A beautiful day to learn, and build some trail. Ann and I had the chance to get together with a large group of trail advocates for an IMBA trailbuilding class and field session at White Mesa. Nat and Rachel from IMBA did an outstanding job on the presentation and organizing the volunteers in the field. Kudos of course go to FOO for making this event happen along with help from the Wombats. It was really inspiring to see such a large group get together on behalf of mountain biking.

A great group of people and I enjoyed getting to meet everyone. Finally got to meet Matt and his better half Jeni who was responsible for getting this event off the ground. Got to swing a Pulaski alongside Travis C, Mike M, Jay, Dan H, Chris B, Chris P, and others I’m forgetting from the burque. A father-son team from Cruces even made the trip. Had to get back to the in-laws for home baked pizza so I missed out on the twilight ride at White Mesa, but I was pretty beat anyway.

Got together with Mark P on Sunday for a ride starting at Mars Court. Mark is recovering from a disc injury to his back so he wasn’t up for hammering, but we had a nice ride and trail conditions were primo. I love riding my singlespeed on those trails. Night rides start this week, so charge up those lights!

A really beautiful week. Got a couple of nice road rides in on Wednesday and Thursday. Just 40 miles total but an intense pace. Finished building up Ann's racerx Thursday night and she was anxious to try it out Saturday. We hit up Cedro and started at Pine Flat with the intention of doing a big loop out to Sedillo, then back up to Oak Flat, Open Space etc. However, after 10 miles, I stopped to move some wire out of the trail and I heard Ann give a little yelp, then silence for 30 seconds. Next I heard her gasping for breath, so I high tailed it back to find that she went down hard. She's still not sure what happened and doesn't remember much, but I suspect she grabbed too much front brake and endo'd. Her first time using discs and it was a tough lesson. Her helmet saved her from a really bad injury, but she still got a gash that required 4 stitches, and has really bruised ribs, which are quite painful. Thanks to Dr. Dave who stopped to give assistance. Ann insisted on riding back to the car as Dr. Dave told us to get to urgent care asap. She rode the 5 miles back to the car, so our ride ended up being only about half the intended 30 miles. She's on the mend, but it's going to be a while for those ribs to heal and she's ready for the rocky trails again. One lesson learned was making sure we carry basic first aid with us in the future. We've gotten into the bad habit of carrying nothing, and if it weren't for some helpful people on the trail, we would have had nothing.

Sunday, I packed my gear and first aid kit and headed back to Cedro. About a mile into the ride I managed my worst crash of the year on my SS. Crazy how these things happen. I've found that when encountering big patches of those Cedro rock piles, to just hammer through them and you float on top. However, I somehow slipped on the pedal, pitching my weight forward just in time to bury my front wheel into a rock which sent me flying with no time to react. Face plant into some tasty limestone, and jacked up my shoulder and pinky finger pretty bad. I taped up the finger with my first aid kit and continued my ride, using mostly front brake. At least I got some miles in, though I paid the price. Sure glad those kind of crashes rarely happen. Though I've noticed that since I've hit my 40's, I don't see as well on the trails some days, and I think that's a factor. I think the reaction time and reflexes are still there, but some days the eyes are sharper than others and it shows. Anyway, I pray we heal up quickly to take advantage of the awesome weather before the real cold sets in. Out for now.

Artifacts. Little did I know that when I decided to install a new mailbox this weekend, I'd be digging up an aboriginal artifact in the process. After pulling out the old mailbox with rotten timber, I expanded the hole so I could put a good concrete base in for the new post. While digging, this big chunk of granite came out of the hole, and I laid it aside and finished the job, before really looking at the rock. It took a little while, but when I finally recognized what it was I was stoked! It looks to me like a stone hammer or hatchet and weighs about 4 pounds. Someone took a lot of time sculpting and shaping this stone and cutting the groove around the top for attaching it to some sort of handle. Amazing what you can find in your yard. Cool huh? I'll have to track down an archeologist to get their input.

Got in some nice rides this past week. Did a nice Thursday night spin in the foothills with Ann. Also, a couple of nice east mountain rides over the weekend. Cool conditions both days required a light jacket. Sunday afternoon after fixing a creaky bottom bracket on the DeanSS, I hit up Otero and vicinity, but it got a bit muddy over on the 106 Ridge, but most of the single track was good to go, except the increased rolling resistance from the wet soil always zap my legs and my average speed suffers. Still a really good 2.5 hours riding time. Hope to be able to build up Ann's new ride this week if UPS delivers as promised. I'm finally going to have to learn how to deal with disc brakes. If this moisture continues, we may actually get to dust off our snowboards and snowshoes this winter.

