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.

Little-used singletrack leads to this beautiful spot. Been a long time since I've been here but I'll be back soon. Big rocks and some steepness keep it interesting.

While most were sleeping Saturday night, this guy was pedaling 125 miles or so on his way to SS victory in Salida, and the entry list reads like a who's who of endurance racing. Look forward to reading the race report.

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.

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?

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......