My buddy is right - perhaps I will be the 'October Champion'. Or not. Point? LATE start to anything resembling 'training' this year, but now with a 16.5 pound rocket of a road bike, the investment in longer miles and more climbing are paying good dividends. Still not really structuring anything - except to mix road and dirt, hard and easy. This morning, I headed north to a jobsite meeting and an exploratory 50 mile road ride / loop. Starting at the junction of routes 285 and 84, I began by heading north on 285 towards Ojo Caliente - home of some fantastic hot springs and a pretty little village. Just as the road left town, about 18 miles into the ride - I turned right (at the place that advertised "propane and pigs!!") onto state route 111. The ride instantly got yet more beautiful. Perfect swoopy, rolling country highway with hardly a car in sight. I began the first of 4 or 5 climbs and felt good. A little slow - but good. Mile after mile of old-world countryside, punctuated by grassy fields and large thick stands of cottonwood trees, as well as the occasional stunning view to a distant vista. This wacky place never falls short of impressing in new ways.
A few more miles and I hit the main climb, as I turned onto state route 584. Wow! I felt great and really punched it up a 2 mile or so climb. The grade varied a bit, and the road kept twisting until the top - where yet again, the horizon revealed itself from yet another angle. Pedernal to the north west, the Chama River due west, and the Sangres to the east / south-east. I downed a Clif Kids bar and some water, and sailed down towards the funky village of El Rito - a blend of old world rural and funky post-hippie groove. VERY cool place! I'll bring the family back for a look-see soon.
The road straightened out and began descending down towards Abiquiu and I picked up the tempo some. Once back at state highway 84, it was a fast cross-tail wind ride on a smooth shoulder most of the 10 miles back to the car.
I'm curious to do it n the opposite direction next time....
Let's see, other than that - the last two weeks have been a blur.
6/27 Today - Ojo / El Rito Loop
6/26 Yesterday: Ski Hill climb to the State Park, then WICKED hills work with the boys
6/25 Wednesday: off
6/24 Tuesday: Wicked throw-down group road ride
6/23 Monday: Hills work out to en Medio and back
Last Week:
6/22 Sunday: Atalya/Dale Ball Mountain bike Ride
6/21 Saturday: Tempo Road ride out Old Santa Fe Trail
6/20 Friday: Fun boondoggle day climbing up Pacheco Canyon and upper Winsor to meet some friends
6/19 Thursday: Partial Hills work
6/18 Wednesday: Mountainbike FAST ride around main Dale Ball loop
6/17 Tuesday: Tesuque / Super Bunny reversed, then group throw-down
6/16 Monday: Off
Week Before THAT:
6/15 Sunday: DURANGO! Up Florida Road w/ Victor in the trailer (OW! Hills are STEEP!). Very cool Fathers Day hanging out at a creek with Victor, near the reservoir - while he dipped his toes in the icy water - looking for, and tossing - nice round pebbles into the pools of calm water. (must post those pics asap!)
Saturday: DURANGO! Met up w/ Mark for a nice 3+/- hour ride; Jones to Pinkerton Flagstaff to Dutch to Hermosa. FUN and lush. (see photos)
And so on....
Last few days have been GOOD - still chilly at oh-dark-thirty, but I'm used to it now. Low 40's = knee warmers. Lower? Knickers/tights, and a jacket. Unbelievable. Isn't it JUNE? Let's see....
Saturday - mellow ride out and about town on the CX bike - made sure it was working well (loaned out the mtbike to a good buddy who was hosting some friends from out of town).
Sunday - good old Pacheco Canyon loop from town. Tesuque and Chupadero are lovely at 6AM, I will say - and the road out to the start of the dirt road climb is nice and warm, even early in the morning. Pretty fun climbing that sweet, efficient machine past groggy campers rolling out of their tents along Pacheco Canyon. Don't they know? Camp on HIGH GROUND - it stays warmer. Duh. Hit the pavement way up near the ski basin in about 1:46 - need to get that time down to about 1:30 to feel 'better'.
PC-Loop-sm from http://glen236.vox.com/
Monday - moderate recovery spin way out to the end of Old Santa Fe Trail and back. Felt pretty good to have a couple of solid days in a row now... chilly east wind is OK when it's at your back.
Tuesday [today] - mix of easy riding for an hour before a moderate 6AM throw-down with the alpha crew. Thankfully they were going easy, so I was able to BARELY hang on. Didn't help that I totally wonked out my back right before the ride, by sneezing while bending over to buckle my shoe. Instead, I buckled - and fell right over! Ow. Feels like I pulled something GOOD down there.... ah well.
Tomorrow I'll be back out on the mountainbike - 1 - 1.5 hour warm up before an all-out XC race pace effort for an hour. The new road bike is under construction, and as soon as the back-ordered SRAM Red shifters and 175mm cranks arrive, we'll be ON again, at last! Oh I've been missing having a svelt speedy dedicated road bike of late. The CX bike is great - as a CX bike. Too heavy and laid-back for real road miles. Soon. Come Happy!
In the meantime - our house is on the market, it looks GREAT, and we're excited and nervous, of course. Could sell next week - or next year. We're ready for whatever. Very cool to have it DONE and clean and nice, at last!
