Well folks, it is that time in the season where we are in the last stretch before the big event. Our third to last training ride would take us north through the Rio Grande Valley before heading East at Bernallilo and up and out toward Placitas (route here). We headed out from O'Neill's at a surprisingly dark 6 am with 7 riders - Good Gary, Evil Gary, Olga, Brady, Danielle, Andrew, and David - to pick up an additional 4 along the route - Stacy, John, Calvin (yeah!), and Greg.
We all met up by the top of the Diversion Channel, and from there we headed out to Bernallilo. It was a nice cool morning and the valley was incredibly green from all the rain over the last few weeks. A peleton of 5 riders headed north, while 4 of us tried to locate a wayward cyclist that got seperated from the flock. After some discussion (and realizing we didn't have their number) we headed north to catch everyone else at the first rally point at 20 miles. After some quick refreshment we were just getting ready to head out when the missing cyclist met us at the rally point. Huzzah!
From here it was another 10 miles out and up through Placitas and up to the end of the paved road - a total of about 1200' of climbing. The only thing major to report from this leg was there was a bike shaped blur that passed everyone screaming words of encouragment on the uphill, then again on the way back down. Various reports indicate it was indeed a human rider, and several people swear it was a rider that looked an awful lot like Matt Eichenfield, but due to the doppler shift no one was certain.
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| Approaching the end of the road - everyone, of course, is doing pushups |
At the top we all enjoyed the cool mountain air and ate more snacks, while several crazy people did two rounds of pushup. From this point, the fun began a long 10 mile descent into the valley along fairly quiet and well maintained roads. We rallied again in Bernallilo and managed to get trapped by Rodeo Day Parade - which was fine, we got to watch horses, boy scouts, bicycles, and floats pass by while we ate and drank.
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| Trapped by a parade! |
From there we headed out on the last 20 mile segment of the ride - a fun and fast 20 miles. Cruising south out of Bernallilo we kept a very brisk 20-22 mph pace line for most of first 8 miles. Four people peeled off heading east up Tramway (Greg, Danielle, Brady, and Calvin) while the rest of us headed south onto the diversion channel and all the way back to Nob Hill. Just before UNM we were caught by Jeff (Mr. Miyagi) who cycled with us the rest of the way and joined a few of us for breakfast at Serafins. Another great ride in the history books.
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| Cruising back to ABQ |
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