So This is What Hypothermia Feels Like

Today was supposed to be a South and North Foothills linkup. There was a rumor circulating of thunderstorms, but hey, this is New Mexico, what are the chances. I rode from the house, missed one of the turns on the bike path, and wound up further north on Tramway than intended. Made it up to Copper about 20 minutes late and met up with Mike and two of his buddies. The pace started fast and I couldn't keep up with the singlespeeders. We made it over to the North Hills and detoured to the Emery trail head to fill up the water bottles. More fast riding as we followed the upper contours of the foothills. Once I got to the fence at the top of the Pino climb it was raining and no one was in sight. I went about fifty feet further and hung out under a tree for about 10 minutes. Still no sign of the rest of the group. I decided I might as well finish the loop cause I was already soaked and headed back out. I didn't make it far before I started shivering. I bailed on 230 and wound up at the larger/nicer bathroom with an awning in front. It continued to pour rain with the occasional lightning bolt, all the while the temp continued to drop. I discovered a wall heater mounted up high in the bathroom. Success! Called Mike and eventually he found his way over after finishing the loop I had bailed on. Mike wasn't sure where his two buddies had disappeared to. The two of us and some Italian guy spent 15 or so minutes in the bathroom and then the Italian left. It continued to rain. We would venture outside, only to immediately retreat due to the temps in the high 40's. There was a wedding scheduled at a gazebo right next door and eventually the wedding planner? showed up to tell us to leave. On our way out I went over to beg for a trash bag to wear as a poncho. They handed me a bag and a smaller bag and I passed the small one over to Mike. I was seriously wondering if I was going to be able to make it home. I've never shivered so hard in my life.

Right as we were about to take off a Park Ranger showed up and gave us some big bags out of his maintenance closet. I put this bag on over the first one and he encouraged us to go back in the bathroom and warm up. Back in the bathroom I saw Mike's beard dripping with water and his bag tied with a little bow around his neck where he had made his head hole too big and I lost it. We laughed at each other and how I looked like sponge bob square pants with my over-sized bag. I raided the paper towel dispenser and stuffed my jersey with paper towels in an attempt to add an insulating layer. Several cycles of opening the door followed by retreating occurred. We eventually ventured out after the rain had mostly stopped. Upon getting to the ranger gatehouse at Elena Gallegos, Mike decided to finish the ride (since his Jeep was at Copper) and I was only thinking of the most direct way home. Heading down the hill on Simm's Park Rd. I spun furiously in my granny gear while grabbing brake to keep my speed down. The rain and wind picked up again and after about five minutes I saw a Starbucks sign and bee lined for it. I ordered a medium coffee and spilled a fair amount of it on the counter with all of my shivering. I stood around, sipping coffee, waiting for the rain to subside and eventually gave up and headed back out. I spun my way down Tramway and onto Comanche where several local asshole drivers didn't bother to use the inside westbound lane and sprayed me with a wave of water coming off of the side streets. The bike lane was like a river. As I lost elevation and neared Louisiana the sun started to reappear and I welcomed the bit of warmth as I rode the rest of the way home. All in all an epic ride and one that I will not easily forget.

Tijeras with Gears

Did something a little different today. I finally got some squish (rebuilt Reba) on the Vassago (with gears) and headed out to ride. Ranger Station>Coyote>Delberts>Power Line>Jackalope>337>Otero>West Ridge>Birdhouse. Coyote is definitely a little more difficult in the direction I rode it today. And Delbert's has lots of climbing. Oh how I hate the Power Line hike-a-bike. All in all the ride was pretty solid and the bike felt decent. I am totally used to hammering up hills with the SS and I sometimes felt my self stuck somewhere in no man's land where I'm not in a mashing gear and not in a spinning gear. It's something that I'm sure I'll sort out with more time in the saddle. One more week to the Parajito Burnout race!

