half century ride report

My co-riders and I signed up for the Albuquerque Half Century expecting to get a nice catered training ride, and we were rewarded with lots of good company.

The weather could not have been better. It was pleasant and cool at 6:30 in the a.m., and warmed up nicely as the day passed.

We got to the kick-off party early. Like, "all the bagels are still there" early. I guess some cyclists are too good for bagels - but not this rider. I had a bagel and some OJ, and then we headed over to the starting line.

There was all manner of spandex and muscle and machinery at parking lot of Wells Fargo. We got there just in time to see the early riders (7:00 a.m.) take off, and watch all the 7:30 starters wait in line at the porta-potties. I did see a lot of familiar faces - and a lot of really ripped leg muscles. It seemed like anybody who rides in Albuquerque was there, I'm told there were 700 riders in all.

We left with the Half Century crew at 8. There was no starting- line frenzy, it was all very friendly. We were informed at the start that the course had been well marked, but some of the signage had been removed overnight.

Roughly the first third of the course followed the Bosque Bike path, further south than I even knew it went, past roosters and goats and chickens and pit bulls, deep into the South Valley. The first aid station was down Broadway some distance, we made good time and had the first potty break here.

It's important to note these things for future reference. One never knows where the potty stops are...

The course continued south to Isleta, west on 147 and north again to explore a part of the city I have not seen before: old Coors (State 45). I felt this was the nicest part of the day, spinning through fields with minimal traffic and plenty of other happy cyclists. It was quiet, cool and shady, it felt like Northern New Mexico where I grew up.

The road turned west again at Dennis Chavez to a long steady climb. This was probably my first real climb ever, I understand it's quite popular with lots of cyclists because it's a long, steady grind. As we were told, you can just sit down and grind it out, just be prepared and find the granny gears (and I did). I was surprised to actually pass someone going up, until another rider passed us both like we were standing still. The second potty stop was at the top. Unfortunately, the aid station had run out of bread - no PBJ for me!

We traveled north again to Central, and then came the best part of the whole day: the fastest trip home ever down 9-mile hill. I clocked 35mph on the Schwinn. 35 MILES an hour, not kilometers. Holy Crap!

Then it occurred to me how much skin I could remove if I fell off the Schwinn going downhill at 35, and I did get a bit worried. I decided my best bet was to just stay in control no matter what - when I did that, it got suddenly OK. As long as I was in control it didn't matter what the computer said.

It was at that point that I hit a red light at 98th and Central, travelling 30+ mph, down a hill, on a bicycle. I have to say, bikes don't stop worth a damn, but I sure wasn't going to run a stoplight on it. It was a very quick stop and clip-out (my heartrate goes up now just thinking about it), I guess if nothing else my reflexes were working really well that day.

So, the tires are smoking, I'm standing there, dripping sweat, heart racing, hands shaking and the phone rings. Of course! The only time I stop and the damned phone rings -- naturally it's the hub, wondering when he can start getting the People ready to meet us for breakfast.

It's like he knows.

So, we finished the route down Central, where I have to say, the traffic was very kind to us, we had no problems with other cars. People on the sidewalk were cheering us - very nice! We picked the route back up at the Bosque River trail, and back up Mountain to the starting line.

The bike 'puter says we only got 47.2 miles out of the deal, in 3hrs 15 minutes (roughly) with 2 potty stops, 1 hydration stop, and one panic stoplight at 98th. I say, not a bad ride at all!

We followed up with a late breakfast at Duran Central Pharmacy and a nice crusty nap.

And that, dear readers, was my Saturday!