Catching up on Past Rides

Last week Sunday (8/11) did the Short Eight Loop up on the West Mesa as a warm up to doing one of the trails in the Tijeras area on Monday which would have been my first time but woke up Monday to see the Manzano Mts blanketed in clouds and rain showing up on radar. So I opted for an 18 mile ride on the West Mesa.

I had a great time while I was riding but after I finished I started to feel not so good. It wasn't until this past weekend that I felt better. I bagged the Sunday ride to make sure I was well rested for a ride on the Coyote | Chamisoso Loop outside of Tijeras.

On Monday morning I got up a little later than I wanted to but got to the trailhead before 10. I started grinding my way up the dirt road to Coyote Trail and after a bridge crossing (scary) I got tensed up and then I started to hit the loose rocks and ledges and struggled. Delbert's Trail was harder than I thought it would be as well. Complicating matters was an ill behaving seat post that would go down at some of the most inconvenient times as well as on some innocuous bumps. Then when I should have been enjoying Chamisoso Trail my rear tire went soft and then with about a mile to go almost flat but rode it out. It turns out I tore off two of the knobbies on the trail.

My actual ride time was about 2 hours and 11 minutes but in real time I was on the trail for closer to 3 hours. Despite the troubles it is a pretty ride and will do it again - maybe next week.

Yesterday I got seat post resolved and replaced the rear tire.

8/6/13

Rode Dead Cattle today. The rain we had Friday night and then Sunday night eroded parts of the trail so badly hat I had to hike the bike a bit. The first and second big climbs were bad. The section of trail that comes out of the arroyo just before Rattlesnake Hill was the worst though. The water had taken out huge chunks of the bank leaving holes 1 to 2 feet deep in the trail.

I had thought to do Nessie's Humps as well but didn't feel up to challenge today so just did the basic loop.

Mud, Mud & More Mud

Decided to go down to the Corrales bosque along the Rio Grande. I was hoping that the sandy areas that everyone tries to avoid would be firmer and they were but there was so much mud and veggie matter mixed-in that for long portions my tires were rolling adobe bricks. The tires could not shed mud fast enough. Bike got a good wash afterward.

8/4: A Hawk, Loose Bolts and A New Trail

Starting from the second access for Two Wash Loop I went up Second Wash Trail instead of coming down it. I managed to scare a large hawk, probably a red tail, that was perched on top of a juniper.
I couldn't get my left cleat to clip in so I stopped and examined it and both bolts were loose. This is the same shoe & cleat that gave me problems several weeks ago. I tightened them up the best I could (didn't have an allen wrench) but would lose one of them by the end of the ride.

Part way up Second Wash Trail I turned right onto a cattle path and followed it up and out of the wash. After following a couple of dirt roads I came to another cattle path which came out across from one of the openings in the fence along 29th Rd (check google maps). Turning right I rode part of the Big 8 and then  back across 29th and then down the return trip on Second Wash.

Conditions: Humidity - about 55%; Wind - a gentle breeze; Temperature - Lows 70s F; Tread -  mostly firm, but soft in a few places which surprised me because of the rain we have been having.

Storms & Trails

On Friday and then again last night we got heavy rain (enough to erode a parts of our backyard) so I am curious to see what some of the trails will be like on the Mesa. I would expect that portions of Dead Cattle Loop to be pretty heavily eroded and muddy with puddles.

Two Wash Loop might not be too bad except for that one low spot where I got into bunch of mud last week. An alternative would be use the four wheel track that goes under the power lines and gets you to the same place.

7/30 Ride - Dead Cattle Loop & Nessie's Humps

There are a couple of variations of the Dead Cattle Loop so on July 30 I thought I would ride one of them. Loaded the hydration pack more than usual because I wasn't sure how long it would take me. Dead Cattle Loop is 12.5 miles in length and crosses washes that feed into two big arroyos the Calabacillas and the Montoyas which the trail also crosses.

About two thirds through the ride the front tire went flat but not totally. The stiffness of the Continental X-king and what little air was left kept me going but I hadn't reached the toughest part of the ride, Nessie's Humps so named because the up and down remind me of classic photos of the Loch Ness Monster. I walked around one of the hardest sections, (I didn't think the front tire would hold up).

On the fast downhill mostly straight sections towards the end of the ride I slid my behind almost off the back of the saddle to take pressure off the front tire and made back to the car for 14.5 miles.

One of these days I rally do need to learn how to change a tire!

7/28 Ride | Two Wash Loop

Got an early morning start and the did 10 mile Two Wash Loop. While there was the barest evidence of wet and mud caused by the much needed rain we need on the first half of the ride there were couple of places where the thick gooey stuff was almost rim deep.

Everything got clogged up, shoes and cleats and chain and derailleurs. Otherwise the trail, where it is normally soft & sandy, was firmer and made for a fast ride.