Satuday's Ride 8/19: Return to Jemez Dam

What a great ride for the final ride of the 2012 training season!  The 65 mile round trip from Nob Hill north to the Jemez Dam (details here).  It had it all - beautiful weather, a gorgeous ride through the lush farmland along the Rio Grande river valley, some ups and some downs, lots of flat fast riding, and of course some great teammates to share the miles with.  It also featured the greatest moment of my training season so far, but more about my victory later... 

Five of us - Gary, TJ, Laura, Eric, and me - rallied at the O'Neill's parking lot at 6 am a little surprised by the darkness and the relative chill in the air (here comes fall!).  We headed out through Nob Hill then up the north diversion channel just as the sun broke over the mountains.  About halfway there I got a call from Jeff, who had slept through his alarm, and plans were made for him to rally with us later in the ride.  After a quick potty break at Eric's office, we continued north to mile ten where we met up with Calvin and Greg who had biked down from the Northeast Heights.

Along the north diversion channel at dawn.

At the rally point, I quickly called Jeff to let him know where we were.  I just redialed the number he had called from before, and was taken aback by his voice, which sounded very womanly and kind.  After a second confusion, I realized I was in fact talking to Jeff's mythical wife.  Of course by mythical I mean seldom spotted and maybe imaginary sort of like a unicorn or a mermaid.  But barring some elaborate setup we have officially confirmed her existence.

Heading north toward Bernalillo

We headed west on the Paseo trail to eventually catch 4th street north after winding our way along Rio Grande, Alameda, and Guadalupe Trail.  Right around the circle (mile 18ish) Jeff finally caught up with us and we cruised north along 313.  We set a pretty nice pace line and cruised along at ~18 mph for most of the next 10 miles.  Getting closer to our first stop, Eric hopped into the lead position and our speed quickly edged up closer to 20 mph.  I struggled to stay on, and our pace line split into two.  But eventually we pulled into our first refuel stop in Bernalillo.  When I caught everyone Eric explained the sudden burst of enhanced performance - he really had to use the rest room.  

The next leg of the ride took us through Bernalillo winding our way on back roads to avoid the high traffic of 550.  From there we turned north and headed toward Jemez Dam - an mile spur up to pretty decent hills with a long descent in the middle ending at a nice overlook.  It was a fun ride as there was a charity run/walk to benefit the fight against diabetes so lots of runners and walkers out on the road.

At the Jemez Dam overlook

After a nice rest at the overlook, we headed off on the next leg.  First up we needed to descend one hill, climb another, then do the long descent down to 550.  As everyone knows, I am what is euphemistically called a "Clydesdale" rider - one who violates the tyrannically body norm of cycling by  weighing over 185 lbs (shocking, I know).  This makes me terrible on the hills but I make up for it on the descent.  So I saw my chance just ahead.  As we neared the bottom of the first hill, most of the other riders were in front of me, so I turned it on and built up a head of steam.  Right as the hill started, I blasted past everyone else like they were standing still - I was going about ~22 to their ~14 mph.  As I screamed past them I yelled out "see you suckers" in a fit of pure cycling joy.

As in real life, victory is often short lived.  True for me as well.  My speedy ascent began to slow I went from fast, to not so fast, to my normal uphill speed - slow.  To add insult, probably within 30 seconds I was overtaken by a few of the hill climbing demons who yelled out gleefully "on your left" as they passed.  Oh well, for short time I passed everyone on the uphill - and you can't take that away from me! My favorite post-script came from Laura who over heard a jogger observing my daring manuever yell out "Don't let the argyles beat you!"  Ha - if only she knew my true cycling style - always last.

The rest of the ride went rather uneventfully as we cruised through roads that criss-crossed the high desert on the mesa west of town.  Heading down Paseo de Vulcan, I kept thinking that this is where they film all the desolate desert shots in "Breaking Bad".  We wound our way back down into the valley to take a quick cruise through the hamlet of Corrales before making our way back to the Bosque trail. At this point, Jeff, Calvin and Greg headed off back toward home by making their way back up Tramway!  Ouch!