Crazy weather. A weather-forced change of plans had us cancel our out of town rides and stay local for the long weekend. Saturday we led a new beginner on some nice easy singletrack out at Oak Flat for a club ride. Turned out to be a decent morning except I lost my Sugoi leg warmers somewhere out there. If you come across a pair out that way please let me know. Sunday, Ann wanted to do a trail run, so I took the opportunity to hit up Faulty trail. Hadn't been up on that trail since we moved to town, so it sure was nice to be back on familiar turf. I had planned to do a much longer ride, but serious rain and cold had me cut it a bit short. I caught a pretty serious chill and there were even snowflakes falling on me at one point. Only 14 miles, but they were challenging miles. It wasn't muddy, but very wet, and faulty is tough enough to ride under good conditions. The rocks and roots were very slippery and riding with great caution was the motto for the day. I started at the Cedar Crest post office and rode up Canoncito road to the private gate, then proceeded up to the Cole Springs picnic ground from there. Running water could be heard in nearly every drainage. Just outstanding to hear it. I just worked my way north toward Doc Long, and tried out a couple of new side trails I hadn't been on before and it was really sweet singletrack and comparable to the new horse bypass near Cienaga. Since I was wet and chilled I turned around and headed back the same way I came. I did notice a lot of non-native vegetation springing up in a couple drainages. This is the result of horses being fed improperly and then brought out on the trails. Faulty is a classic trail and worthy of gears and I hope to hit it up again and connect to the top of the mountain before the snow. I managed a short, but fairly intense foothills ride on Monday on the SS. Would rather have ridden Cochiti or the east mountains, but the rain kept me close to home. Gave me a chance to catch up on some neglected chores and even whip up some homemade chick potpies for supper. Grace and peace.

Virgin Mesa, Jemez Mountains. What a great place to spend the last day of September. It was the kind of fall day for which the Land of Enchantment is famous; crystal blue skies, temps in the seventies, beautiful views and fun singletrack. The aspens are at their prime right now and I'd bet you have about another week to enjoy them in their current state. We rode one of Tom Mayer's routes that we'd "adopted" and agreed to maintain and with one exception, the route is in excellent shape. The portion at the end of Virgin Mesa that goes through the area burned by the Virgin fire several years ago, has had so much blow down of trees that is resembles a huge set of Lincoln Logs dumped across the landscape. This area needs some help from the Forest Service chain saw crew to open up their spur road again. Other than that it was mostly just moving small stuff off the trails and enjoying the great day. It ended up just being Ann, Matt, and I. Pretty lame turnout for our group, but I've come to expect that. We had a blast and rode a leisurely 14 miles, and I even brought out the full sus with gears for the day. Smiles and miles and kudos to Tom for showing us yet another great place to ride near home.

Fall. A Cedro/Otero Friday. Had some admin leave owed to me, so I took Friday afternoon to do a nice loop on the singlespeed. I had bigger ambitions for the day, than my body was up for and it was apparent from about 10 minutes into the ride, that I hadn't hydrated enough before coming out. The first five miles of climbing hurt more than normal but things finally started coming around about 1/3 of the way into the ride. I started at the lower lot of S. 14 and headed up the dump road then connected up to Mighty Mule, to Lone Pine and then Lone Pine cutoff to Pinyon 2-track. Took that south to the Mutant, where I rode/climbed/hiked my bike to the saddle where Poker Chip intersects, then worked over to Juan Thomas, then Mahogany, then Oak Flat, then Mars Court to Cajun Pine, to 326 singletrack to the Meadow, then down Blue Ribbon trail to Otero, short climb to the Tunnel/Rambo intersection, then down Tunnel to the parking lot, then pavement back to the truck. Just a little over 26 miles, and if I'd felt better, I should have tacked on some more mileage, especially over at David Canyon where it was shadier and the temps a little cooler, but that will have to wait until next time. Ride time was 2:38 and I'm not sure about the total climbing, but certainly at least 3K. Total time was about 20 minutes longer since I stopped to visit with a couple of folks along the trail. Total spur of the moment ride, and glad I got out to enjoy a tremendous fall day.