Interesting day Sunday with Ann. Stayed in the east mountains again and just enjoyed a few hours on the trails together. Ran into Donnie and Jens of BWR on the Cajun. They were doing a Cedtero loop. Then ran into Wenona and another BWR clad rider as they were starting out for an afternoon loop. Then most interstingly, the vehicle parked next to ours at Mars Ct. had Federal tags and see the picture for who it was. When we were loading up our bikes, a rather young looking guy comes pedaling up on a FS rig and throws his stuff in the Fed rig. Turns out it was the Base Commander, out on his day off, looking at the withdrawal area by mountain bike. He was specifically looking at another parcel of the Withdrawal, that he was questioned about at the public meeting, that he hopes he can tack onto the other 400 acres they plan to return to the USFS, to keep more trails intact. Say what you will about KAFB, the withdrawal, the beauracracy, etc., but the Commander scored big points in my book as he was out there on his day off, looking at the lay of the land, so he better understands the concerns of citizens. He spent a bit of time showing me maps and air photos too. Of course, it's going to be a long time before anything is official, and I'm thinking the Forest Service has more potential to foul things up than the military at this point, but the ball continues to roll. If we don't get some moisture this winter, we won't be riding the east mountains come Spring due to fire danger. It's always somethin'

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.

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.

Days are getting shorter, but you can still fit in a nice ride in the mountains after work without having to turn on the headlamps. Here’s climbing Lower Pine, and I saw this good sized horny toad running across the trail and took this blurry picture. I love the way the light hits the trails in the fall, my vision becomes sharper and I pick better lines and everything seems to flow.

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.

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?

Nothing quite like a New Mexico sunrise on the trails. Been able to avoid the monsoons by getting out early.

Here's some of the best views in the state from a mountain bike.

I think Joel summed up the Tour for me. Sportsman also has some good insights.

This guy has been running with the big dogs. Check out his B-100 SS victory report.

There you have it.

East mountains Saturday. Got some good miles in while Ann retrieved her shoes. Saw two doe, a big bear drinking from a pool, then another bear on an FS road about an hour later. Cool morning to be out. Sunday Ann suggested Cochiti and twisted my arm to go. Lots of cars pulling in to the orchard when we arrived; some bikers, some equestrians, and of course the ATV crowd. Nice surprise to see Tim and Mark as we were unloading our bikes. Beautiful day and great company.

Saturday was time for some high country riding with temps in the 90's, so I headed up to the old neighborhood for cooler temps, running water, and some sweet singletrack. You'll never see many riders out here cause it's quite technical and even hikers are few. So I rode from the old hood, all the way to the top of the mountain and back down. It was one of those days I was really on and couldn't believe the stuff I was cleaning on the hardtail. These are the trails where I learned to ride on a fully rigid, steel Trek, and where I first met Tom and marvelled at the stuff he rode in his retro garb. It was good to be back. Got 4,800 feet of climbing in over 32 miles, and it was a tough effort.

Sunday, got together with Carl and Laurie up in the pines. A recovery ride for me, and a Fathers Day ride for Carl. It's amazing what you can do with a Bob trailer. I've discovered Carl's stealth training secret though as he towed his daughter through some fun trails and up some nice climbs. Helped him for sure at Dueces Wild where he took 8th overall, even beating out some of the younger pros.

Couldn't find a teammate to try the Cortez race last weekend due to a conflict with the "Albuquerque World Championships". But looks like BWR dominated the solo entries. Instead, I found myself getting reacquainted with some trails I hadn't seen for a while, and it was nice to discover that new trail has a new addition....quite nice. Long ride but cut short due to lightning. Here's a few pics. Yep, I rode the cheater bike again. Got some new chain rings on order but haven't decided how long I'll keep the Dean a 1x9 as I'm needing some one-gear miles. Just a bit indecisive lately......

Ann and I did the 2007 Alien Run race yesterday in Aztec. There was a great turnout, especially from the Durango contingent, and the field was much stronger than at last years race due to rescheduling for April rather than July. A highlight of the day for me was being able to be on the starting line with racing legend Travis Brown who threw down a course record 1:38 time for the win. Of course, that's the only time I saw him that day, except at the racers lunch afterward. That's Travis in the picture accepting the first place award. He rode a cool looking bike with a 29er wheel up front and a 26-inch wheel on the rear. Team Health Fx from Durango took the majority of the other podium positions from what I saw.

I entered the 40-44 Sport Class, which turned out to be the most competitive of the Sport groups that day. I converted the Dean into a straight 9-speed and am really glad I didn't try it as a singlespeed. The course started out on a 1/4 mile stretch of hardpack dirt road that was a sprint to a five mile stretch of singletrack they call the "mountain view" trail, some of which was newly cut trail. This stretch was tricky and full of off camber turns and sand pits and few places to pass. I managed to pass two riders in this stretch, but my HR was maxed during that first 5 miles, so I had to back off once we got to the first section of gas line road. That's when I got passed back by a few of the experts I somehow managed to get in front of at the start, and by an expert woman from Team Healthfx that I had passed earlier in the singletrack. After this things were pretty spread out and I basically rode alone the rest of the time. From the five mile point on, it was a hodge podge of trails/gas line roads to the best part of the course, the Alien Run singletrack loop. This section is a blast and one of the best designed trails in the state IMO. In the last 4 miles of the race, my legs were getting a bit crampy, and unfortunately, I ended up losing a couple of spots.

My goal before the race was for a 2 hour time, which seems realistic for me on any given day. So, given the fact that I'd been backpacking the week before the race, I'm ten pounds too heavy at 170, the 85 degree temps, a loose hub giving me shifting problems, I ended up about where I expected with a 2:07 time over 24 miles. As best I can figure, as some of the name tags were blowing off the results board, I ended up 10th overall in sport out of about 23 to 25 riders, but 6 of those guys were in my age group. Next year, I get to throw it down with the 45 plus geezer class!! Lots of room to improve but at least I know I'm solidly at Sport level.

Ann was slated to do beginner class, but we found out before the race, that they were going to turn the beginners around before ever getting to the alien run trail, which is the best part of the course. So, another girl, talked Ann into moving up to Sport class so she could ride the funnest part of the trail. Considering she didn't get any sleep the previous two nights, Ann did awesome with a time of about 2:53. She (like me) was really nervous before the race, and though she was the last finisher, she beat a ton of people who SAG'd, or stopped short, and there were no other 47 year old women who even finished the sport race. So, I'm very proud of her!!

It was an extremely well run race and the volunteer support was top notch. Maybe see you there, same time, same place in 2008?