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!

Bad Crash

Lately I haven't been writing much. It seems everyday the routine is much the same. My son Benjamin keeps growing and learning new stuff and that's pretty cool. 

Today was May Day - Labor Day and I went out for a bike ride. Did my usual out and back warm-up ride, then was going to head up El Cerro when I recognized a bunch of my bicycling friends hanging out at a Eazy-Up at the base of the hill. Jim Burke was playing the guitar, they had work stands set up to adjust your bike, it was a cool hangout. Darren has been buying bikes off e-bay and getting them shipped down. Today he had a Specialized Stumpjumper Expert full suspension. He offered for me to check it out. I hadn't ridden a geared bike in a while so I decided to go up The Rails and Fausto trails, then across the top of El Morro, then go down on The Babylonia trail.

All went well to a point. The bike handled well and climbed super. It was nice having gears to basically cruise up The Rails. Going up Fausto was about the same as on my single speed rigid Merlin. It went up pretty easy. The bike was light enough to haul up the hike-a-bike section. 

Where  my ride/plan fell apart quickly was on the Babylonia descent. This technical trail is steep, loose, and technical. At the drop-in, I nearly lost it, the fork diving too much and nearly lost control of the bike into a bush. The front end kept doing the same thing; squishing and wallowing. I could not control the bike. At one point halfway down, I laid the bike over (common mistake) but got back on quickly and kept heading down. The next section was the trickiest, the trail is steep with an erosion gully dipping across the trail with some large embedded rocks in the trail at a dogleg turn. I didn't make it. Instead, the front end got crossed up and I kept going down the trail where I did kind of a slow motion Pete Rose-like slide into the ground...unfortunately those large, firmly attached rocks were there to stop my face. I hit with a lot of momentum on with the left side of my face. My sunglasses went flying off and felt my teeth impact the rock through my lip.

The first thing I did was check if my teeth were still there, or loose, or broken. All good. Then my glasses...thought I lost the left lens but instead just gouged them deeply on the upper part of the rim and lens. I sat there for a few seconds, picked myself up and then picked up the bike. It seemed okay. 

Doh!

I got back on, somewhat in shock, and flailed down the trail successfully not crashing. I get to the tent and when everyone saw me, their faces got real grave. Apparently my glasses cut my forehead above my left eyebrow and I had quite a bit of blood on my face. After a minute trying explain what happened, I had to sit down. I was feeling very light headed. Don't know if it was shock or a mild concussion, but I sat there for a while listening to Jim's singing and guitar playing. 

Jim Burke

I think I'll stick to riding my full-rigid Merlin. Love that bike! 

Merlins

Back in the day, I rode with a good group of guys from Albuquerque. We were all in our late 20s to early 30s and we were passionate about mountain biking. We pushed our bikes to the limit and we broke them. Finally one of us got a Merlin and that changed everything. Soon, all of us were riding them.

Merlins in their prime were hard to beat. Beautiful, light, strong, and fun to ride.

As far as I know, all of us still have each of ours; Jim's is now SS with its original steel fork and sits mostly in his shed in Corrales. He has since moved on to an Ibis Mojo SL.

John's is also reborn as an SS and a Russian Ti fork is presently running around the streets and hills of Salida, CO.

Mike's is still configured with its original stuff; rigid Ritchey steel fork and 3 x 8 gearing but it sits in his garage in Albuquerque because he is now riding a custom 29er SS. .

Mine is with me here in Venezuela as my prime bike and currently configured as a 1 x 9 with a carbon fiber fork. It will probably go back to SS mode when it moves back to NM later in the year since I will have the Litespeed and Rocky Mountain as geared bikes.

Technology and innovation plows ahead, but original Merlins will always be considered the ultimate to me. Classic!

Erythrodiplax berenice

Yesterday I did one the most enjoyable bikes rides in a while. I rode with a friend who is the science teacher at another international school in Barcelona, VE. We were both working in the Gallup, NM area at the same time, but never crossed paths that I can recall. 

Anyway, as science teachers, we had a lot to talk about and share when riding. I showed him some trails he wasn't familiar with. We stopped at several places along the ride including at a point overlooking the sea and watched wave phenomenon from above (100 meters up) and related it to our classroom lessons.

The highlight of the ride was near the end when encountered thousands of dragonflies. I've been riding the El Morro area for about 10 years and had never witnessed an emergence of dragonflies. I was curious about them. I kept thinking about a water source where the nymphs would live. There were no freshwater sources in the area, so my only conclusion was the sea. These must be marine dragonflies, so that's what I Googled ("marine dragonfly") and I came up with Erythrodiplax berenice. Good match! The specimens flying around yesterday looked very much like the gold and black variety shown in the the photo and link. Very cool!

