Holiday Riding and the Grand Canyon?!!!

I've been able to get out on a couple rides, one on Christmas Eve and one this morning. The bike definitely has more stiffness to it. It is carving lines much better than before. Most noticeable in the technical stuff, rocks, ruts, etc. I do have a little movement at the headset. I will snug it up before my next ride, but I think it's contributing to a little noise I'm hearing (low rattle).

The only place I've been able to ride is Ted Williams, as it's trails are mostly on the East face, so they've had plenty of sun and are dry enough to ride. Once you get on an trail with too much cover, it's pretty wet. The rains last week were amazing, I think we had six days of rain, which is unheard of in these parts. It's sunny now, just a little soggy. Got that nice road bike staring at me, but haven't taken it out. Wanted to, but just not gonna do it. I'm sure that sometime in the future, my desire to ride will outweigh the "perceived" safety issue with the traffic.

Anyway, hoping to do some good rides with Eric in the next couple weeks out in East County. For years I've focused on getting in better shape through riding, but I really want to start riding for the enjoyment as well. I usually ride alone, but really want to go do some "epic" rides with friends and enjoy the scenery, friendships, etc.

Also, I'm planning a Spring Break camping trip to the Grand Canyon. It's for Inna, Daniel and I. Daniel has his nomination to the Air Force Academy (not accepted yet) and this will be our last opportunity to go on a family camping trip for quite awhile. We've been to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon about 7 years ago in the RV, but we will be backpacking for a few days on this trip. Backpacking is something that we all enjoy, but haven't done in quite a few years. We've made trips to the Sierras and Idylwil in the past and really had some great times (read adventures). Although having an RV is great for group camping, nothing beats backpacking for the solitude and time away from "everything". Really looking forward to it. I've got a couple books that I'll be posting up with all the details of our trip. Tailwinds.....