Weekend's Ride: 6/27 - The Start of the Hills

Woke up early in the morning to the sound of rustling trees.  Hmmm....wonder if it will be windy today?  We had 10 riders meet up at O'Neill's at 6 am to start the ride - Evil Gary, Good Gary, Stacy, Greg, Blythe, Maneeshika, Andrea, Bryan and his visiting friend, and myself.  We were doing the modified city loop (route here), which, unlike last weekends ride, had some elevation. The plan was to head east along the south edge of the city to the first rally point at Smiths to pick up new rider Tina.  Calvin left his house in the NE, and was somewhere behind us, intending to catch us at some point.

Ride start - early in the morning!

We began our slow ascent which was complicated by a stiff canyon breeze that would plague us the rest of the day.  We made it to Smiths by 7, and after the rally, we headed north along Tramway to then turn and go further uphill toward the Tram (and what a brutal uphill it is).  While at the top, Calvin finally caught up with us. It was an impressive ride, as all 12 riders made it to the top of the tram (a new Penultimates record).  From this point, we all did the fun 8 mile downhill losing the 1400' of climbing as we raced down toward the valley floor below us.  Always an exhilarating ride.

Triumphant at the top of the Tram!

At this point disaster (minor) struck twice.  Good Gary and Tina had two flat tires along the same stretch of road.  While repairs were being made, we started to break up a bit, as riders headed toward the end of the ride.

Fixin' o' the tire!

We rolled back into Nob Hill at 10 am.  A good ride!  A few new riders (great riding Tina and Andrea!) completed their first Penultimates ride.  Tina survived her first ride and her initiation, as she had her first field tire change and derailleur repair on this ride as well.  Go Domo!

Weekend's Ride: 6/20 - Official 1st Ride!

Hooray!  The first official ride of the season.  We headed out on a relatively flat 35 mile ride (route here) from Nob Hill down past the airport to pick up the Bosque trail circling south and then back north toward the north valley.  From there over to the diversion channel and back to Nob Hill.  Eight riders headed out (Olga, Evil Gary, Maneeshika, Greg, Bryan, Captain Awesome, new rider Frank, and Captain Snookums) and we picked up Calvin along the Bosque trail.

At the Alameda Open Space

All in all a good ride, no surprises and few new faces, and a nice morning in the saddle.  We made it back to the ride start by around 9:30 am.

In the last 10 miles

Weekend's Ride: 6/13 - A (Fast) Saturday Fun Ride

Our last pre-ride of the season had a few seasoned and experience rider and one brand new rider.  Welcome Matt!  For a fun ride at the start of the season,  it sure was a fast one!  We departed Nob Hill at 7 am, cruising north on the diversion channel to do a quick out and back to the north valley (route here).

The route was fairly flat, so we kept a brisk pace up the diversion channel, over to 2nd street, and then out 313.  We turned around at mile 15, and then headed back.  A short quick ride, average speed 15.9, cruising at around 20 mph heading south with nice tail wind.

A quick recharge at top of diversion channel

We finished the ride cruising up the middle of an empty Central Ave, as traffic was blocked off in advance of the Pride Parade.  Looking forward to the season!

Weekend's Ride: 6/6 - Sunday Fun Day Ride!

Time to get the bike dusted off and lubed up - today we headed out for the official first ride of the 2015 season!  We opted for a short 25 mile ride with a little stop over at Bike in Coffee.  Route here. Five riders headed out from Nob Hill - Captain Snookums, Eric, Laura, Evil Gary, and new rider Maneeshika.  

Enjoying the cool morning we headed out at 8 am for a quick mosey through UNM Campus, north on the diversion channel to Paseo and then west.  For a change up, instead of heading south on the Bosque trail, we turned south on Rio Grande and rolled south until Old Town where we circled back toward Bike in Coffee.

A little food and beverage at the beautiful Bike in Coffee

After some refreshing food and some test rides of some fat tire bikes, we made the last little 5 mile ride back up the hill to the diversion channel and back to Nob Hill finishing around 11 am.  A great start to a new season!

