Kudos on starting your new commute - you'll love it. I'd suggest finding a route that stays off the arterials more. Claremont is a good option for cutting across the city at the Candelaria level, although the route gets pretty squirelly after Wyoming as it jumps around streets. Riding up Wyoming at rush hour could be sort of rough, but I'm not sure what you could do to avoid it. Maybe take Moon to Southern, and then across to Wyoming, but that takes you a block further east than you need to go. Another good option would be to take Washington down to the Truman gate (involves some jogging onto Val Verde - I think - and then Ridgecrest). Then ride across base to your destination on Wyoming. With the housing area closed, this means you need to head out of your way on Hardin (toward the ABL), but you avoid all the crazy traffic.

On the other hand, I've ridden on streets like Montgomery, Juan Tabo, etc. at rush hour and it's possible, but as a beginner and just for your sanity riding every morning, I'd look for something less busy.

I actually work 7-7 night shift, so I am hoping that I will miss rush hour if I plan it right. I actually work on Hardin. SNL Profoce, so that will be my stopping point. I was thinking of taking the arrollo (sp) up to wyoming but I dont know if the one by comanche goes up that far. I was told it goes all the way to Juan Tabo. I am going to see in the morning when I get off. But Claremont is another option. I would like to avoid the gibson/truman gate if I could.

Lots of base people it looks like on here! Did anyone get free fruit and gatorade this morning at hardin field? They had bike maps too, I highly recomend picking one up.

As for routes, I for one will ride 2 miles further to stay off main roads. I like to stick to bike paths when possible, or what the map marks as "bike routes" or connecting streets (usually residential or low traffic) streets.

you can go Albuquerque Bike Map to download a PDF version of the bike path map in Albuquerque. But I highly recomend picking up a few (I leave one at work, one at home and carry one) of the paper maps, they have more detail. You can pick them up free at any bike shop.

Someone from my neck of the woods! I'm not too far from you, over at Juan Tabo and Copper.

I have two routes, the short one is down to eubank along I-40 (On bike path) then through residential to pop out right at the wyoming gate, about 6.5 miles. I'm training for the Bicycle Tour Colorado at the end of June though, so I needed more miles. The route I take gets me 20 miles and has me clear over near commanche and I-40 (where the diversion channel trail and paseo del nordeste MUP meet), then through UNM, and up onto base at the truman gate, then alllll the way up through the base to the labs off Wyoming.

Is anyone up for an on base cycling lunch hour sometime? Something a little less competitive than the Reaper Ride hopefully :-) perhaps meet somewhere and ride to one of the base eateries? The bowling alley is centrally located (especially if .mil people are going) and has good food, if it ends up being lot of labs people we could ride out to the cafe out past TA5....they have great burgers.

you got any hills there? :p

+1. Sometimes we all need some support and reassurance that our cause is just. If anyone's interested in meeting on a commute and grabbing coffee, e-mail me at subvertit@gmail.com.

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Reza Fakhrai

I wish I had that kind of free time! My lunch break entails me eating food as quickly as I can in between helping customers. I'm starting to hate being young....

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Reza Fakhrai

Albuquerque is on a grade (river runs through it) so there are some hills to be hand in town, but nothing extreme. It's also next to (town runs up into the western side) of the Sandia Mountains. Some good hill training can be had in the foothills and still in town, one ride called "The fingers" (five different streets go up pretty steep for a pretty long way) is a popular one, and one I've been doing. And you can always climb the back side of the mountain on a road bike, it's probably 8, 9 miles to the top? I have yet to do that one, but plan to very soon.

Albuquerque is a GREAT place to ride for all you not from here...we got ranked 3rd in bicycling magazine for towns of our side for cycling quality I think...The one thing they over looked is (one town was in AZ, and the other in CO) that in Albuquerque it REALLY IS possible to ride 365 days a year. We probably get snow 6-10 times on a heavy year (havn't seen that much in years though) and the tempature will peak at 100, maybe tops of 105 a couple of times a year, but through most of the summer it's mid 90's wich compared to AZ's heat is very bearable on a bike. AND we have almost no humidity, wich is a pluss IMHO.

