The Penultimates Cycling Team

The 2011 Ride by the Numbers

2011-09-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

What a year! This team was bigger, badder, and more fun than I possibly could have imagined! The breakdown:

5 - Total number of flat tires (team wide)
3 - wrecks
6 - rail runner tickets (team wide)
400 - fig newtons (approximate team wide)
60 - temporary tattoos (approximate team wide)
0 - Number of bike free weekends since July 10th (team wide)
20 - Pairs of spandex worn (team wide)

10 - Days of training rides
3170 - Miles of training rides (team wide)

2 short riders Day 1
16 long riders Day 1
4 short riders Day 2
14 long riders Day 2
2368 - Miles cycled the weekend of the MS150

9 top fundraisers!

$18107.83 - Money raised by the Penultimates

$136105.78 - Money raised to fight MS during the Pedal los pueblos!

Downhill!

2011-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

I managed to capture a short video of our downhill section, before it really got going. As we were heading down we were cheering on teammates coming up.

MS150 Day 2

2011-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone assembled in the early morning light to prepare fo the second day of the ride. Even though the flesh was sore and achy, spirits were high and we were ready for the days ride! Today we had 19 people heading out of the ride. The short ride route is here, and the long route is here.

Since John did such an excellent job of writing about his experience, I will let him describe day two of the ride.

The first 10 mile section (there were rest stops every 10 miles), going through Nambé to Chimayó, was pretty hard for me, even though I was taking it much more slowly than normal. To my surprise and delight, my legs were in better shape that morning than I had feared. All my effort icing down my legs at the end of Saturday's ride, and massaging and stretching them, helped a great deal, and I have my fitness educator, Callie, to thank for the advice on this. That first ten miles was mostly uphill, and working like that brought back mild belly cramps that went away on the flats, and I was generally fatigued from being behind on sleep. However, the stunning scenery was a great, positive diversion. The landscape there (between Pojoaque and Chimayó) was incredible, and made even more beautiful by the color sprayed on it by the rising sun. I was again really sorry I had not brought a camera, and I will be getting copies of pictures taken by teammates. Particularly breathtaking was the view from atop the hill ahead of the first rest stop, looking down onto Chimayó in the valley below.

Sunday's routes were identical, except right after this first rest stop. From there, the long route included an out-and-back spur that went up 1400 feet (topping out at 8000 feet elevation) over six miles to the town of Truchas. Truchas is the town that stood in as fictional "Milagro" (because the real town of that name is not nearly so photogenic) in the film The Milagro Beanfield War, a delightful little film we saw years ago (Truchas is also mentioned in Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop). I had originally planned to do the long route, but with the lack of adequate sleep a second consecutive night and the lingering belly cramps, I didn't want to push myself too hard. In fact, at that point in the day, I wasn't sure I could even finish the short route, so I stayed with the smaller part of our team that did not take the turn to Truchas.

Let me interrupt quickly and talk about the ride up to Truches. It is an out-and-back leg from Chimayo to Truchas. It is not an easy or forgiving ride but amazingly we had 13 riders complete the long ride on day two! It is a six mile slog uphill with the grueling hill made worse by two distinct sections of 10% grade. Total elevation gain of ~1500 ft in 6 miles. We split up into 3 main groups, the two speed demons Chris and Danny arriving first, a second big group with about 9 riders in it arriving a little bit after, and followed quickly by the rearguard who arrive just after that.

It is a rewarding experience to be up at the top, drinking a cycletini (gatorade with a green olive in it served in a martini glass) looking over the Española valley to Los Alamos glittering in the sun on the other side of the valley over 30 miles away. But the best part? Knowing you have a 16 mile down hill stretch in front of you! The top speeds clocked by our team on this segment were around 47-48 miles per hour. Fun!

