Spent most last weekend being a painting slave. The remodel is starting to wrap up and all the drywall has been taped and textured, so now we're heading toward completion.

We did manage to get out with the FCA-E team and few people from the bomb group on Saturday morning. We hit the south foothills again via Bear Canyon, Glenwood, etc. Trails were wet, but overall in good shape. Most of the day I spent chasing down Patrick on his cross bike and I was on the SS. It's really amazing how good his technical skills are on that cross bike, and he's got incredible acceleration. When he would let me catch up, we'd stop and wait for the rest of the group, then take off again. Even though we had to stop and start a lot, it gave the opportunity to hammer in between re-groups. We got a little over 20 miles in and it really was a perfect day. Some of the crew was out at Mt. Taylor for the Quad, and they had a perfect day and great snow besides.

Got a great south foothills ride in last night with Carl. Trails were absolutely perfect and we were in shorts and light shirts till the sun went down. Traction was outstanding and I climbed some steep stuff on the singlespeed that I don’t normally have the horsepower for when the trails are loose and dry. We rode basically non-stop for 90 minutes at a really nice pace, including two trips up Craig and Heidi’s trail, which is a really fun climb on the SS on any given day. Tonight Ann and I will be abused by the spin nazi, but my reward awaits at home.

Last week was some great riding weather and I took advantage. Here are some of the highlights: Tuesday I got out on the roadie at lunch and headed south on the bosque trail. As I was coming back north, I caught up with a swarm of yellow jerseys and it turns out it was the women's Lipton pro cycling team. They were just cruising along at about 18mph and so I just tagged along for a while until it was time to peel off. Seem like a nice group of youngsters and obviously talented cyclists. Great also, that they were in town along with the Navigators getting some cycling press for the burque.

Wednesday after work rode the south foothills with Carl. He's got his new light system and it sure makes mine look like a flickering candle in comparison. Trails were great and we kept a nice pace the whole time and only saw two other riders the whole evening. Thursday, Ann and I got a nice endurance spin at the healthplex and Saturday we got together with some of our FCA-E team for a south foothills ride. Unfortunately, that ride got cut a little short, as our friend Jane, an experienced roadie, but new mountain biker, did a "superwoman" imitation, landing in the middle of a huge prickly pear cactus. That's the worst I've seen anyone tangle with a cactus, and she was literally covered with spines on her entire front side. Took well over an hour to extract as many cactus needles as we could and we got her down to the parking area and waited for her husband to get the car and pick her up. Hope that doesn't discourage her from the mountain bike! Anyway, lots of folks out in the south foothills riding on a beautiful Saturday. Ran into Dan from FooMtb and also Lenny on his 29er Rig getting in a SS ride before his solo attempt at 24HITOP this coming weekend. Pretty darn good week, and tons of cycling-related activities and events coming up.

I got beat up pretty bad on the trails Saturday. It was a joint ride with some of the bomb and fca-e crew, starting near Academy and Lowell and hitting the dirt at the Bear Canyon dam at Juan Tabo. The group climbed from there to Embudito, then on over to the south foothills. When we got to the single track, the girls went in one group, and I went with Todd, Carl, and Patrick. I had the SS and Patrick was on his cross bike while the other guys had their full sus rigs. For some reason, I was leading out the group and by the time we got into some of the initial climbs south of Copper, then coming back north, it was Patrick riding my rear wheel with the other two guys dropping back some. Patrick has a jovial way of pushing you till you blow up, all the while smiling and talking. And blow up I did, about half way into the 20 mile ride. I managed to recover after the last climb, but by then I was bringing up the rear and the legs were cramping up all the way back, but I managed. Funny thing was that I didn't bonk, but my blood sugars were actually way high after the ride, and talking with Dr. Tim afterward, he says too high sugars will trick your body into thinking it's over-hydrated and kidney output increases and on a cellular level you're losing electrolytes, and you end up suffering from dehydration, despite drinking enough. This is what happened in part on Sat., plus the fact that I just got pounded by a much stronger and smarter rider. A good ride and lesson nonetheless!

Sunday afternoon was beautiful out and I didn't want to pass on the opportunity to ride again, but I knew my legs were still mush from the previous day and not up for pushing the singlespeed around the south foothills, so I broke out my old Sugar and headed south for a nice 20 mile loop through the south foothills. With the gears I was able to hit some of the steeper climbs that I avoid or have to walk while on the SS bike. It was a nice steady pace and hardly anyone out on the trails. It was a perfect ride to clear the mind and to remember what a fun bike the GF can be to ride. Should be nice and warm this week, so get out and ride.