Pedal Los Pueblos Ride Log: The Rollers Loop

Rollers Loop: 30 figgies + 2 muscle milk + 2 water bottles

65 miles round trip sounds great.. and chances are you're thinking of your car. Add a change of 2500ft elevation, and replace your car with a bicycle. Now you've got one great Sunday ride. I can't thank Capt Snookums enough for showing me this route. Absolutely Beautiful. Just because the first 20 miles are uphill (honest), don't turn this route down. Turn it down because the highway (212), undoubtedly the "Roller" of this loop, is a pain in your ass after that 20mi/2500ft climb. Up down up down, wash, rinse, repeat. These are the rides that build confidence in new riders, pushing limits and expectations, redefining your sense of personal reward. Take it from me: you've earned your victory shower after returning home from this route.This ride starts with several miles along Route 66, then the slow 20mi climb into the Tijeras canyon (where we saw some badass dude on a motorcycle being filmed for what I assume is a don't-speed-in-nm commercial), a turn into the Ciabola National Forest, then a long ride north along 212 (aka, "the Roller"). After that, nothing matters since your legs are burned out and your tush is pretty sore, but basically you head west, then take a route back to Route 66 and head home. It was worth it, and I'd be glad to show anyone else this route for the many aforementioned reasons.

Looking forward to this ride again. How about after the upcoming 150mi BikeMS 2010 fundraiser ride??

A few pix:

A very long northbound road packed with big ups and downs.

This is the Breakfast of Champions.

Capt Snookums and I pushing along the East Mountains

Pedal Los Pueblos Ride Log: City Round 1 for 50 miles

Tramway Loop = 12 figgies, 2 muscle milks, and two water bottles

Sunday, August 08, 2010. 50 miles. DIRKenstein holds up.

Aside from abfab weather, Albuquerque is crossed with excellent bike paths. Well, they're actually roads, but who's counting. It doesn't give me warm fuzzies always biking along high traffic commute paths, but you do what you can to stay safe: ride as far to the right as safe (keeping three feet or so in case I need to bail), wear bright colors, and learn to avert your eyes from the frequent staredowns (fsck that!). On to the show.

I set the meeting time that morning: collectively leave at 5:45AM. It makes sense that I wake up at 0600. Up, throw on my spandex (shut it) and on the road in less than 10. I whip past the fancy townhomes, see the gang, and .. dump. Still getting used to these shoes that clip into my pedals. Magical.

The main training route whips around the city for a total of appx. 50 miles. We head west along Route 66 to Tramway. Tramway runs north/south along the Sandia Mountain range, and it's a pretty ride (minus the traffic, of course). BTW, Tramway is a slow incline northbound. We head north along Tramway and stop several miles into the ride for a team picture. It's magical.
The Tramway incline isn't tough enough, so we head east on the add'l 15 degree incline to the Sandia Tramway. Just my luck: Lupo and the gang are behind me (except for the energizer bunny far ahead) and I hear "this isn't the tour de france" as my chain derails and locks between my frame and sprocket. No idea. Flip DIRK, wiggle it out, and remount. Stop again at the Tramway clubhouse for potty and another picture. And to top it off, the parking lot is still in the shade, which means we're making good time. Oh, here's the gang:

We're the Penultimates!

Let me take a moment to explain we're not in this for speed, trophies, or prom queens. We're just recreational. Making good time brings smiles to our faces. It's not that we're the team of fat kids, but, well, we're their slightly thinner cousins. Our team name is The Penultimates... and you have to represent.

Got back onto Tramway, headed west for a very nice reprieve on a long, fast downhill route past the Sandia Casino. Honked at by an old fart nickel pumper who attempts to turn in front of me and Energizer Jaymes. I hold out my hand, he flails and honks. I call him bad name. I have a love for our aging historians.

The rest of the ride was pretty eventless. Hit the Bosque Trail along the Rio Grande, dodged some crazy fast runners, then some other cyclists, then headed east south of the city past many, many junkyards because the southwest is an old mechanic's garage - and full of great finds. Passed the zoo and botanic gardens, then headed north under the I40 bridges, up a slow climb to University, where we have another climb. Hills at ride's end warm my feet, and we raced to the top. Basically from here we make our ways back home and plan to meet for celebratory excessive lunch. Alas, this doesn't happen as we're either pooped or overbooked. I walk into the house for my victory cold shower. My body boils the cold water, then I make my wife breakfast. How awesome am I?

ttfn

Tickle Time!

Happy Mother's Day!

We have literally hours of footage of SMC...most of which only a parent would be entertained watching! However, we've started going through and paring the vids down to some choice moments. Here's our first attempt: a video of SMC in the first three months of life. :)

2009 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Mass ascension: Albuquerque 2009 International Balloon Fiesta

It's 600 balloons rising from balloon fiesta park and drifting in this morning's calm blue skies. At least 5,000 people showed up this morning to pay homage to Albuquerque's biggest event - one that attracts balloons from around the world. The park is a lightly marked grid for the ballooning crews to assemble their gear, but completely open to visitors to drift themselves amongst the giants - no backstage passes required. Regular Joe's have free access to converse with the crews, and occasionally you're asked to grab an anchor line - but quickly, to keep the balloon under control during the morning rise. It's a beautiful sight and fantastic to be able look up at any moment and see 20 balloons rising into the cloud of hundreds already gathered. This was the final straw.. I will move back to my roots next year with a suitable dSLR.

Rise and shine! A new interpretation.

An early start, with more early risers behind.

Fantastic: Free walkabouts with no press-pass required.

Anybody bring marshmallows?


Hello, Mr Happy.

This cow has an anatomically-correct ending

Really amazing: two independently-controlled balloons holding hands

YES! PROSIT! Needless to say this is my favorite balloon.

