Tempo Rides on the pavement were the rule last week. It felt good to get out and spin and throw in a few sprints here and there. Riding from my office downtown, I hit the paved bosque trail daily except for Wednesday and got 20 nice miles in each ride. No climbing involved but when the wind blows you'll earn the miles. Wednesday was supposed to be an after work dirt ride with Carl and Patrick up at Cedro, but a lightning storm put the nix on those plans.

Saturday was a planned east mountain ride for our bomb group, but rains all night Friday had us change the location from Cedro to the south foothills. Of the six people who committed to ride Saturday, three bailed because of the rain, leaving only Ann and I and a new guy, Bill from Denver. Bill is a nice guy and a decent rider and will be a nice addition to our group. I took the SS to the south foothills and the trails were in perfect condition from the previous evening's rain. We only rode a little over an hour but it felt good to be out. Sunday we tried a new church, Cross Christian Fellowship. The regular pastor was out of town, but his assistant gave some really good expositional teaching from John's gospel on the Samaritan woman's encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well. The only thing that will truly satisfy in this life is the Living Water that's free for the asking.

Lots of nice dirt miles on the singlespeed the past couple weeks. Ann and I hit up Cedro the day the Cibola re-opened and had a blast. Another Cedro ride with Carl last Wednesday, then a fine day on the Winsor Trail last Friday. Pictures are of the Winsor ride. Took the SS for that one, and after 10 miles of loose and rocky climbing to the base of the ski area, I was gassed. Sure enjoyed the trip back down and even dipped my wheels in Tesuque creek to cool off some smokin' hot rims. Great trail and a challenging climb. Saw a young turkey about a mile below the ski area too and hardly a soul on the trail.

Last Saturday we did a ride for beginners out at Oak Flat. Good spot for beginners and some nice trails besides. Sunday, I did bike maintenance and worked around the house. Monday before work, I got 25 miles in starting at Tunnel, over to Otero, and on to David Canyon from there. Last night Carl and I did a quick loop starting at Otero, then climbed over to David Canyon picking up Cajun Pine and looped a return trip. Just 13 miles, but a nice ride and I finally started feeling better riding. I think it was the cooler temperatures. East mountain trails are in great shape. We saw one yahoo ride right by the military boundary at Otero, and when I informed him that area is still off-limits, his reply "they haven't been patrolling it for a year now" and he kept on riding. Boneheads like this guy are what ruins it for the rest of us and hurts all the hard work by Friends of Otero in gaining legal access to this great area again. Amazing ride by Floyd and Phonak today during stage 17 of the tour. Just incredible...............

Anniversary Time
Once again we had an awesome anniversary. Spent it this year in the southern San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Rented a nice "cabin" along the Conejos and did a bunch of hikes. Two up Elk Creek, another up Osier Mountain. On July 4th, we even got some fly fishing in on Elk Creek, a tributary to the Conejos. Caught some nice browns on dry attractor patterns. We brought the bikes, but the one day we tried to ride was on the way home in the Carson National Forest. After driving a half hour out of our way, we discovered the Forest was still closed....bummer. Turns out, it opened the day after-Oh Well. I like our tradition of a little adventure for each anniversary. Looking forward to many more.