Gitty Dropped us off at dusk. We’d ride into the dark until first wreck, and camp.
Saturday morning came on slow, with heavy frost.
Dropping into the basin. Everything now became larger than life.
Natural Mind Fuck.
When 05′ was “back in the day”.
Somewhere in the middle of our traverse of the northern half of the basin, BGR scrambled off route for some distance to arrive at a pile of large rubble sitting atop a ridge line, high up in the basin & far from any convenience. Upon study, it was massive structure containing at least 15 rooms, probably more. All made of cooler sized stones. All hauled half way up a mountain side. All crumbled now.
Climb on. Some rides represent themselves as a balance of up and down, satisfying both labor & lust. Bloody Basin seemed to be more about the up.
Then again, the good times are more easily forgotten. The descents were moto high speed & sketchy.
Where’s Randy?
The Trons are everywhere.
Crossing the Derde. 60 yard traverse of ice cold water up to the nuts. It was quite agonal.
Dirty Black Russians by the Hotsprings on Saturday night, compliments of BGR. “Hunger being the perfect spice”, the drink was a welcomed dessert to the days ride. Sunday morning, we would soak away the hours, from Dawn until about 9, brewing coffee, being lazy, overlooking the river we’d cross one more time, and the roads we’d ascend on the other side. There was no rush. The coffee was lifeblood. The water was perfect.
The ascent out. Just as I remembered. 2 miles straight up. A “Trails” sticker on the sign reminds me of who frequents these parts in the prime seasons.
One of the many Old Skool Representatives on the way out.
I was there.
Done with one. Onto the next.
At the final summit before the descent into Camp Verde, I ate cold oatmeal, BGR had Muesli. Per standard operating procedure, a safety check prior to the down..
We’d eat large at the Verde Cafe. Receive a little kitty mojo outside.
There’s an open door policy with some of these rides. We could have stayed on to Sedona for one more night, or just hit the road home. Both were hard ideas. A cold night in Sedona, or a long haul through the night to a shower and warm bed. Decisions, decisions…
At 4:20, we called it good, and headed back on the I-17 for the last 50 miles to home. Supersonic tail lights and 500 channels of motor noise guided our way through the last 30 miles of cold dark. I’m guessing that the approximate mileage was about 150. Maybe less. Maybe more. I’m sure there was enough climbing. I’m sure there was enough cold.
Bloody basin is a daunting cresent moon of errosion. You can see it’s formation from where our track heads north to the hot springs. A curve of brown and green, that looks a bit like a half a crater gives it an identity from miles up in Google space. It’s a rugged place, to put it gently, taking us an entire day to cross just the northern half to the hot springs. Another reason that AZ kicks ass.
Randal Hill should have his version posted in due time.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Holy shit that sounds like some good fun. Always wanted to ride in that Basin.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Gnome-de-plume,
can you give a run down on the cycles yinz rode on this endeavor? Looks mighty rad.
thanks.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Large.
That river was obviously photoshopped though, everyone knows you can walk right across the frozen rivers this time of year.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
fuck. im droolin’…. coincidence as i saw my bedroll in a cabinet in my garage yesterday and was just thinkin’… hmmm… what would be a good time to piss off for a coupla days…???
January 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Fantastic. With rides like that what do your dreams look like?
January 19th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
…it all looks awesome w/ the exception of the river ford..‘bagging the stream’…now that looks painful !!!
…btw, total non sequitor here but i’d like to point out that there are various valuable reasons for drunkcyclist’s porn…
…one example :– after looking at all that lovely trimmed quim, i was reminded that the vinca & ivy had grown well over the edges of the stone walkways on the property…got out the clippers & had at it like a cheap slut w/ a hot date…
…it’s always nice when ya see a good trim job…
…so just sayin’…thanks for a little on-line inspiration…
January 19th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I still can’t find Randy.
January 19th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Ford that bi*tch.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
well done.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Hurl,
The bike du jour is a drop bar 29er. I rode a 26 on one of these great big rides once, and it completely sucked. If there’s ever an argument for a big wheel, this would be it.
Otherwise, it’s setup with bed roll strapped to the bars, and sleeping bag on the seat. There’s a couple companies out there making custom bags (epic designs)for strapping stuff to a bike proper, but I just use waterproof stuff sacks, and toe-straps. Seems to work fine thus far.
The rest – food, tools, toiletries, cookware, clothing, etc – go into a backpack. I can’t last more than 3-4 days with what I can carry but that’s fine because I usually want my luxuries back after a couple of days out. You can get good info at bikepacking.net
Trying to run bare minimums to survive a few days out and about without excessive suffering through the night, and enough libations as well, while not making the bike an overweight touring tank is a trick. I’m still in the process, which may just be an ongoing deal. All I know is that I forgot the gin this time, and that kinda sucked.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Well played.
January 20th, 2009 at 4:27 am
Good times.
Thanks,
Burt
January 20th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Just made me miss Arizona hardcore. This northeast cold ain’t conducive to any type of physical activity besides shivering…
January 20th, 2009 at 7:34 am
Jeeze, tell me about it.
January 20th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
How the hell do I get to the hot springs?