Weekend's Rides: 7/8 & 7/9 - Holiday Weekend Happiness!

The fourth training weekend of the season went off without a hitch (for the most part).  Numbers were low, but I think a lot of people were enjoying an extended 4th of July weekend.

Saturday -  Today we headed out on the 53 mile counter clockwise city loop (route here) that took us south past the airport and over to the Bosque trail all the way north, before heading east for a long 8 mile climb to the base of the Tram, then south along Tramway, and then home again across the southern edge of the city.  There were 14 of us heading out, including a few new riders - always a plus!

It was a fun ride for me as we diverted a bit out to Mesa del Sol to avoid the Rio Bravo traffic. It was a scenic and beautiful stretch of road totally devoid of any vehicle traffic. The uphills got everyone sweating early too.  It allowed for some cool pictures too (see below).

It was surprisingly quiet going north on the Bosque trail. It can be quite busy with all the walkers, cyclists, (unsmiling) runners, roller bladers, strollers, etc... which earn it the nick name playing "Bosque Frogger".  But traffic was light and we made a pretty good pace up to the Alameda open space.

From there we headed north and upward up the hill toward the tram, but due to a persistent slow leak from my tire I stopped at El Pinto to "quickly" swap out my tire.  I ran into all kind of problems, but after consuming all my supplies (2 CO2 cartridges and my spare tube), killing my trusty pump of 8 years, and a second pairs of hands provided by one very Good Gary who came back to see if I was okay, I finally got back on the road.  It was my first field change of my tubeless tires, which all in all could have been worse.  For example my bike could have caught fire.

I missed the 1 mile spur up to the base of the tram, but refreshed at a gas station down the road and then caught up with the rest of the rides as we headed home quickly in the ever heating ABQ day.  All told, all riders made it home and despite some cramping by some of our party we all made it home.  Unsure if there was brunch as I had to meet some family out for brunch, but I hope so.

Fun with backlighting - the riders of the apocalpse

Sunday - Six people headed out for the Inner City Loop with the spur out to Mesa del Sol to avoid Rio Bravo.  It was a fast ride as most riders were back by 9:30.  Captain Ali reports all riders had a good time!