GREAT town to ride in :-)

Amen. Riding in Albuquerque is tough sometimes because the east-bound streets are sometimes much longer and steeper than one would account for by car. All in all, it makes for a great training opportunity and the weather and scenery can be really beautiful sometimes.

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Reza Fakhrai

Another vote for Winnings coffee. Lots of cyclists hang out there too including one of the owners. As an aside, the building that now houses Irysh Macs used to be a LBS until it was discovered that the owner was selling a bit of blow on the side (NB: that is pure hearsay).

I commute from Harvard up Silver to Kelly's where I'm a brewer. takes about 3 minutes :-) but I often ride to visit friends. I go from UNM up the Paseo del Nordeste path to the curve then up to Louisiana. I'm on a Mountainbike with slicks and I nod but few return the motion.

My new best friend!

;)

I'm usually to busy to do something on the way in, but I'd be up for something after work. I'd suggest meeting somewhere where we can hang out outside so we don't offend the olfactory sensibilities of the locals. I'll shoot you an email.

What do you ride, and when are you ussually on the road? I tend to go in early - between 0600 and 0700.

I already ride in the racer's lunch ride when I manage to get out... ussually a 21 to 24 MPH pace. A couple other guys from my office on local teams ride every MWF. (I'm not a racer or on a team, although I'd like to get out to a couple crits this season)

I'm very jealous of your commuting situation. Interestingly enough, if you look to your right on Silver as you're passing Columbia, that's where I live. I'll look out for you. I'm also jealous of your gig at Kelly's; a very cool microbrewery.

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Reza Fakhrai

I ride an older Trek 2200. It's a 3-tube carbon setup, so the main triangle is carbon fiber, joined at the points with red aluminum. Back triangle is aluminum, and I have a carbon fiber fork on the front. Usually wear a red jacket in the mornings (though almost warm enough to take that off) and baggy shorts over my cycling shorts (get enough strange looks as it is...ya know?) I usually get in at 7:00, gives me time to shower and get over to my building (doesn't have a shower) by 7:30.

Tell me more about this MWF ride, sounds like it's about my speed, and I am always looking for ways to get more miles. how many people? where do ya'll meet? what time? How far? It's not the Reaper Ride right? that one meets at noon on Tuesday/Thursday, and I understand is pretty brutal. (Heard stories about guys crashing and the pack just rips on, never even looking back)



Can anyone say beerfilter sponsored happy hour at Kelly's? Just kidding, I love Kelly's though, what are your hours there? I often go for happy hour with friends, but have no idea what a brewers schedule would be (probably not the same as happy hour folks :-) In regards to the nodding and not getting responses...WHAT'S UP with that? I get a lot of that too. I see one guy in perticular, EVERY morning, he's heading north from UNM and I'm heading south towards UNM. He's probably mid 35-45 years old, rides an older road bike, wears a red jacket, no helmet, and kinda bigish eye glasses. He's not going real fast, just kinda cruising all the time, rides really upright (for a road bike) and NEVER smiles, waves, even looks at me. One time I (just to see if I could get a reaction out of him) started waving wildly as soon as I could see him, then as I got closer yelled "TOP O' THE MORNIN' TO YA! GREAT DAY FOR A RIDE EH?" and NOTHIN....total stone face, like he hates me or somethin!

I actually get more nods from roadies than commuters on that path! Weird. It's like they're all stuck up or something. It may be that I'm not in the reflective vest or fender club though :-)

I know one other guy who commutes to Kelly's by bike. He says he rides there from Wyoming via Central or Zuni. Brave guy; no helmet.

bf

Another Albuquerque rider here.

I've probably seen a lot of you guys/gals before-- sold my car three plus years ago. My commute is from downtown, up MLK, through campus and then through Nob Hill residential roads. I agree that it's a GREAT biking city. Easy to get around in. Big western streets, not much traffic, good bike trails (no cars allowed) along much of the arroyo system. I climb a long hill pretty much everywhere I go (living downtown) but I get it back each time!