Now back to John and his eloquent prose:

The next eight miles or so, going from Chimayó to Española was one of the most fun and delightful rides I can remember. This was due in no small part to the fact that it was a nearly continuous, gentle downhill route, which I really needed at that point. Even without that aspect, it would have been a very nice ride. The road goes parallel to at least one stream, so the area is green and lined with tall, old shade trees, and winds lazily through a series of small towns comprising mostly older adobe, pueblo-style architecture - quintessential northern NM. The morning was still cool and damp, traffic was very light and the pedaling was easy enough to make a 20 MPH pace almost effortless. When we got back into Española, I wanted to turn around and go back through that route (I'll bet it seemed even more enchanting for the riders coming down from Truchas)!

After scenery like that, just about anything else would have been a letdown, and going through Española (a town that would never be described as picturesque) was no exception. After passing through Santa Clara Pueblo, SW of Española, the vistas were much more broad and bleak. The climb up the hill before the interchange with NM 502 (Los Alamos Hwy), west of San Ildefonso Pueblo was a tough one for most of us. However, shortly after getting on 502, we were greeted by one of the loudest, most enthusiastic groups of volunteers at the final rest stop, cheering us each as we pulled in, which gave me a real lift.

The climb up the highway from there was pretty grueling. It was getting warm enough to matter, our legs were tired and my butt was getting quite saddle-sore. After climbing a few long hills, though, it mostly leveled out, and we knew there were no more big climbs left as we started seeing road signs for our destination. Our little group of five riders got stretched out as we tried to grind out the last few miles, so we didn't manage to finish right together. I was alone as I approached the finish area, and heard "We have another rider!" over the speakers. There was lots of cheering, clapping, cowbells, air horns and great enthusiasm from everyone in the finish area as I crossed under the banner, making me feel like a real champion! The little girl who had the microphone, tried hard to match numbers with names, so she could welcome us back, so I heard "Welcome back, John!" shortly after crossing the line!

The speedsters finished around 10 am, with the large group of 9 riders sticking together and crossing the finish line around 11:30 am. Our last two riders were not far behind and they crossed around noon. We certainly lived up to our name - no one came in last!

All told a fantastic weekend and I hope that we can convince even more people to ride with us next year!

Early morning calorie cramming.

Rest stop 1 - epic coffee and donuts.

In Truchas after the long climb.

Almost done!

MS150 Penultimate Team Tent

2011-08-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Since we signed up so many new riders this year, we won a team tent at the ride center. Being a team that has always been more about the fun than the cycling, we were determined to bring the party. A short list of the shenanigans - a flag, lots of food, Domo cupcakes, and pinata.

MS150 Day 1 - The Big One!

2011-08-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

All those miles in the saddle. All those weekend mornings up before the sun. All the emails, phone calls, and fundraising. It all comes down to this weekend. The big one. The first day's ride has a short ride of 40 miles (map here) or a long ride of 88 miles (map here). Today we had 18 riders head out, with the intention to finish!

Since I wasn't there for the ride, I will let my teammates tell the tale of their brave adventure! From first time rider John, who did a wonderful job of chronicling the first day:

My body's still a little sore from the ride, but it was a terrific weekend. I got up early Saturday to get up to Pojoaque for the 7 AM start, which was not bad, since I was too excited to sleep more, anyway. The morning was chilly as we got on our way to Española, which was mostly downhill. After the first stop, we got to ride through San Juan Pueblo, which was a pretty little place. I don't recall too much of the next 30 miles, except two things: 1) one of our team had a nasty little fall after rubbing tires with another of our number, ending with scraped elbow and knees and a likely mild wrist sprain (he got patched up and kept riding), and 2) The Hill. The last section before lunch had a long, hot climb to the highest elevation for the day, which we were all glad to get behind us.

After coming down from the top of that climb, we got to the little town of El Rito, which has a small community college on whose campus we had lunch. Lunch was pretty simple, though plentiful, on a lawn under large shade trees with a nice breeze - very pleasant. After lunch, that breeze turned less pleasant, as it became a fairly strong crosswind that got warmer by the minute. The roads there were not very smooth, either, so it was tough going. Even though I had been careful to drink plenty at every stop, it was apparently not enough, since I started getting leg cramps. I stopped to mix up some Gatorade, and limped my way to the next rest stop where I drank plenty and massaged my legs.

