Week in Review

I had been meaning to post this past weekend but with all that was going on, I just didn't get around to it. So . . . . here it is all in one shot.

Wednesday night Ashleah and I headed over to the Santa Fe Brewing Co. for some live music and beer. We were first timers to the SF Brewing Co. but I had heard from others that it was great SF hangout. I was impressed. Oh and the Viszolay Belgian was quite tasty. Only wish I could have had more than one! Ruby Dee and the SnakeHandlers were playing and if you are into old school country/rock then you would like them. Reminded me of the days in small town NM and the county fairs. Think Johnny Cash! Who else was on the card: Hoot and Hellmouth and Jim Bianco. Hoots was a bluegrass band out of Pennsylvania and Jim Bianco. Hmm. Can't remember where he was from but he was pretty talented. Oh did I mention that the beer was quite tasty.

Thursday was a for riding in NM. Lots of sunshine and very little wind. Zoe was in town to visit Chris so the 3 of us headed to White Mesa for a spin around the 8 mile loop. Being that it was Zoe's first time at WM we took it easy and snapped a few pics. (Insert your own images here as I don't have a digital camera at the moment and haven't gotten any pics from Zoe, yet). Did I say it was a perfect day in NM. Hmm. Well about half way into the ride, the winds did pick up and would gust to about 35+ mph. Made the technical edge sections quite interesting. There were times I wish I had my old 30 lb Diamondback. The La Pierre was no match for the gusts!

Weekend was here and the familia came to town to celebrate Ashleah's entry into the Catholic Church. Lots of food, a mass, Easter egg hunts and more food. Good times were had and even Sasha got into the easter egg hunt. We were all pretty tired by the end of the weekend.



Now I am at Conchas Reservoir for Walleye Spawn and lets just say that the fishing is slow. Hoping for better days coming up. I stole (borrowed) my mom's camera so I have a picture for today.



One last thing . . . . Did anyone notice that at midnight tonight George W's 8 years of errors will be down to under 300 days! Hope all you fools that voted for him the 1st and 2nd time are realizing how much of a mess he made.

Look out For Cyclists!

Do the test!

SYDC + 1

First off let's give kudo's to those involved with the NMES. About 5 years back Matt started this thing. Rumor has it that there were 12 riders that day. Yesterday 62 started!! Though Matt is now discovering new trails in Durango, his successor, Lenny, is doing a hell of a job. High Desert Bicycles deserves an acknowledgment. Vince, John and the boys opened up the shop early Saturday morning and had coffee, muffins and restrooms available to us. ABQ metro area has some great bike shops, but if you are in the Rio Rancho area, be sure to stop by High Desert Bicycles. Finally, Hammer Nutrition gets a thanks as well for supplying HEED, and Hammer Gel. Haven't tried the stuff, check it out. Be sure to read their nutrition info and you see why their stuff is the way to go.

Ok now for the ride. I went into this knowing it was going to be rough. I hadn't spent much time in the gym since the SYDC pre-ride and absolutely no time on the bike, thus I pretty much knew that it was going to hurt. 1 mile in and I seriously contemplated turning around, driving out to White Mesa and riding with Dan once he got there. Decided against that plan and just kept peddling. Finally made it out the gas compressor station and sure enough the wind was starting to pick up.
Some of my friends think I am crazy for doing these endurance rides (they are partially right), but I still have enough savy to know that NM winds are not fun. That being the case, I turned the bike back onto Encino Rd. and headed back to RR. Total Ride: 52 miles 6 hrs 50 min.

As for Dan, the toughest part of his ride was actually getting to Rio Rancho. After leaving Colo. Springs he was stopped near Pueblo for over an hour due to an accident. No worries right. Wrong again. Just outside of Las Vegas, NM he went through a DWI checkpoint. After seeing a 6 pack of microbrew (un-opened) on the floorboard (gift for Ashleah and I) and a piece of foil on his passenger seat (uses it for baked potatoes during his rides), the NM State Police took him off to the side and searched the VW. Too funny!!!!

Want to see how everyone else fared, check out the results.
Word for Sunday: SORE

NMES 2008 Is On!

In just a few hours the 2008 San Ysidro Dirty Century will commence! What the hell is the SYDC? It is a grassroots mountain bike endurance race. This first race has epic single track, dirts roads and lots of miles. 120+ if you do both loops! Not sure how many are going to show, but I imagine there will be around 60 people. I will be there and my buddy Dan, from Colo Springs, will be there as well. Wind gusts today were over 45 mph, hopefully the wind will be minimal tomorrow. Guess we shall see what happens.

I am hoping for 60+ miles!

Let the Field Work Begin

It has been a long winter! Since December I have been making the trek back and forth from Rio Rancho to Santa Fe to do the 8 till 5er. Ok Ok, I really don't do 8 till 5 but it sounds good. With the warm weather finally appearing, it is time to head out and do some field work. Here's a few pics from a trip to the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic area. Pretty cool huh.






Last week I was at E. Butte Reservoir. Still waiting for some pics. You will be impressed with the size of fish that we caught!

Have I been riding! That's a big fat NO! Last time I blogged I had just ridden a portion of the SYDC. Things went well and I was prepping for the actual race day, March 15th. Since then I spent 3 weeks with the flu/cold. Definitely didn't ride as I felt like crap. Since then I have lazy and about the only exercise I have gotten is walking to and from the refrigerator. Those hard apple ciders are damn good!

SYDC is still a go this weekend. My buddy Dan from Colorado Springs is showing up, so I am going to attempt a few miles. Odds of me puking on the course: 5 to 1! Any takers!