The five of the starters at O'Neill's headed back toward Nob Hill along Paseo and then the north diversion channel trying to keep a pretty good pace line.  As we neared the end, Gary's back tire finally gave up after fighting a slow leak all morning.  He phoned reinforcements (Rebecca) for a pick up who was conveniently stationed at Serafin's awaiting our return.  After the rescue maneuver, the five of them finished the morning at Serafin's while I headed home to relieve Ali, who as usual spent the morning watching the Boy-o.  All told a great conclusion to our 2012 training season!

Addendum:  Boo - Yaa!  [The following was written by Calvin who headed from the Bosque trail back up Tramway to get home.]

Three riders originating from the NE Heights broke off from the main pack at the Alameda Open Space, and embarked on a long climb back home along Tramway.  Along the way, Calvin half-jokingly suggested adding on a climb to the Tram Base, which to his unpleasant surprise was accepted by Jeff and Greg.  The joke was on Calvin though, because he was severely dropped halfway to the summit.  So, here we are at the end of a long day (pic) after 10 final miles, 1300 ft of additional climbing, and a couple of minutes waiting for Calvin: the base of the Sandia Peak Tram.  On a side-note, we were almost run off the road at a stop light by a crazy driver honking and yelling "Domo" names at us.  Apparently, these Penultimates (Danny Boy driving a truck with a 1-ton horse trailer) are such punks.  =)

Penultimates Raffle

For our last fundraiser of the year we will be holding a raffle for some pretty sweet prizes!  We are pitching this as a romantic weekend in ABQ, but you could use this however you see fit (really nice Christmas presents, time with the family, time away from the family, etc...)  

The prize of the raffle is a:

• Two night stay at Hotel ABQ at Old Town (or other properties - see details below)
• Balloon ride for 2 from Rainbow Ryders, Inc
• Two yoga classes from High Desert Yoga

Pretty nice right?  A $575 value!

Tickets will be $20 and can be purchased from any Penultimate (email penultimatesbike_at_gmail.com for details).  All proceeds go to the National MS Society to fund awesome science dedicated to kicking this disease in the nether region.

The drawing will be held on September 7, and the winner will be notified by phone and email and announced on this blog.

The fine print:

Hotel expires on 6/8/13.  Also valid at the Nativo Lodge (ABQ), Hotel St. Francis (Santa Fe), Hotel Chimayo (Santa Fe), the Lodge at Santa Fe (Santa Fe, duh), and Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces (Las Cruces).  Blackout dates are present.

Ballon flight expires on 6/30/13.  Not valid 9/25 to 10/25.

Yoga expires 10/12/12.

Rider Bio: Kenneth

Who you are: Kenneth Douglas (Erica's husband)

Why you ride: When you look this good in lycra, it is a crime not to ride.

Who do you ride for: All my peeps out there (and not just the yellow ones).

What do you ride: I am not going to lie, I prefer fat tires but when I have to roll skinny I ride my Specialized Tarmac Comp with Sram groupo (because Sram is better).

Longest ride to date: I once attempted the Swampman 100 in southern Georgia when I lived in N. Florida. However, my lower back started giving me pain on about mile 70, so I only managed 80 miles. Apparently my lower back couldn't compete with the awesomeness of the rest of my body. I have since replaced it with nanobots.

One interesting fact about you: I can transform into Optimus Prime...but only when you aren't looking.

Best cycling memory: Bombing down the Porcupine Rim trail in Moab

How epic are fig newtons in general: I don't think that the true epicness of fig newtons can be understood by us humans. I am convinced that scientists will eventually find that the cure for MS is in-fact...fig newtons.

Your post ride routine: I sign autographs for my fans.

Your favorite recovery meal/beverage: I drink chocolate milk.

He either pulled this off or crashed spectacularly.