Mountain biking gives me the opportunity to get to places to observe nature when I probably wouldn't have gone otherwise. I enjoy the challenge of singletrack climbs and descents, and the social aspect of it is a bonus.

The Tour of the Gila!

The SRAM Tour of the Gila is going on right now in my hometown of Silver City, NM. Weather looks like its been great and riders seem to be enjoying themselves (if you can call that kind of suffering enjoyment [yes you can!]). Here is a video of co-director/friend, Jack Brennan, talking about what it takes to make the race happen. Yeehaw Jack and Michelle (Geels...the other co-director/friend).

Happy New Year

Haven't been posting much of late. Not much to post about. Just been waiting for Benjamin (our pending kid) and then while on vacation, getting things done around the apartment (I love my little condo). There is always something to fix. Tonight we had a impromptu New Year's party. We went downstairs to have a BBQ with  Tania's cousins, and ended up entertaining a couple of other apartments as well. I met some new people, got  to practice my Spanish, and generally enjoyed the fun. 

I've decide we are moving back to the USA this year. After an evening like this, it makes it difficult, and I know the USA is difficult right now, but I feel I can make a difference so I am going for it.

La Falla Fun

 Got out on the bike this morning. I rode a lap of El Morro and then worked my way up to La Falla (an area on El Morro). I had to fix my Pauls chainguide and once I figured that out I did one lap of the course (1km) and then took some pics. I got a few that I liked.

Pedro always a good subject.


Alfredo and Eduardo climbing to the start/finish

Some guy I don't know his name. On a new Kona full suspension bike.

The guys at the start/finish area.

About to Leap

Did a great ride today with Daniel. We went about 22 miles. 

Daniel is about to head off to Ukraine to work at one of our sister schools. He and I have become good friends over the past few years. His mother, Sally, was my adopted mom. Big changes for all of us when she passed away last summer. 
Anyway, best wishes for Daniel and his family! I know he will do great! 

 Daniel on the edge of South America

Riding with Daniel

Daniel is heading off to greener pastures Kiev, Ukraine. It was good to get out with him. We dinked around El Morro and saw a few interesting things. 

 Visibility was good. No haze, so we could see Isla Cachicamo (Armadillo Island). My favorite island in the local archipelago. 

Daniel comes down the trail.

 Nice grass on the bluff.

A burrowing owl out in the daytime.

Lee's Ferry with the Garros

Took a great 3-day/3-night trip up the Colorado River from Lee's Ferry (AZ) with the Garros. Amazing beauty in the landscape, the fish, the fishing, the paddling, the food, and the company. Great fun! 

The Route

Denise assembles the Long Haul Mark II (amazing boat!)

Denise and Steve fishing. Steve caught (and released) over 30 trout. We kept only the trout which were injured (gill mouth, swallowed hook, etc.)

Camp 1 at 6-mile. The U.S. Park Service only allows camping at designated places.

Incredible lunch on Day 2 at Lunch Lady beach (7 1/2 mile)

Fresh guacamole

Fresh trout fillets sauteed with onions

Where is Anthony Bourdain?

Fresh Mexican rice

Tasty trout gordita: fresh trout sauteed in onions, fresh guacamole, fresh Mexican rice, habanero hot sauce, on a small flour tortilla. Best food ever! We drank a big portion of our Tecate supply at this lunch stop. 

When ferrying across (a paddling technique) a riffle, I miscalculated, came up short, and was still in the riffle (barely) and had to get out of my kayak. In doing so, I rolled the kayak and my camera got wet so no pics until it started working again the next morning. Here is a test shot.

Barry in the canyon. FISH-ON!

Camera stayed stowed, so no pics until the end. Denise breaking down the Long Haul, and we are drinking beer. 

Camp 3 was away from the river in an area of big rocks. Incredible night sky! I've never seen the Milky Way quite so bright. 

Incredible trip! Just want to say thanks to Steve, Denise, and Barry for the great experience. 

Road Tripping

Finally got out of Silver City and on the road. First stop was Black Canyon City, AZ to see my friend Mike. Mike and I laugh a lot when we are together. 

 Traditional stop one, Javalina Crossing where we had a couple of beers before going off to eat ribs.

Ribs.

Nice CJ-2A (being towed by a tractor)

On to Flagstaff and the Garros. Steve makes some of the finest bicycle frames on the planet. Hours of meticulous work goes into making a single frame. 

At Steve's I made myself a smoked trout burrito! Very tasty. Fresh ingredients...homemade salsas, organic red onions, avocados, and the trout had been out of the Colorado river for less than 6 hours.

Did a great bike ride with Gullo. Dusty due to horses. 

More to come.

My Sister's Class Reunion

My little sister organized her 30th high school class reunion. It was a huge success! 

I crashed the party Saturday (she told me I could) to see some old friends. I hadn't seen "A" in 30 years. She was very funny! 

My sister is great!