Spring in Flagstaff ?

There is a sweet smell of rain here in Flagstaff that I adore. It is enveloping my office right now making it hard to focus and easy to drift into spring fever. The clouds outside look gloomy and the tempreture drops and then it fills the air with its sweet mix of dirt, pine, fresh leaves blooming and the moisture taking hold of our dry mountain desert air. Spring isn't a *given* here, you have to earn it. The weather tosses and turns thowing you snow and sun and freezing nights all through April, only to finally settle down into what I would now call spring. It's a time where I can finally turn the thermastat from "heat" to it's only other position, "off." We need not condition this crisp mountain air.

The point and shoot is back in business! Captions: Kaibee on a neighborhood snowy walk last Thursday, April 26, Kristina getting a serious shin dagger on yesterday's mtb ride (5 stiches--I don't go that fast). Oh and those close ups are photos of my trashed steel custom bike frame build by coconino cycles. I managed to drive my car with the roof rack on INTO the garage. Apparently everyone has done this once or twice... this will be my first and last. My new bike frame won't be ready for several long months so as a replacement, I'll be experiencing baptism by fire: AKA riding a single speed. Kristina has a single speed Surly frame she'll sell me. Can you hear the excitment in my voice about having one gear to ride all the trails with? One gear. This may not last long or I'll be pushing it uphill a lot.