Met a friend at the Sandia Pueblo commuter rail station for a nice
northward loop through Bernalillo and Algodones and the Santa Ana Pueblo
and return; the early morning cold (~23*F when I took my dog for an early
"run the evil out of him" run before the ride) quickly warmed with the sun,
so that it must have been about 32* when we started at 9 am, and the mid
40s by the time we got back to the station, 2 1/2 hours later; my hands
were sauna-ing in the the PI Lobster mitts. Very pleasant winter morning,
sunny and still; breeze didn't pick up until the southward return leg; just
as I was getting tired.
I get into a riding rut, riding the same pretty, but uvarying routes nearby
over and over again. Within 10 miles from home there are miles of open
state and country roads through at-once charming and squalid environments
that combine horse culture, ancient little villages, and single wides, but
all with vast vistas ending in distant mountains, and punctuated in this
bosque area by the cottonwoods that are so precious and noticeable in a
high-desert landscape, Fields populated by horses, cows, and vast herds of
wintering herons and geese; and even, said my friend of another ride up the
Tramway hill, bison in shaggy winter coats. This is what North Valley
Albuquerque must have looked like back when Edward Abbey drove along 4th
Street while when getting his master's in englit at UNM, and what the Brave
Cowboy must have seen during his equestrian peregrination through the city.
Friend was riding his commuter mid-range Cannondale road bike, 3X10 and
room for no more than 28s under the cf fork (he rides a Santa Cruz
Stigmata, not a Pinarello Dogma; but same weird old-fashioned,
Catholic-fixation nomenclature, though); me on the 76" Joe Starck with the
ineffably smooth and fast Rene Herse Elk Passes. I was pleased to find that
my climbing out of shape muscles must be permanently altered, because I've
been riding almost exclusively N-S along the perfectly level Valley (4,980
feet) for the past umpteen months, but the hills, one steep one at least
1/2mile long, left me only moderately overexerted and were mostly just
fun.There's a very pleasant rhythm when standing to climb fixed; it's less
efficient, but there is a very distinct "plateau" of exertion where one can
stand for long distances and hold off the inevitable move to anaerobic
exhaustion. Must work on hills; climbing fixed is very enjoyable when you
prepare for it. I do have 67" and 57" (17/20 Dingle) on the flip side.
30.something miles; no biggie, I know, but given my condition and age, a
very pleasant stretch of my capacity. I want to start riding the 7-mile
Tramway hill again; it's been a long time.
--
---
Patrick Moore
Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum
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