That helped a lot, but it was hard to keep up with the hydration as we were getting into the hottest part of the day and still fighting wind. The thunderstorms we had seen in the distance since lunch were getting closer, but not close enough to cool things off. By this time, we were heading back towards Española. Things went pretty smoothly for a while, though my butt was getting sore from the saddle and my legs were still a little crampy. It was hot enough that when the storm clouds finally came close enough to suddenly block the sun, my first thought was "Oh no, I'm starting to black out!" I wasn't, of course, but it gave me a good laugh when I realized what really happened!

This is as good a point as any to express my thanks for all the volunteers that made the event possible. They were everywhere! They held bikes up, when there was not enough storage space, they cheered and rang cowbells for every rider coming into a rest stop, they took water bottles to fill them with ice, they soaked towels in ice water and draped them on our sweaty necks, they offered up snacks and drinks, they served our meals and cleaned up after and so many more things. They worked very hard to make us feel special, and I think they succeeded! They typically would not even accept thanks from us, insisting we were the ones who should be thanked for riding and raising money.

Though we had a great range of abilities among the folks on our team, we did a good job of keeping most of the group together all day long. The fast/strong riders (a group that did not include me) would wait at each rest stop for everyone else to catch up and rest before taking off again. For the very last leg of the day, we stuck together enough that we regrouped ahead of the finish so we could end in a solid group of about 15. After grabbing some ice cream, we dispersed to clean up before the dinner banquet, and I can tell you a dip in the pool has seldom felt so good!

Overall, everyone had a great time. There are other stories from the ride too, such as riderless horses racing cyclists along a stretch of road. But I will save that for another post. Below are some pictures from the first day.

Nervous milling before the ride starts

Arriving at a rest stop

Leaving lunch in El Rito.

Crossing the finish line!

They make it look like it was an easy 88 miles!

The MS150 in Pictures

2011-08-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a fantastic weekend! Below is a slide show of pictures from the weekend. If you can't see it (stupid flash), you can check out all the photos here.

Saturday's Ride 8/21 - The High Road to Santa Fe

2011-08-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Cucumber lime gatorade, $2. Bananas and water, $2. Taco combination plate, $8. Train ticket, $6. Seventy miles of uphill adventure with great teammates: priceless!

For our last training ride of the season we went big. Something crazy, something out of the ordinary. So we took a ride from Albuquerque out to the east mountains and then north on scenic highway 14 to Santa Fe to catch the Railrunner for a ride back to town. Those not familiar with New Mexico should note that Albuquerque is about 5280 feet in elevation while Santa Fe is about 7260 feet. So it was going to be a tough one! The ride map is here, and pay attention to the elevation (apparently none of us really did.) We also had fantastic weather, gray overcast skies for virtually all of the ride - do not get that very often in the desert!

A brave seven headed out in the predawn darkness including the newest member of our team (welcome Danny!). For the first 20 miles of the ride we went up through Tijeras Canyon and up toward the turnoff for the Sandia Ski area - a grueling elevation gain of 2000 feet. We stopped for provisions and were tempted by heavenly aroma of brisket being smoked by the BBQ place. Jeff peeled off from us to do his yearly ride to the crest and the six of us continued on toward Santa Fe.

Unfortunately, no one really looked at the elevation of the ride closely, and what appeared to be a relatively flat ride before the descent into Madrid, actually turned into a very long series of class 4 and 5 climbs up to the peak elevation of the ride at 7000 ft. (This after assurances by the captain that the worst was over - ha!). But all the work paid off in the exhilarating 8 mile descent into Madrid we we stopped for our second break of the day. Highlights of our stop included noting that we were not the toughest bike gang in Madrid that morning (that would be the actual biker gangs riding Harleys), Italian tourists really love Italian made bicycles, and nothing is better than a general store that doesn't charge an arm and leg to hungry, dehydrated, and smelly cyclists.

The last 20 miles of the trip was more or less uneventful. Just another long stretch of gradual uphills with some very steep climbs up to the junction of I25 and highway 14. But we persevered and amazingly suffered our first flat tire of the whole season within view of the end of ride restaraunt El Parasol. We consumed the best tacos ever created by human hands before a quick ride over to the train stop to catch the 1:39 train south.

