Blackjack Ponderosa. Pinon. Scrub Oak. Some well used trails, but many are forgotten. Wandering through big country.

Throw in a couple of hands of 5 card draw, a ton of rocks, and a beautiful day, and you got 40 miles of singletrack bliss. I love New Mexico.

Ann and I got together with some teammates Saturday to fix up some bikes and work with some kids at El Ranchito de Los Ninos, a kid’s home in Los Lunas. This home is for kids that otherwise would be in foster care with emphasis on keeping family groups together. The bikes were in pretty sorry condition when we arrived, but we got 18 tuned up and outfitted with new tubes, and other parts. If you know of anyone with good quality, working bikes that they want to get out of their garage, please consider this place. Saturday was beautiful and near 80, and if not for our commitment to the kid’s home, I would have definitely been HERE. I’m anxious to hear how the race went and hope to at least get out and explore those trails soon, as they sound fantastic and very SS appropriate.

Sunday was about 35 degrees cooler than Saturday, so Ann and I bundled up and hit some nearby forest singletrack to stay out of the chilly wind. We really enjoyed the day and the temps were invigorating. Afterwards, I tackled the overgrown chamisa on our lot, and made a nice dent in that project. To me, when it’s blooming, chamisa smells nasty; something similar to old gym shoes. Got a big truckload to the dump, and saw our first snow of the year. Good weekend. Night rides this week.

Had an opportunity to give some ergon grips a try this week. I’ve heard a ton of great things about these grips and though my review is mixed it is positive overall. They were a piece of cake to install on my Easton Monkey Lite bar, and dialing in the correct angle also was simple. They feel great in your hand and there’s really not much of a weight penalty. For climbing, these were by far the most comfy grips I’ve ever ridden with and I loved them for all the climbing I did. I felt they performed O.K. for descending, but not as good as with a cylindrical grip. In twisty, tight, technical terrain I really had to fight the bike to “steer” it properly as opposed to being able to grip it and rip it with a traditional setup. I also noticed that when really hammering through rolling, rocky terrain, my neck and shoulders started to ache. I’m not sure why yet, but I think it has something to do with the fact that the Ergons keep your hand in a more locked or rigid position, thus more of the force of trail impacts is transferred to your upper body, and by design away from your hand and that troublesome ulner nerve. With a traditional grip, the many moving parts of your hand, and wrist help to dampen a lot of that trail chatter. I’m looking forward to trying these grips out on the singelspeed setup, as I think they will really shine. Overall a thumbs up and I think they’ll be on my Dean a while.

Took advantage of the Monday holiday to hit up some nearby high country riding. Not a soul on the trails all day, just a couple of turkeys I spooked up and a big red tail hawk in an unlikely spot, deep within a densely treed canyon. An eerily quiet day. The mind was clear and ready for a long day in the saddle. Time to forget about HR zones, and ride for the pure joy of riding. Legs were great, and had plenty more miles in them, but I couldn’t keep any nutrition flowing, without feeling like I was going to throw up, so I cut the ride shorter than planned to stave off hypoglycemia. It was still a really nice 35 miles of technical riding with 4K climbing. A perfect fall day.

Got up to Big Sky country again this year. Weather was pretty lousy overall, but we did manage a nice road ride along the Yellowstone, complete with finger climbs in the Absaroka Range. Also had a nice visit to the Lamar Valley of Jellystone National Park with my parents. Stayed in Paradise Valley in Pam & Chan's guest place. Mom put a pound or two on us with some good cooking and dad and I did manage to cast a few flies to yellowstone cutthroat trout in our favorite stream until our hands got too cold to tie a knot. Got over to Bozeman twice to see my little sis and my bro in law. Fun to see the family. While in Bozeman, I stopped by to say hello to Carl and see what project he's working on now. He's got a tiny Ti hardtail frame in the jig and Ann thought it looked about perfect size for her....... Carl is a perfectionist, and his bikes show it. I love visiting Montana, but I didn't have any trouble saying goodbye to those 3 inches of snow on the ground the day we left. Back to enjoy the beautiful fall in the land of manana.

More shots from big sky country.