So You Want To Be a Penultimate

So you want to ride the Bike MS! Great! Now you need to decide if you want to ride and train with a fun team that will get you ready to ride by the end of August? In short, do you think you have what it takes to be a Penultimate?

To determine if you have what it takes to be a Penultimate, complete the following survey:

1. Do you know how to ride a bike? 
2. Is your skill level represented on the "Continuum of ability" shown below?

From beginner (left) to Lance Armstrong (right) we want you to ride with us!

If you answered yes to both questions one and two then - Congratulations! You have what it takes to be a Penultimate!

In order to ride with the Penultimates, here is what you do to register for the ride. But before we get to that, just remember the ride costs $45 to join and comes with a commitment to raise a minimum of $250.  (But don't worry - it is not that hard!) If you cannot raise the minimum amount, you will be asked to pay the difference before you can participate on the ride.

Still with me?  You want to register?  Here is how:

1. Go to the Penultimates ride website here.
2. At the top left of page, click on the text that says "Join Team".
3. It will bring you to a registration page, and just follow the instructions.
4. Give yourself a high five - you joined an awesome team!

Training Season 2015

Here is the first draft of the training schedule for the 2015 year. The general plan is that if you ride this long ride schedule plus maybe get a few extra rides in you will be ready for the full MS150 at the end of August.   We will also contemplating doing a short training ride on each Sunday too that will build to ~50 miles by the end of the season, so those that want to ride the short ride can get some team rides in too.  For those of you new to the team, riding is great, but riding with a team is so much more fun!  As always, we will following most of the rides with a team breakfast.

From the 2014 adventure ride to Santa Fe

The tentative schedule (all are on Saturdays unless otherwise noted): All rides will leave from O'Neill's on Central as early as we can (6 am) unless otherwise noted.  There are several riders that are planning on doing the Taos Grand Fondo on August 1st (anyone interested in riding with us please let me know)! 

6/13	Light ride	20
6/20	Inner City Loop CW	36.1
6/27	Modified City loop CCW	36.7
7/4	City Loop CW	53
7/11	Jemez Dam	65
7/18	South 14 + rollers	65
7/25	Crest Assault from Triangle	26
8/1	TBD	50-60
	Taos Grand Fondo	100
8/8	Ride to Placitas	66
8/15	Santa Fe	72.4
8/22	Recovery weekend	30
8/29	The Ride	150

Who We Are - 2015 Season

We are The Penultimates – a team of Albuquerque, New Mexico cyclists. Our primary focus is cycling in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s “New Mexico Pedal Los Pueblos” Bike MS150, a two-day, 150 mile cycling tour through northern New Mexico. This event raises money for research, education, and support of individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis – including those within our community.  (For a quick primer on MS, check this out). Our team includes several members riding for friends and family with the disease, but we also have two cyclists that live and ride with MS.

The Penultimates formed in 2010 with 5 riders, raising over $7500 for the Bike MS150 event. By 2014 we we have had over 48 different riders join us through the years and raised $xx in 2014 and $xx since our first year the fight against MS.  We’re reaching out to our families, friends, and the community businesses we actively support to help our fundraising reach the next level.  We are organizing a few fundraisers this year, our Fifth Annual Paired Whisky Dinner hosted by Two Fool's Tavern (last years event is here).  These events raise money directly for the MS society, but the proceeds go toward your rider totals, so if you think fundraising will be difficult - we make it easy!

Our team has always been about the joy of cycling, the friendship of teammates, and riding or volunteering for a fantastic cause.  We may not finish first, but we will finish, and have a great time doing it!  We start training in earnest in June, and we will organize two rides every weekend to get you ready for the ride.  The majority of our riders were relatively new to cycling last year, and all of them completed some combination of the 2014 event ranging from 80 miles to the full 150 miles. Whether you are new to cycling, a grizzled veteran, or just looking to volunteer your time for a good cause, this is the team for you!  Go Domo!