We arrived back in Albuquerque rested and ready for our last 10 mile jaunt back to the ride start. We were traveling familiar trails as we headed east on the Bosque trail bypass to join up to the north diversion trail heading south. We had our second flat of the training season about 5 miles from home, but the newbie got the tire changed quickly (despite the heckling of his teammates) and we headed off again. But less that 2 miles later, we got our third flat luckily in a beautifully shady and grassy area on the UNM campus.

All told a great ride, brutal and beautiful!

Ride summary: 72.4 miles, 5 hours 22 minutes ride time, 37.4 mph top speed, back home at 4 pm (but would have been about 30 minutes quicker with less flats and more luck).

First rest stop in the heavenly smoke of the brisket!

Heading toward Madrid.

Main street Madrid.

Back from Santa Fe.

Best location for a flat tire in the history of cycling.

Saturday's Ride 8/21 - West Mesa Loop

2011-08-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last training ride of the official season! We actually ran two rides this weekend, a loop out to the west mesa and an epic long ride up to Santa Fe. Here is the run down from in town loop ride leader Calvin:

Three of us who couldn't spare the time for the Santa Fe ride, and who wanted a milder ride the weekend before the MS event, opted for an in-town ride on Saturday. We settled on a West Side Loop that would take us around the Rio Grande and the Volcanos. After a short drive down to the valley in the predawn darkness, noticing some drizzling rain and the city lights, we started our ride at the Alameda open space. We headed south from there along the familiar Paseo del Bosque Bike Trail. It was a cloudy day, and the air was still damp from some monsoon rains that came through the night. From the Bosque Trail, we headed west across the river and towards the West Mesa on Rio Bravo, where we overcame lots of road debris, including some cathangers that almost ended our day early. A 3.5 mile, 3% average (5% max) grade, category 3 climb brought us onto the West Mesa, where we turned north onto Paseo del Volcan. Here we faced strong 15-20 mph headwinds and rough, pitted, potholed roads that made a relatively flat ride seem uphill the whole time. We were at least glad we weren't scorched by the desert sun, which remained behind the clouds throughout the ride. We took turns pulling until we reached the Volcanos at Petroglyphs National Monument, where we took a nice long break to enjoy the scenery. After our fill of the desert plains, black volcanic rocks, and grazing cows, we headed off to finish our ride through the convoluted roads of Rio Rancho, which took us back to the Alameda Open Space. Despite the rough roads and incessant west side traffic, it was a fairly scenic ride and a good change of pace from our usual Albuquerque rides.

Ride summary: 46.6 miles, 14.7 mph average, 33.1 mph max, 3:08'21", for ride details check out the map here.

John & Greg taking a break on top of the West Mesa, with the Sandia Mountains in the background.

John & Greg in front of the Volcanos at Petroglyphs National Monument.

Saturday's Ride 8/13

2011-08-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

Seven of us convened at the mouth of Tijeras Canyon bright and early and headed out old Route 66 toward Tijeras for a loop through the east mountains (again). The route is here. Notice that the first 23 miles is all uphill gaining over 2300 ft in elevation. Top make it even more fun there was a lovely canyon wind blowing against us this morning which made the grueling 8 mile through the canyon seem really bad. But spirits were high as we headed off into the best part of the ride - pine forests and deliciously cool air. Truly a world apart form Albuquerque.

It was a long one today - total mileage of 65 miles. Two weeks out from the big ride! One more training ride to go before

The Weekend's Rides 8/6 and 8/7

2011-08-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately both team captains were indisposed this weekend (me with out of state travel and Andrew with dad duties), but our team rallied and organized a jaunt through the east mountains. The lead riders on Saturday were Jeff and Chris (a huge thank you). Apparently my mapping skills were not that great as I lead them over a pass on a dirt road, which was not what I intended. But everyone survived and I think enjoyed the ride.

