Miles Greater than Words
By Dejay Birtch
The words easy tiger keep echoing through my throbbing head. This time it is not because Devon is taking a turn with excessive speed in the 1990 Astro Conversion van. It's because Wednesday brought an abundance of many things into my life. The day started with a 85 mile/9000ft ascending bike ride, 6 hours of helping customers at the bike shop (which resulted in one of them tipping us a bottle of Macallan 12), a quick stop at my house to switch the road bike for Bi-Polo and head to the field for 2 hours of grass fed Bike Polo. This is always enough for all that play to become hungry and thirsty for the nearest Pizza Pub, where they serve some very irresistible beverages.
All of this put me to bed around 1am, with nothing ready for our 8am departure for Sedona. I somehow drug myself out of bed at 6am to pack my bag and switch my Suspension fork that was on my SS to my geared hardtail and I was shreddy.
Devon and Max showed up about an hour late (valuable time I could have been sleeping!) to stuff Myself, Josh, Tyler and our gear into the van. He also let me know that we would be making a stop in Phoenix to pick up some bikes that Pivot Cycles had ready for us to use for the next couple of days. Super stoked to try the 5.7 Carbon, But... AARRRGHH. You mean I didn't need to work on my bikes.
After a stop for some gas and stomach sponges we were headed north on the I-10. After about an hour and a half we pulled up to Pivot head quarters just in time for me to step out of the van and feed the office flowerbed with the little bit of breakfast I had.
We were able to get the tour, pick up the bikes, say hello to some friends and we were off to the great red land. Somewhere in between passing out and waking up a dozen times, we landed at Over The Edge Sports. This is when I realized, I wouldn't be riding anytime soon. A fair amount of time had passed while we were waiting for others to show up and for my person to grab a hold of itself.
The next two days were spent exploring the vastnesses of the most excellent red ribbons of soil winding through the highs and lows of the Sedona Valley. I would say more about the riding here, but truly the words would not make any sense to those that were not there to experience the rides on those two days. If you have ever ridden Sedona, you know what I speak of. If you have not, I suggest you get there ASAP and ride your own story.
Huge Thanks to:
Over The Edge Sports
Bike and Bean
Firsty
El Tigre
and everyone else that shared the good times on this trip!
Dejay preps for another day on the trail after a long night of socializing with the locals.
About Dejay - For the past 15 years Dejay has lived a bit of the vagabond life style working/racing for several companies, which has led him to hunting and gathering trail experiences as far as a bicycle can take him. This seems to be the fuel to further his quest into whatever the next adventure may be. He finds himself a little stationary in the winter months working at a bike shop in Tucson, AZ, but more importantly where the mountains call to him on a daily basis. He has recently found a home working with Ride for Reading to bring awareness to their mission. This will have him still wandering about, spreading the good words and inspiring children to have an active, healthy life.