I concur about Winnings. (111 Harvard SE) I LIVE there. The owners are some of the coolest people you'll meet and the place is funky. Excellent coffee, good food, spunky employees.

Great to hear familiar roads, places.

Chuckie

The number of people varries - probably 6 to 8 regulars, with random folks dropping in from time to time (at this point I probably count as random). In the warm part of the year it is much bigger than during the winter, when it might be just two or three. The route circles the base (from Eubank gate to South gate and areas in between) and it just about 20 miles. Joining up is sort of tough, because it's a rolling start and finish, from ~1145 to ~1215. By the time we pick it up by the Carlisle gate everyone else is joined up, and then people drop off along the way. The timing of everything is all very Zen and just sort of happens, with the various members knowing how to ride to compensate for leaving early or late. If you ride from the ABL toward the south gate at 12:30, you'll pass the group, and then maybe you can jump on and figure out how to join normally from where you "live".

I've yet to ride the Reaper, although it's similar to what you've described... I think they check to make sure you're not dead after you crash though. ;) From what I understand, the trick to the Reaper is that you should not expect to make it to the end... when you bonk you turn around and be prepared to jump onto the group when they come back (without causing a crash when you join up)

I agree. I try to acknowledge or respond to everyone I see, and I get a response about half the time.

If you see a guy riding an old, blue Giant MTB with Geax slicks with green sidewalls and no saddle (I don't use it on short rides) yell, "Hey, Beerfilter!" :D

I am there daily (I get sad the few days they are closed) though I never ride there. I could probably coast there on 10 pedal strokes. Hmmm. Maybe I'll see just how few pedal strokes it takes me to get there.

It's great to see Winnings get so much good press. The staff really is great. At least three of them ride to work that I know of.

bf

One of the worst things about moving to Hilo is that I also used to LIVE in buzzing coffee houses, and there aren't any places like that here. :( Every time I go back to the mainland I spend much of my time reading and peoplewatching in bustling coffeehouses. Glad to hear ABQ has some places like that near campus.

So, as I stated before (but we've gotten more responses now), if anyone other than eaglevii is interested in getting together for coffee etc. whenever convenient, e-mail me at subvertit@gmail.com. I figured we'd at least get the conversational juices flowing and chill out in like company.

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Reza Fakhrai

Thank God For The Wind
 

That brisk wind here has helped get me back in shape with a quickness. When I first started commuting out to work I was averaging 12mph on my wide, knobby MTB tires and two weeks later I have already jumped up to 14mph. Slow I agree but I had been off a bike since last October. Blow wind blow!

:eek:

aah! ya'll let the thread fall while I was on vacation! :-) good thing I had it bookmarked!

Got back Monday night from Las Vegas NV, my wife and I went there with a dozen or so of her family members...let me just say, not a good idea.

That said I had some problems with my tires last week, and decided to replace them before riding in today. I must have been tired or spacing or both, cuz I managed to pinch wholes in not one, but TWO tubes. I decided to call it a night and buy new tubes today. One is patchable, but has slime in it and I'm wanting to get away from sealant as I think it's not really needed when using "the system" (tube inside old tire tread with bead cut off stuffed inside new tire) The other has large cuts at the valve stem so I just gave up. Got new tubes today, and should be on the road tomorrow. I'm looking forward to working out some frustration from my "vacation" on the bike. Expect record commute times tomorrow ;-)

I know how you feel. Family vacations or trips of any sort where a bicycling is not an option makes me that much more grateful for the two wheels when I get back. I haven't used "the system" but the guys at the Bike Coop recommended it as an alternative to heavy-duty tires/tubes. I opted for the thorn resistant tubes and tire liners. Since then, I haven't had any flats and the ride is just fine. Glad to see you're back on the road. We'll try not to let this thread fall to the bottom again. Happy riding!

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Reza Fakhrai