Ride leader Jeff summarized it as such:

"We had six Penultimates out for the Tijeras Canyon/S-14 roller ride today with four completing the entire course (~65 miles). At the start there was some concern that the "official" route put us out on a dirt road between S-14 to 217. We all decided to turn back and do a modified route if we ran into dirt. However, once we hit the dirt we just kept going. The team did a great job on the dirt killing the hills (some >7%) and avoiding the dogs that wanted to join the team. After that it was all pavement as we headed north on 217. It was a beautiful day with great weather."

We had another two do the 50 mile loop around the city, but no report or photos from that ride.

Potential Jerseys

2011-08-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys. Trying to design a cycling jersey by committee - sort of like herding cats. But here goes. Please let me know what you think, I am open to all ideas, slogans, and designs. Looking specifically for a team motto to put on the front. I am trying to leave a date off these to keep them general, but if you want we can add specifics to this years event on it.

Here are potential jerseys. This company has a variety of templates that you can choose from. The colors can be changed within each design so lots of flexibility. To take a look at other patterns check this out, but my two favorite types are below.

Design 27 a,b,c

Design 33 a,b,c

Here are some designs that I had put together from last year interms of graphics and logos. I have 4 graphics here in order: the back graphic, the front logo, and two arm graphics. We can also put logos and graphics on the pockets on the back (or double them up).

Design on back

Design on front. Open to putting graphics here too (maybe an arm design). Also need one slogan below, leaning towards just listing the bike ms.

Arm design 1

Arm Design 2

Saturday's Ride 7/30

2011-07-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today we did the ride up to Jemez Dam, a beautiful ride north through the Rio Grande valley before an uphill segment to the dam for a nice overlook back toward the city. Then the ride back down through Rio Rancho and Corrales before hitting the diversion channel bike path to finish it up. A total of 62 miles in a little under 4 hours. It was a nice sized group too with 8 riders for most of the ride.

Look out for cows!

Remaining long rides

2011-07-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the remaining long rides for the rest of the weeks until the Bike MS! (Only 4 training weekends to go!) Continue on to read more....

Saturday 7/30: Ride to Jemez Dam A long, flat, and fast ride through the Rio Grande Valley.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42677184"&amp;gt;Jemez Dam Ride&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Albuquerque, NM"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Saturday 8/6: South 14 - Rollers ride: A long ride out Tijeras Canyon than south on 14. Beautiful and difficult!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42675716"&amp;gt;South 14 - Rollers Route&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Albuquerque, NM"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Saturday 8/13: Ride to Santa Fe The plan is to ride from ABQ up to Santa Fe, catch a bite, than take the Rail Runner back home.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42680972"&amp;gt;Ride to Santa Fe&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Albuquerque, NM"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Saturday 8/20:

Either the Jemez Dam ride again, or a jaunt out to the west mesa to see the volcanos.

Saturday's Ride 7/24

2011-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

This weekends ride was a little more chaotic than normal. Co-captain Andrew was out of town and I was only available to ride until 8 am. Luckily, the rest of the team organized themselves under the fearless leadership of Calvin who put together a ride from their neck of the woods in the north east heights. (Ride map is below).

They biked south and met me as I biked over at the mouth of Tijeras Canyon. The 6 of us did a quick circuit through Four Hills for a little work out, and then parted ways as they headed out to Tijeras and back, and than back north hitting some brutal hills on the so called fingers. My little loop was 21 miles, and theirs was about 50 miles. Looks like everything went well and everyone is still smiling in the photos!

A wee dram for charity!

2011-07-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Our paired scotch tasting was a rousing (and tasty) success! We sold all of the 25 tickets for the big event and we packed tightly into the back half of Two Fools. The dinner got underway with a rousing round of bagpipe music enjoyed by all.

Then the food began! The introduction to each pairing, as explained by the manager and the scotch master, included a mouth watering description of the food, a little history and details of each scotch, why the scotch was chosen, and what made the pairing work. We then thoroughly enjoyed the combination over lively conversation. Then the tables were promptly emptied by the attentive staff and the next course of scotch and food was served up. By the end we were very full from all the food and very happy from all the scotch. It was quite the experience!

