  Hmm...I don't think the words "blissfully", "house cleaning" and "laundry" were ever used together in a sentence before today.  Which reminds me, last week also included a girls night out on Thursday at a BYOB art studio painting masterpieces and drinking Chardonnay.

But it looks like we would be mountain biking with my new bike on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we finally got on the road at 10:00.  Flagstaff is a little over 2 hours away, but it could be worlds away.  The landscape is completely different.  The Sonoran saguaros give way to the beginning of the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the continent.  You gain over 5700 feet in elevation and by the time arrived, the temperature had cooled from a toasty 105 to a bearable and beautiful 82.  Then the ominous clouds rolled in and it began pouring, sending the temperature plunging to the low 50s by the time we got to town.

Brian researched the bike trails and found the Cambell Mesa Loops would be perfect for a family ride.  The incline/decline were manageable for my 8 year old son and the single track wasn't too technical for my daughter and I who needed a refresher on changing gears.  But by the time we got to the trailhead, it was pouring! I was disappointed and even suggested we drive down to Sedona and into 90+ degrees for a dry trail, but my husband said to wait 15 minutes.

Amazingly enough, as is usually the case with my husband's predictions, the rain stopped and we were treated to a great ride through the forest.  The trail was empty, thanks to the rain for deterring any other bikers and hikers.  The ground was not very muddy at all and the temperature was perfect!

I love my new mountain bike!

We finished off the day with some refreshments and appetizers at the Lumberyard's beer garden watching the trains go by with the Snowbowl mountain peak in the distance.