Packing in the NM rides

Our days of riding up mountains in continously near-perfect weather are coming to a close. So I am making the most of them.

I had been doing a good bit of mountain biking in the foothills, but after my elbow infection, I decided to stick to the road for fear of further injury. Here's a typical view, and keep in mind this is less than 4 miles from our apartment.

My buddy Ryan and whoever else we can convince are going to do a very big ride this Saturday to celebrate New Mexico. The plan is to ride the big loop including Abq, San Ysidro, Jemez Springs, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and back to Abq. That's about 200 miles with a whole lot of climbing. We're a little nervous but feel that we can do it and be alive afterward.

My preparation was to ride the Heartbreak hill loop and up the Crest, which I did the morning after discovering my wonky elbow (did that help or hurt? In any case, I'm much better now). This was 93 miles with lots of climbing, wind, and cold. After the ride, I laid on the floor, but the next day I felt fine.

Ryan's prep was to ride to SF and back on Sunday. I hardly count this as a warm up since it was over 140 miles -- that's a good chunk of the ride! I told him that I could meet him somewhere in the east mountains to finish up the ride with him. He called from near heartbreak hill and I managed to meet him near mailbox hill (about 20 miles from home). He was in good spirits and still had plenty of strength to ride the rest of the way to Abq. Jill and his friend Ruth met us at Los Cuates for some yummy NM food.

Buddy Ryan loaned me a pair of tires to use on the big ride. I put them on the big boy blue bike and rode up to La Luz trailhead. Momma mia! These are handmade and incredibly thin and lightweight, but they are larger volume than standard racing tires (28 vs 23 mm diameter). Admittedly, I spoil myself with bike goodies, but super duper tires were not on my pamper list. They might be now...