Sunday's Ride 8/12: Ali's first 50-mile ride of the season

[Ali kindly wrote up today's ride, which she subtitled her "first 50 mile ride of the season with seasoned Penultimates".  Her 3 fellow riders had all gone to Santa Fe the day before, but where in the saddle to get used to riding two back to back days.  Ali's write up below.]

That's right! Looking for more pain, Greg, Gary and Jeff joined me bright and early for the big loop around the city. (Insert the photo that should have been taken here...oops!)

Since the other three were in various stages of saddle soreness/recovery, I'd like to think the pace I set was just right for everybody. We made it Smith's in good time and headed up Tramway. No one seemed super excited about the tram spur, even taunts about beer buying didn't work, we kept going around. We said adios to Jeff at the Paseo spur and the rest of us kept heading down the Bosque.

It was a beautiful morning, but when it decided to get hot, it did so pretty quickly. We were slowed down a little due to a race on trail south of Tingley (Was that your race Eric?), and a little more due to my waning endurance. While the last 10 miles seemed to take forever for me, I was continually boosted up by teammate support. I still owe Gary a Slurpee for that!

I just have to say how lucky we are that we have each other to train with. I'm really looking forward to riding with everyone in two weeks!

Next weekend: looking for ideas. Hill workout? Jemez Dam part 2? City loop in reverse? Any ideas let me know.

And thanks again for a great ride!

Ali

Saturday Ride 8/11: The High Road to Santa Fe

Wow-za.  The high road to Santa Fe.  From Albuquerque over 65 miles with over 3200 ft in elevation gain.  The first 20 miles alone are entirely uphill.  A long day in the saddle, but a rewarding one!  This ride isn't just a ride - it is an adventure! It involves cycling through spectacular scenery, some grueling ascents, some heart racing decents, a train ride, great food, and of course good company.

Today 8 riders gathered at 7 am at our Nob Hill rally point for the start of the ride: TJ, Gary, Andrew, Jeff, Greg, Eric, Laura, and myself.  We cruised east through the city winding our way toward the mouth of Tijeras Canyon.  At about mile 7 we had a seat malfunction, and we spend about 20 minutes trying to MacGyver Greg's saddle back into proper position.  It proved to be more than we could fix with our assembled tools, so Greg decided to tough it out and ride with us the rest of the day. (Ouch!)

Our first major rally and refuel stop was at the Triangle.  There we talked to a few other cyclists who  were there because the road to the Crest, the ride we did last weekend, was closed due to a motorcyclist who had wrecked on the decent.  (Not a happy ending to this story, unfortunately).  Somewhat sobered, we headed out on the next leg in good spirits after eating many newtons, drinking much water, and slopping on more sunscreen.

Heading out of Sandia Park toward Santa Fe.

On the next leg leaving Sandia Park on the way to Madrid, we all kept a pretty good pace as we started down the first decent of the ride.  It didn't las long as we all started to split up into a few groups as the hills started - a series of four long, long hills, some with grades of 14%!  Eventually we all made it to the top of the last hill at the peak elevation on the ride at a little over 7000 ft.  

After regaining our breath, it was time for the exhilarating 5 mile decent into Madrid!  This was by far the highlight of the ride as we cruised down the relatively straight roads off the top of the mountain pass and toward the valley below.  Only as we pulled into the tiny art community of Madrid did we have to use the brakes.  We stopped at the general store which was stocked with whatever a thirsty, hungry, smelly cyclist could possibly dream of (including a very delicious Twix ice cream bar that did not last long after being liberated from the cooler).

The next leg on the ride was the final 25 miles into Santa Fe.  This is where the ride became work.  We had just passed noon and the sun was out in all her high desert fury.  It was hot - thermometers on bikes registered as high as 106!   We knew were were getting closer, but things seemed to slow to a crawl as we inched our way to the finish.  We rallied in the shade of a tree at mile 52, before the last painful 7 miles.  The contents of water bottles were all hot, legs were tired and burning, and the heat, my god, the heat!

Enjoying the food, company, and shade!