If you can't see the slide show above, please click here.

Personally, I have never drank my scotch with food and it was an epiphany! No one thinks twice of pairing wine with a specific dish, but never had I thought of applying the same logic to scotch. There were many interesting flavor combinations that the food brought out of the scotch and vice versa.

All in all a very successful and fun evening. Through the generosity of our attendees and the fantastic staff at Two Fools, the Penultimates were able to raise over $1200 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society! And plans have already been made for next years event! Hope you can join us!

Sunday 7/18 ride

2011-07-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Team B headed out Sunday morning to do the Inner City Loop, a 35 mile ride that let us take advantage of the trail along the river being open thanks to our few days of rain. We met at the zero dark early hour of 6am to head out.

We had a great turnout - 9 riders started out (including 2 more potential teammates) and, for me, that is the most I've ever ridden with. Just after this photo was taken, two turned home due to cramping and bike troubles. The rest of us had a great time enjoying being outside before the heat of the day. With catch up time and water breaks, and despite a few more bike troubles and some more cramping we still made it back in pretty good time.

As I had never done this route before, we were fortunate to have another veteran Penultimate with us to lead the way and make sure no one got left behind. Thanks to Chris for that!

Note: Next week's short(er) ride is cancelled due to travel and work commitments but we'll be back in two weeks so stay tuned for more.

Saturday 7/17 ride

2011-07-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today we did the ABQ city loop, a nice 55 mile jaunt mostly on dedicated bike paths. There were 6 of us out riding today which made for a nice group. We usually do this counter clockwise, but today we wanted to get a little hill work in. Going the other direction makes it a totally different beast - a long 6.5 mile climb of over 1200 ft elevation gain! Eventually we all made it to the base of the Tram where we refueled then began the long descent back toward home. All in all, a good ride!

Training Ride 7/16 & 17

2011-07-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

This weekends training rides - both rides departing at O'Neill's at 6 am. (Park south of Central on Silver):

Saturday ride - clockwise around the city (so going up Tramway the hard way)!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/41112252"&amp;gt;City Loop CW&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Albuquerque, NM"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;
Sunday ride (as of 7/14) - A relatively flat 35 mile jaunt through the city - only tough part is right near the end!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/41585726"&amp;gt;Inner City Loop&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/?location=Albuquerque, NM"&amp;gt;Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; &lt;/p&gt;

The First Training Ride

2011-07-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

We all gathered in the predawn light at O'Neills for the first official ride of the season. After a few minutes of swapping equipment and an emergency stop at the Casa de Scrymgeour for a rest stop, we were off about 6:30 am. We headed east on the gradual hill up to Tramway than north up Tramway. At the top we took the little torturous ride up to the base of the tram before enjoying a nice little break. We then headed off for the long decent into the valley (very fun!). We finished up by riding the diversion channel south back to the ride start. A nice start for the season!

Total ride time: 2:33, distance 36 miles, average speed 14 mph, top speed 37 mph.

Saturday's Ride 7/9 - and so it begins!

2011-07-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

First official training ride of the season! Are you ready? Little bit of hill work in Four hills, then up Tramway, and for the gluttons an additional spur up to the base of the Tram. Then back along the diversion channel back to O'Neills.

Departing the O'Neill's on Central at 6 am. (Why so early? It's the heat, man). Park on Silver Ave, one block south of Central adjacent to the O'Neill's parking lot. If you want to join us on the ride later on, let me know so we can make arrangements.

Modified City Loop CCW

Find more Cycling Routes / Bike Rides in Albuquerque, NM

Paired Scotch Dinner

2011-07-01T06:24:00.000-07:00

Join us for a fundraiser of a gourmet dinner paired with Scotch on Tuesday July 19th 6 pm at Two Fools. Tickets are very limited so contact us now to reserve yours. (All tickets must be purchased by Saturday the 16th so don't delay!)

Two choices:
$100 Tasting Ticket - for the full tasting dinner
$60 Foodie Ticket - for the dinner but no scotch!