My fav, cropped for your enjoyment.

Deutschland versus the US

I don't know if it's the pregnancy hormones working overtime, but lately I am really missing Deutschland. I'm constantly wrapped up in nostalgia, thinking about all the little things that made life in Germany so different from the US. To indulge in this, I've decide to make a list of the stuff I miss, and just so I can keep a balanced perspective, I'm also going to list the things that I like better here.

Things that I miss about Germany:
- Bakeries on every corner. I think I anticipated this one a bit, but good bread and pastries in the US are not easy to come by. Good bread I think just doesn't exist here, and good pastries require great effort to hunt down. In Germany, even the regular supermarket had an amazing bakery as part of the package deal.
- Public transportation. I find myself missing the bus and bahn system in Germany. It was so easy to get around without worrying about driving and traffic and who was going to stay sober (although in my current state, this last worry is non-existent).
- Nice cars. I had conveniently forgotten how many junkers there are in the US. The fact that it's legal to drive a car that spews smoke from the engine, fumes from the tailpipe, is missing its tail lights on one side, and has a bumper held on with duct tape is truly amazing.
- Speaking German. I can't really fault the US here, but I do miss speaking German. After being immersed in a second language for 2 years, speaking English with other English speakers just doesn't seem challenging enough.
- Wasen/Oktoberfest. As my German friends know, I am a sucker for Wasen. Those beer festivals in Germany are so fun. I miss singing silly songs at the top of my lungs and dancing on the table benches. I miss getting served beer in ridiculously large and heavy steins, and I miss eating giant soft pretzels. Sigh.
- Beer. There's no contest when it comes to German vs. American beer. German beer is better tasting, cheaper, has higher alcohol content, and comes in bigger bottles. What's not to love?
- Restaurants in the forest. The whole culture of taking a hike on a Sunday and eating a delicious meal at a tiny restaurant nestled in the woods is entirely missing here.
- Kaffee und Kuchen. The cafes in Europe have us seriously beat in the categories of coffee and cakes. Their desserts are so intricate and amazing, and even compared with the most admirable American joints, the coffee there is simply better.
- Proximity of borders. We were definitely spoiled when driving a couple hours west, south, or east took us to another country entirely. Now we have very few things in short driving distance, and driving to big cities in neighboring states is at least a 10 hour drive.
- Doner Kebab. Possibly the best fast food every invented. The Turkish version of a Gyro. There are doner kebab stands all over Germany, and intense debates can ensue over which ones have the best ones. For a hangover, there is no better cure.
- Ritter Sport. Delicious chocolate bars. Although you can get some flavors here, pretty much all my favorites aren't exported to the US. Guess I can't blame the Germans for keeping the best to themselves.

Things I like better in the US:
- Mexican food. There were so many times that we ate "Mexican" food while in Germany, and it was just never the same. They would get the concept kind of right, but then do things like use kidney beans instead of pinto beans, gouda cheese instead of queso fresco, and ground pepper instead of jalapenos. It was basically a mess. Not to mention that avocados in Germany are nothing to write home about, and salsa there is more sweet than spicy. Here, mexican restaurants are more abundant than stoplights, and pretty much everywhere you go is good. And, things like pan dulce and horchata are easy to come by thanks to the Mexican grocery stores.
- Thai/Sushi/Korean/Vietnamese/Chinese/Indian food. Actually, save for German food and Italian food, the US has Germany beat in almost every ethnic food category. We particularly out-do them when it comes to Asian cuisine.
- Slang. Even though I miss speaking German, it's so nice to be back in the world of slang. In Germany, I hardly ever used English slang words and stuck to a reduced vocabularly to be more easily understood.
- 24/7. It is so nice to not have to worry about the grocery store closing before you can get there after work, or needing eggs on a Sunday when everything is closed. Shopping is so much easier when you don't have to meticulously schedule your shopping trips within skimpy store hours.
- International sections at grocery stores. One great thing about America is that you can get almost any ingredient for any dish of any ethnicity pretty easily. Even Wal-Mart has a decent international section, and if you can't find what you're looking for in a big supermarket, you can almost always find a small specialty market that carries what you need. In Germany, it was really hard to find authentic ingredients for so many things. Although, it was always funny to see what they had in the America aisle....is our cuisine really defined by Pop Tarts, marshmallow creme, and Kraft mac anc cheese?
- Late night food. Hungry for a pizza/burrito/burger at midnight? No problem! America has the late night food thing down pat. In Germany, when the bars close and everyone spills into the streets tired and hungry, there's almost no where to go. We often wondered if we'd be overnight millionaires by selling pizza on street corners at 2am.
- Cookies. Although the Germans are good at making meticulously decorated Christmas cookies, simple drop cookies like oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodles are non-existent. And when things like chocolate chips and brown sugar aren't sold on the economy, it makes it hard to whip them up at home.

Wow, I guess I should've guessed that most of my comparisons would be food based. Especially now that snacking is becoming as involuntary as breathing. :)

Oktoberfest Leftovers

Welcome (back) to the monkey house, I always say. We're planning our fifth annual Clarktoberfest party here on US soil, and in reminiscent fashion I ran across a few nicely forgotten pictures I determined important to share with you all. No apologies, no embarrassing look-aways. Just enjoy and remember that pictures never lie....

Allowing Will to drink Hefeweisen Beer is akin to feeding Mogwai's after midnight.

And when kids are curious...

Voyeurism is alive and well.. in Europe.. because of dirty, dirty Americans.

What started out as a funny joke: "So, I met this chick at Oktoberfest who was really into biting..."

EB photobombed by a video-screen Geico caveman pirate. And no, "I'm on a BOAT" doesn't compute here, either. But nice try.