The Legs Wear the Pants

Rode to work on Tuesday and fixed a flat on my way home. I had a goathead somehow make it through my cross tire and liner. And the Stan's wouldn't seal up fast enough so I wound up taking the whole thing apart. It finally sealed up and I rode home. Wednesday was run day and I knocked out about 5.5 miles in the Foothills. Friday I was planning on an East Mountains epic in Tijeras and was shooting for about 60 miles. I even stashed a jug of water at the Cedro campground to avoid running out of water like my last attempt. I started from the ranger station and by the time I got to the Tunnel trail head I could tell my legs weren't waking up. Up Tunnel, which went smoothly and I seemed to do a good job of maintaining momentum and conserving energy. Up Otero which went ok. Up Gnasty and then I didn't clean the bit of Blue Ribbon that I rode pretty easily a few weeks ago. Half a package of shot blocks on the forest service road, then Drop In, Cajun Pine, Wild Turkey, and maybe something else over to Mars Court. Eventually I made it back to Wild Turkey again for the rocky climb to Mars Court. This is where I realized my legs just weren't up to the task, as I stopped a few times on the same trail I had cleaned a week or two prior. I reminded my legs faster is easier. I told them they just needed to find a groove. I assured them that this is the most fun they'd have all week. I offered them a selection of treats from my camelbak. They wanted none of it. They told me that 60 miles was a bad idea. I pleaded that it was Friday and I had the day off. I resolved to prove the legs wrong and trudged over to Mahogany. Ponderosa was fun and I ran into a skunk on the trail. Thankfully I scared the little shit and it took off instead of trying to spray me. Back on Mahogany I started thinking about bailing and the thought wouldn't go away. Hit 242 and instead of continuing on Pokerchip I took the gravel to 252 up to the Cedro campground. My water jug was cold enough that I chilled for a few and gulped some down. Packed the gallon into my pack, blasted down the gravel, and took the pavement back to the ranger station.

Resting Up and Tearing Down

This past week was a lazy one, in a way. Between last weekend and all of the windy weather nothing much went down. I had intentions of commuting a day or two and my Thursday ride didn't happen because of some rain/wind. I knew that Friday after work would be my last chance to get some cardio in for the week so I headed out from the house to get in a Foothills loop. 25.21 miles in 2:01. House>Channel trail>Pennsylvania>bike path>Bear Canyon Arroyo>365>230>341>305>House........or something like that. Friday night Kevin got off at 11 and we loaded up to go climbing in La Madera north of Espanola. I'll link his blog later (he'll have some good pictures), but I did manage to take a few of the excellent bouldering and scenery:

50 mile Tijeras Attempt and Run for the Zoo 10K

Saturday I got a late start but made it to the Ranger's station around 11 for what I hoped would be 50 miles on the trail. Mike H. just happened to show up as I was getting ready so we decided to hit the trail together. Mike wasn't planning on such a long route so we parted ways after turkey trot. Route as follows: Ranger station>337>tunnel>Otero>Gnasty>Blue Ribbon>FS106>Drop In>Cajun Pine>Wild Turkey>Turkey Trot>FS335>Wild Turkey>Raven Rd>337>Oak Flats Rd>Mahogany>Ponderosa>Mahogany>Bear Scat>Pinyon>Lone Pine>FS12>Meadow Ridge>Cedro>FS252>FS13>Coyote>337 Going up Tunnel is always a good way to get the blood pumping and the lungs hurting. Mike ripped the downhill on his new Honzo and then we cranked up Otero. At the Gnasty intersection we stopped to chat with a guy on a SS Waltworks with super short stays and a micro drive of sorts setup. Up Gnasty to the rock ledge which I can never seem to clear, however I did clean the uphill section of Blue Ribbon which I don't think I've ever done in the past. The idea was to make a SS friendly route that had some good recovery/eating points along the way. On Cajun Pine I hit a sandy corner, had a two wheel drift, and managed to save it by putting a foot down. Mike blasted the downhill sections of Turkey Trot and then we parted ways on the dirt road. I climbed back up Wild Turkey which was all rideable, albeit slow and rocky. Ponderosa was a new section of trail that I had never ridden before, it's super fast and flowy and fun! Once I was on Bear Scat I knew I had to be more careful navigating so I didn't get lost on one of the unnamed trails that litter that part of the forest. The end of Bear Scat is a scary downhill with a bunch of loose sections, drops, and switchbacks. I walked quite a few parts of it. After you drop in elevation you wind up in a rocky creek bed which is a lot more tame and a blast to ride. After Lone Pine I changed my route to pick up Cedro singletrack in hopes that the Cedro campground would have some water. Once I got over there the campground and parking lot were empty and the gates locked. I tried the water spigot and nothing...The original plan was to take FS542 over to Powerline and then to Delbert's but since I had about 3/4 of a bottle left I headed up 242 and then took 13 over to Coyote for the finish. All in all a great day in the woods! I still need to figure out the nutrition side of things. I either seem to be eating/drinking way too much or way too little, gotta find a happy medium. Sunday was my first running race ever, the Run for the Zoo 10K. Not too much to say about it but that I started off a little too hot and by about the 3 mile mark I was starting to fade. I kept it together but the last two miles were rough and I had a bunch of the people I had passed earlier catching back up to me. I did manage to finish in an hour and seconds so it wasn't a total unraveling. I think I'm good on running races for a while...

