Old 01-15-07, 07:26 PM
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Luwin1026
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Here's a quick report -

Mapquested the distance from my house to Encanto Park (meeting point) the night before and it said 6.8 miles. So I figured I'd saunter out of my house around 8:25 or so and ride to meet the folks. Instead of taking surface streets up, it took me around 15 minutes to get to the base of the Sante Fe Dam Rec area where the steep climb is, and another 25 minutes or so to meet the group. Mileage was close to 11 miles. I guess the distance mapquest calculates is the direct distance on surface roads, not the roundabout bike way.

Met up with the group - some familiar faces (Beanz, Herb, M.E.), and some new ones (magicant, ronjon, Justme, Sonny, TBrown) - we get rolling, and it's a nice, pretty evenly matched group. Rolled down SGRT to the four corners split, and went straight. Crossed an intersection back onto the bike path, and continued on the Upper Rio Hondo trail. Weather was a little chilly at first, but warmed up a bit in the sun. Gorgeous day for riding.

Stopped at the park at the end of the Upper Rio Hondo trail, where lively discussion and laughs ensued. Finally got rolling again, took a nice little detour up and around a dam to get some more miles, and back up SGRT. I tucked in behind the broad shoulders of Mr. Beanz, and he was really opening it up at a nice pace of 18-20mph. I dropped back a little while later as I was starting to get a little hungry/tired, so it was nice that we regrouped ever so often. I felt a twinge in my left calf while we were up on the dam, and unclipped to stop to stretch out, when I heard a loud "BANG!!"

I ducked, for fear of getting in the crossfire of a local gang shootout . . . or worse yet - what if I was getting bikejacked? Luckily, I knew that Mr. Beanz was near me, and knew if any crap hit the fan he can go all loco on them while I backed him up with my Chinese kung-fu skillz.

But alas, it was Justme's tire that blew - and luckily he had great bike-handling skills to bring the crippled bike to a safe, secure stop and with the expert assistance of Mr. Beanz and his frame pump, not to mention the amazing moral support provided by me and Herbm as we watched and cheered them on, he was rolling shortly again.

The rest of the group decided to go past the bridge to Encanto Park to the end of the trail near the base of the 39 climb to get their 50 miles, but as I had ridden there in the morning, I was at 57, and decided to call it a day. Actually, I was pretty wiped, starving, and my wife was at the park already to give me a ride home.

All in all, you couldn't ask for a better ride - good weather, riders, and company. And I love riding the trail as you don't have to worry about traffic and clip/unclip at ever stoplight. Can't wait until the next one!!
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