But then we made it - what a sense of accomplishment! We pulled into El Parasol at 1:30 pm tired, hungry, thirsty, and ready for a little relaxation!  We were met there by the significant others of two of our riders, and we all settled down for a leisurely lunch on the veranda.  TJ and Andrew headed home early with Virginia via car, which the rest of us rode the 2 miles over to the train station at 3:15 to catch the 3:45 train south to ABQ.

The hour ride train ride back afforded time for conversation or quiet meditation (read: napping).  After quickly deploying from the train (an highly orchestrated maneuver), we said hello to Ali and Connor who were waiting for us on the platform.  Five riders then headed home toward the diversion channel for the final 10 miles of the ride to get back home.  All told a long day, but a good training ride for getting ready for the MS150.  All told, 73 miles in 5:30 of ride time.  Go Domo!

Rider Bio: Roushan

Who you are:  Roushan G.

Nickname: Scrappy (Dappy Doo?)

Why I ride: I ride because it makes me looks cool and I have AWESOME teammates, but mostly to BTHO MS! WHOOP!

Who do you ride for:  I started riding especially for my aunt, Karen Mumbower, who lost her battle with MS in December 2004.  She was one of the most amazing persons I could ever hope to meet and always had a story to tell.

What you ride:  I ride a womens' Specialized Amira, she looks cool for the both of us.

Best cycling memory: Riding at White Sands during the full moon!  Hanging out on the dunes for several hours, snapping some pictures, and riding with 200 other people with glowsticks was pretty awesome!

How epic are Fig Newtons:  Fig Newtons are really the essence and metaphorical glue that hold any respectable team together not to mention they're just darn delicious in general.  Without Fig Newtons life would be lacking in the arena of yummy fruitness wrapped up in a soft cake-like shell...  I'll stop before anyone tears up.

Best Bike MS memory: The 2011 Bike MS holds many awesome memories, among those is one of myself and Matt singing and dancing at our team tent (Holla!) and recruiting folks to join the Penultimates because as we all know, we're just awesome!

Riding the White Sands moonlight ride.

Saturday Ride 8/4: Peak Assault!

The good news?  Today's ride was only a 27 mile ride.  The bad news?  It is 13.5 mile ride straight up  Sandia Peak with almost 3800 feet of elevation gain.  Details are here.  I had always been scared of this ride - having ridden up to the ski area a few summers ago but starting up to the ski area at mile 35 of a long day of riding.  I was new to cycling and the ride kicked my butt.  But we needed some hill work, and what better way to get some hill miles in?

So the few, the proud, the crazy all met at the Triangle in the East Mountains for a relatively late 7:30 am start time.  There was 10 of us heading up this morning: Greg, Jeff, Calvin, Gregg, Tammy, Peggy, Gary, Matt,  David, and new rider Lisa.  We all started off in good spirits and almost immediately splitting into two groups - those fast, good hill climbers and the rest of us.

A long road up

The amount of exertion required to get up the hill did not easily lend itself to conversing with other riders, so it was a quiet meditative ride up.  A gorgeous morning though, with the cool crisp mountain air keeping you company.  After a quick rally at half way at the ski area, we plunged ahead to the top. One of our other riders, Danny,  riding separately from the main group did a great job of passing most of his team about a mile from the end of the ride.

A sense of accomplishment

We all met up at the very top of the crest at around 10:15, at a whopping 10640 feet above sea level.  Shortly after, Ali and Connor (the littlest Penultimate) met us at the top to share in the spectacular view before they headed off on a hike on the 10K trail.  

After some high fives, many fig newtons, and lots of water, it was time for the fun part - the long 13 mile down hill.  It was a fast one - the ski area is about half way down and offers a good chance to give your forearms a chance to rest from the braking!  I averaged about 30 mph on the way down, with a top speed of 42 mph.  We finished our morning ride with a great breakfast at the Lazy Lizard with some other riders, including fellow Penultimate Geoff, who had done some mountain biking instead.  Overall a great morning!