This fundraiser helps us raise money for the National MS Society as we ride in the 2011 Pedal Los Pueblos Bike MS150.

The details:

Course One

Liffey Chips

Our Famous beer battered fish cut into bite size pieces and served with a Mandarian Asian sauce

Served with Glenkinchie 12 yr on the rocks with a lemon twist (Lowlands)

Course Two

Scotch Eggs

Two hard boiled eggs wrapped in housemade sausage and bread crumbs, cooked to a golden brown and served with pub mustard.

Served with Singleton 12 yr (Speyside)

Course Three

Galway Bay Salmon Plate

House cured Gravlox salmon served with a cucumber and caper relish, blue cheese spread, lettuce and house made Irish soda bread.

Served with Talisker 10 yr (Isle of Skye)

Course Four

Cottage Pie

Angus Beef simmered with onions, carrots, peas and spices. Topped with whipped potatoes and cheddar cheese.

Served with Lagavulin 16 yr (Islay)

Course Five

Guinness Brownie

Served warm, topped with chocolate sauce and vanilla bean ice cream.

Served with Dalwhinnie 15 yr from the freezer (Highlands)

Yum! Hope you can join us so get your tickets today! In case you are wondering, a portion of your ticket price is tax deductible. Fantastic! For tickets email us at penultimatesbike_at_gmail.com! (substitute @ for _at_ and you got it).

The Penultimates Logo

2011-06-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

After many intense planning sessions and focus groups (i.e. scattered emails and drinks over pizza) we created a logo that ideally suits our team of cracker jack cyclists. Introducing the logo for the Penultimates with our mascot Domo:

What is MS?

2011-06-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

So what is this weird disease? Why should you care? What is your pledge going to fight?

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that typically strikes adults in their mid 20's to 50's but can happen at any age. It is more common in women in men (66% to 34%) and the actual causes of the disease are still mysterious. There are certainly genetic and environmental components as well as age and geography, but the causes are still being actively researched. There are over 2 million people afflicted world wide, and 400 thousand in the US alone.

The mechanism of the disease, however, is understood pretty well. It is an autoimmune disease where the immune system, instead of attacking infectious agents, attacks the myelin sheaths covering the nerve fibers of the nervous system in the brain and spinal cord (see diagram below). This damage to the nerve fibers results in poor nerve conduction. Think of it like the wiring in a house - you start removing the coverings of the wires and now electricity doesn't flow correctly. There are shorts, cross wiring, and if things really get bad a fire! Same thing with MS - people afflicted have may different symptoms ranging from loss of fine motor control, partial paralysis, loss of eye sight, fatigue, numbness, and dizziness to name a few. Over time this damage to the nerves becomes cumulative. Because the brain controls everything in the body, and the nature of the disease is so random, no two people have the same symptoms or experience. Many can be fine for years between attacks, or can quickly be debilitated. This randomness is what makes this disease so horrible.

Courtesy MS Connections located here.

Right now there is no cure - only disease modifying treatments and drugs which increase the time between relapses. These drugs are relatively recent (1990's) and have been shown to be effective in modifying the course of the disease. The two most common treatments are injectable drugs, although a pill based medicine is winding its way through the FDA right now. But even with taking medicine relapses will happen and, over time, disability is almost guaranteed.

For more information check out the Wikipedia page or the best resource the National MS Society page.

The Bike MS

2011-06-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome! The Penultimates Cycling Team primary ride is the New Mexico Pedal los Pueblos MS150. It is a bike ride that raises money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and is held just north of Santa Fe the last weekend of August the 27-28th. It is a two day ride of which there is a 40 or 90 mile option the 1st day, and a 40 or 60 mile option the 2nd day of which you can do any combination. Do the full ride both days and you get 150 miles. Blammo.

I have now done the full 150 mile rides two years now. It was an absolutely fantastic ride through some spectacular terrain. It truly was one of the highlights of my year. Our team has grown this year too! Last year we had 6 people, this year we are already up to 11! Below are some photos from last years ride... Hope you can join us for this years!

At the top of the Puye Cliff Dwellings.

Finishing the second day of the ride as a team.