Mass Mountain Bike Descent to Lordsburg, NM via the Continental Divide Trail

The other day, November 9th, I finally got to do the mass accent to Lordsburg. This is the one ride I was somewhat envious when reading about it from Venezuela. 

We had a group of about 15 leave the parking lot on NM 90 about 25 miles south of Silver City. Our plan was to ride the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail to Lordsburg. I ended up using my back-up bike, my geared Litespeed leaning against the bumper of that Ford pickup because the rear valve on my Coconino started leaking as I was airing up the tire that morning. 

It turned out to be a beautiful day and ride, about 40 miles of dirt, the first half being single track and the other being 2 track dirt roads across the desert. 

The group regroups

Cooke's Peak in the distance

Technical uphill rocky section (walked this section when I should of/could of ridden it)

End of the single track

Into the desert

Lordsburg is to the left of center just below the horizon.

Charging the bull

Hard turn

Skewered

My bike's puny wheels

End of the ride: mediocre food, cold beer

 I really enjoyed the ride. I wasn't as fast as the 29" wheeled bikes, but I didn't care. I wasn't the last to reach Lordsburg, and it is all about the ride and enjoyment. This ride was well worth the wait!

My Wife is an Amazing Person!

My wife is an amazing person. She is Venezuelan, a Guanesa from Ciudad Bolivar on the banks of the mighty Orinoco River. She has lived a full life, but not an easy life. Her life is like many who grow up in a developing country; a life of hardship and heartbreak.

My wife has always been one who was driven to improve herself. To improve her lot in life. Never staying still for very long.

When I met her, she was working in the Venezuelan oil service industry as an office assistant.

Before meeting me, her job afforded her to buy a Fiat Uno, a small compact car. She bought this car even though she could not drive. She wanted the car so she could be more mobile and it would improve her life. Her cousin chauffeured her around, much like Driving Miss Daisy. When she needed to learn English to improve her position in the oil service industry, she sold the car to pay her tuition at an English Institute in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

When I met her 9 1/2 years ago, her English was okay, but not perfect. We got/get along fine. We celebrated out 8th wedding anniversary last December. Her English is much improved...my Spanish is still minimal.

Since being married, she continues her quest to improve herself...First it was getting Microsoft certified to keep her resume' up to date. Then it was going to a local 3-year university and getting a degree in English which she did.

She took a little course on decorative gelatin desserts. Her desserts are popular at family gatherings.

She tried culinary school, but didn't like the chefs yelling at her and the other students, and decided it was too stressful of profession. She did get a good deal on some killer German-made knives.

Lately she has decided to pursue a career in nursing. She is now attending classes to become a nurse's assistant, and perhaps she will continue to become a full-fledged nurse. She seems to enjoy it, and I am very proud of her.

The latest thing she is pursuing is cake making and decorating. She is learning to how to make cakes and icing from scratch and to decorate them professionally. She has the idea of making this a side-business some day. This past week she bought pans, measuring cups, and the various tools needed to make a professional quality cake, and she made her first cake. The assignment was to decorate the cake with a simple illustration worthy of a children's birthday party. She chose Hello Kitty.
We cut the cake on Friday and we nibbled around Hello Kitty's face all weekend. She wanted to save the face to show her sisters. She's a funny woman.

I love my wife...big time!

At the Lecheria Fish Market

We went to the fish market yesterday about 11:30 AM to get something for lunch. While Tania was dealing with fish (she knows what to buy better than I do...I just make suggestions) I played with my camera. I got a few neat pics. BTW, the fish we bought; a couple of mullet (very tasty) and some dorado fillets.

Here's a very nice dorado. Has some nice color.

Someone's fish drying in the sun.

Fishing lancha that doubles as a pelican roost.

Waiting for scraps.

A nice looking mature pelican.

Saltwater catfish.

Transportation. You'll always see beater bikes at the fish markets.

Labor Day Road Trip (part II)

On our road trip, we traveled to the city of Carupano in Sucre state in the extreme eastern part Venezuela. Sucre is the part of Venezuela where Christopher Columbus stumbled upon on his 3rd voyage. He thought he had found the Garden of Eden. Of all of Venezuela I've seen, Sucre is still the most beautiful.

The sea is a way of life there and they still build boats by hand. It has dozens of great beaches, lots of big mountains, and hot springs! Sucre is a plate boundary. It where the Caribbean plate comes into contact with the South American plate. There are no volcanoes in the area, extinct or otherwise, but some of the hot springs have temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius! Crazy hot!

We visited one of the largest of these thermal waters, a place called Aguas de Moises. Its a crazy themed thermal water park. Very strange. The water in the pools is luke warm, but some of these pools are the size of small lakes! I am now curious about the temperature at the source.

Carupano is also famous for its sausage. We bought several links and grilled them. Our favorite was a the "sweet" which had a lot of pimenton (bell pepper) in its recipe.

Sushi in Tigre

Sushi seems to be the latest food craze that has hit Venezuela. Last night me and the other secondary teachers (there were three of us total) went out for sushi. These guys are really into sushi. I like it, but I am not crazy about it. I forgot my camera so no interesting pics. During the course of the evening, the little restaurant filled all its tables plus some carry out food.

We shared 5 trays of sushi; crab, Super Alaska (salmon), California, another kind of crab, and one called "Sex on the Beach". It was all pretty good.

Pepsi no saki!