ah, the bike

Yes, I do remember the bike.  Feeling the breeze through the vents in the helmet.  Hearing the tires on the trail.  The feel of gravity increasing and decreasing through a turn. The grin that grows as the speed down a singletrack increases.  The initial burn in the legs as the climb starts then the rush of oxygen to the muscles as you settle into a long grind.

Had a big rain (for Phx at least) Thursday night.  Decided to go and see what happened to one of the better trails in the area.  BCT - smooth, flowy, skinny.  Good stuff.  Thought we may need to hike instead of bike, just because we are only a day of dry away from 4 days of rain.  Nope.  Well constructed trail and highly drained shale made for some good riding, albeit short.  Spent more time poking around in the changed scenery than riding.  Official records say something like 28 feet of flood crest.  I'd believe it after being there.  Compare the May 2009 trickle with the January 2010 torrent:

Now, 2010:

Those rocks across the flow? Yes, that is where we were putting on our shoes.  The trees and vegetation have been stripped off the land.  It will be interesting seeing what this all looks like in May of this year.  We even found a mighty saguaro, desert, juxtaposed against river:

Kinda strange seeing a cactus in the washed out river bottom.

The water moved quite a bit of earth, changing some of the scenery significantly.  We came to the sign, leading the way, but it was up to it's neck in alluvial sediments.

It was a good ride, and fun exploring.  I haven't been doing enough exploring lately, that will need to change.  As always, it's good to look and listen.