The legs were dead over the weekend, and though we got some nice riding in, it hurt and was discouraging from a performance standpoint. Woke up on the weekend with the legs feeling like someone had taken a hammer to them, leaving the muscles knotted and bruised. Wondering if I picked up a bug or something.

Gonna rest a few days cause I’ve got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell.

Friday Odds and Ends. The obligatory cycling shot!

Fresh, organically grown produce. Is there anything tastier than a fresh peach, plucked from a tree? My diabetic, sugar-deprived taste buds go into sensory overload when I bite into one of these! There are many spiritual lessons offered by the peach tree. Think on that.

BTW, here’s the best, darn diabetes blog out there. Chances are you know someone who would benefit, so pass along the link.

Coffee. My vice. There’s no better coffee roaster in Albuquerque, than Moons Coffee and Tea on Juan Tabo. It’s just a few doors down from the Sports Systems bike shop. Mrs. Moon roasts daily, and what you buy has never been on the shelf for more than 4 days. You can get nearly two pounds of most of her roasts for what you’d pay for one pound from any of the national chains.

That’s all I got for now.

There's a great trail we like to start on near Sedillo that's made for interval training. As the name implies, Roller Coaster involves a lot of up and down; short intense climbs followed by gravity-induced recovery. Take it on out to Juan Tomas, and hook up any number of other trail options. It was a good hour and a half of intervals that really cleared the cobwebs.

Sunday, I got a nice 30 miles in on some beautiful east mountain singletrack. Started out riding with Tim on his On One 29er, but he had to hang back for some newer riders who were working on their fitness, so I just got into my zone and enjoyed the ride and the wildlife that was out and about early Sunday morning. The great thing about our church adding a Saturday evening service, is long Sunday rides; after all this is how we rest and refresh our bodies for the week ahead behind a desk! After about 20 miles, I ran into Dave and David, and tagged along with them for the last part of the ride. They were both down to earth guys; a little pokey on the climbs, but man, Dave was a rocket on the DH, and even on the rolling, twisty singletrack. Made me realize, I don’t push my pace like I should on the flatter or DH portions of the trail, and significant time can be gained in these areas. It’s good to ride with others to help develop a sense of your strengths and weaknesses. If we don’t get some cooler temps soon, I’m going to get some serious burnout, or have to recharge the batteries in Big Sky country…… Can you find the mule deer facing away in one of the pics?

Here’s what you get when you combine an old fence post and a friend with an arc welder. Throw on some silver rustoleum, and bolt on a couple of fork mounts, and voila, custom bike rack. Next up? Prototype bike stand of course.

Random weekend shots. Stopped by the Bland cemetery while exploring Saturday. It’s a beautiful and peaceful spot. One of the few marked graves is of Helen Blount, the former caretaker of the Bland Ghost Town. Bland was a mining town, where as used to be standard practice, they heap-leached gold from ore using cyanide. Still don’t think I’d drink the water in this area unless I was desperate! Found a morel mushroom but left it for another lucky soul. Asters, sunflowers, Indian paintbrush are blooming full, and a sure sign that fall is on the way.

Sunday found us on the steep climb up to the La Luz trailhead at 6:30am. Nice to be doing it with mountain bike gears though! Watched and cheered for a few friends doing the annual La Luz trail race. Laurie A. took an age group win on her first time trying, and Donnie C. ran by us in a blur. After the runners came through, I continued on for a mini epic in the north foothills, and it was one of the most enjoyable rides I’ve done in the foothills in quite some time. Trails were super fast and the legs were enjoying the day. Ended up with 25 miles and about 3,300 feet of climbing. Got done early enough to put together the new dog kennel for our 3 year old that suddenly turned mental. Labs, gotta love em. Instructions said it was a 2 hour job, which is why it took me over 4. Now that I’m thoroughly tired, it’s back to the grindstone…..