Cloudcroft to Placitas

After what seemed like a lot of back and forth communication I figured out a way to make last weekend happen.  I helped Matt move on Saturday and gave my legs a good workout going up and down the stairs with furniture.  Saturday evening, amidst 50+ mph gusts, Wilder, Lorin, and I headed down to Cloudcroft so he could race and we could volunteer.  After downing some waffles from the hotel Sunday morning we headed up the mountain to Cloudcroft.  The weather was no where near the forecasted high and stayed in the upper 30's most of the day.  I went out for a course sweep with a guy named Dave, and even though we tried to go slow and stopped often, there was still a bunch of people on the course behind us.  Bill and I went out for a second lap and I got to stretch the legs a little during the big gravel road climb.  I just laid into it and my body said let's go.  It's nice when that happens.  I had a decent lap time but 34/20 might have been too much gear if I had actually been racing.

Monday I rode to work and the legs felt pretty good on the way home.

Tuesday night I met up with Mark C and we busted out a nice loop in Placitas.  Keeping up with Mark on his new Scapel is near impossible but it's always fun to give chase anyways.


Big death march in Tijeras planned for Saturday, 10K race on Sunday, and my first ever fork rebuild when my Reba rebuild kit shows up.

Back up and running (and pedaling)

Well, I'm not in Pisgah anymore.  Shame on me for letting the blog die yet again.  I'm in New Mexico now, September will be two years.  There's good riding out here but I still miss Pisgah immensely.  Got a blood clot two weeks after getting here which more or less kept me off the bike for about a year.  Things are different now, I've been riding to work for the past couple of months and putting some real effort into some time on the bike.  I've been doing some trail running too and it seems to be helping.

Last weekend was the first race in the New Mexico Endurance Series.  They are a series of grassroots races that run from April to October.  Given that it was the first race I had done in like two years I figured I'd do the short 58 mile course.  I talked Mark C into joining me and we headed out to White Mesa for the Sandy Ysidro 8 AM start.  Here's the rundown:

The start was pretty casual even though the guys in front immediately gave it the gas.  Mark had just uploaded the course onto his GPS that morning while I was driving and lost the file at the start.  I however, had the file but couldn't seem to get to a screen that would actually tell me what was going on.  Hit buttons while trying to not lose my place or careen into people.  Turn unit off and on, same screen.  Give up knowing we've got paper directions.  Try to catch a pack up ahead even though I hadn't warmed up at all and it takes me an hour to warm up.  Pack comes apart so less motivation.  Ride with some guys doing the 83 mile course for a few miles.  Mark takes off and drops me going up a hill.  One of the 83 mile guys tells me what buttons to hit and now I've got a map and helpful screens.  We stop to make sure we aren't taking the race loop in the wrong direction.  Proceed.  I decide I'm tired of riding with 83 milers and take off.  Feeling good at this point.  Get to the first gate which is all wired shut and takes a few minutes to open.  Mark catches up.  Get through the gate and let er rip.  Couple miles a later a middle aged dude with bar ends starts riding with us.  Terrain is good at this point so Mark and I start pushing it and taking pulls but this guy wants to just stay right behind me.  I'm not a road racer and don't really care for this.  Guy gets on my nerves and I drop the hammer and we leave him.  Couple longer hills and Mark passes me again.  Almost miss a turn but the GPS saves us.  Get to the second gate and find out there is only two guys ahead of us.  Mark is killing it on these climbs and I'm at the back hurting.  About 20 miles left.  We catch sight of the guy in 2nd place but he is soon gone.  Some climbing ensues.  We meet back in where the loop started and it feels like the home stretch.  Pound a gel which seems to stick in my throat and try to dig deep.  Mark is taking off again.  Grind the hills and see 2nd place again but he's putting time on us and every time I see him he's further away.  Mark stops to stretch his leg and I roll by.  Mark passes me at the last turn at the substation.  Like 6 miles left.  I'm fading fast.  Mark keeps hammering and I'm looking over my shoulder fearing the worst.  By the last climb I'm toast.  Mark is stretching at the top.  We roll down the last hill and finish 58 miles in 3:54.  I was hoping for 4:30 so this is awesome.  First place dude came in at 3:21.  Killed it!

Next race is five weeks away.  Got to get to work.