I am a Singlespeeder!!

The Chica Ride was small tonight, just Kim and me. Randy had come along with Kim and was planning to do a solo, so Matt suggested the 4 of us take a ride together. This would be a great time for me to try out the new singlespeed too! I was a little nervous about using the singlespeed...I'm doing great on the road bike, but am still not up to par on the mountain bike. Turns out, I had nothing to be worried about, it was much easier than I thought it would be.

I gotta get a pic of the singlespeed for the blog. The pic I have up now is my bike with gears. Matt transformed it for me and I'm back on the 24" wheels. I love it!! It's a perfect addition to the stable...Moots YBB Superlight, Intense Spyder and Kind Cycles Jeni for the dirt; Giant TCR1 and Surly Pacer for the road...oh, and the Specialized Rockhopper beater for taking to the bar, so I'm good to go.

Important things to remember when riding a singlespeed:

1. Look ahead and anticipate upcoming climbs. Either spin fast to get a good start or stand up and crank it hard.
2. Spin, even when you don't want to. You need to keep your momentum going.
3. Use every little downward slope to your advantage.

I'm sure there's more to it, but hey, this is my first ride.

So we headed to Elena, biked up, rode around in the Elena area, then headed to the North Foothills and then back to the house.

Ride Stats

• Distance: 15 miles
• Total time: 2 hrs (lots of stops)
• Average heart rate: 133
• Calories: 700
  

I'm Back!!!

I rode 125 miles on the road bike at the Grand Tour in Malibu, CA! How about them apples?!? Matt's shocked that I'm not more excited, but I guess I'm still in a state of shock. My longest ride since the surgery was 40 miles in Durango. I got the ride done in 11 hours, 53 minutes...definitely not a race time, but hey, I'll take it! I ended up burning 3404 calories and had an average heart rate of 133, so I definitely took it at a leisurely pace. No results posted on the website yet....arggghhhh!!

I had a blast on the ride. Started out going solo, and rode with a woman who was out on the course for a leisurely weekend ride on her own. We talked and rode through the more "gruelling" climb on Latigo Canyon Rd together, which was nice. She was one tough rider too! When we parted ways, I rolled down the hill and ran into a guy, Bart, with a soggy course map he could hardly read. Since Matt had prepped me the night before with a laminated map we put together at Kinkos and clipped onto my brake and shifter cables, I had the perfect navigation system (and a record of an awesome ride that can be done again and again). Bart, not knowing me and my directional deficiencies, willingly allowed me to navigate the ride. Anyway, turns out Bart is from NY and on travel in CA for 2 weeks doing business, so he decided to do the Grand Tour. Pretty cool!

So, we made it to the first rest stop at about 35 miles or so. I felt really good! I grabbed some orange slices and 1/2 a banana and we continued on to the next checkpoint at about mile 65 where we were given a great lunch. 2 other riders, Ron and Ray both from CA, joined us for the next part of the ride. They said they were going to go for a group run the next day, which I found to be highly unlikely...they ended up running 17 miles the next morning!! So, after hearing the story that Ron and Ray took a wrong turn right from the starting line, we still let Ray lead the pack. We ended up missing a confusing turn and got a "lovely" climb that added about 2.5 miles to our journey. No biggie, we got some great downhill on the way back to the correct turn. Ray had ridden like a bat outta hell and totally dropped us...he got a 151-mile ride reward for that one. The rest of us made it on to the 3rd and last checkpoint. This stretch seemed to be the longest to me. I was glad to take a break!

Check point 3 was my last bailout point. I had a respectable 87 miles under my belt and my hip was starting to hurt a bit, but hey, I only had about 35 miles left, so why not go for it? We ran into Matt at this checkpoint as he was finishing up his double century. We saw Richard and Dave, who were riding tandem on Dave's new bike too. Matt offered to pull me the rest of the way, but I didn't want to hold him back, plus I wasn't quite ready to get back on the bike yet. I popped a few ibuprofen, and Bart and I hit the road. Ron hung back to wait for Ray who was still returning from his wrong turn.

On the last leg of the tour, I got some sort of crazy burst of energy and was hauling tail (for me) at about 21 mph for well over 10 miles. I turned around to see if Bart was still behind me and he was nowhere to be found! I was a tad bummed, because I'd lost my riding buddy and now I'd probably have to finish the rest of the ride on my own. As I hopped back on the bike to get ready for the solo trip to the finish line, a guy from Rancho Cucamonga, CA came up and we rode together for a bit until we hit the PCH. I had to bail to use the restrooms, so I said goodbye to him and the rest of the ride was on my own. There were 6 climbs on the PCH that I wasn't really expecting, but I managed them all just fine!

I rolled into the finish line to see Matt fixing a plate of BBQ for himself. Richard and Dave were there too. Matt quickly set his plate down, grabbed my bike, and told me to hurry and check in--they were timing us! Matt had a recovery drink and a warm plate of BBQ he fixed, just for me upon my return. What a sweetie. ;o) He finished his 200 miles BEFORE I finished my 125, starting about an hour before I did.

I had a great experience and I would DEFINITELY do it again! Matt talked me into entering at the last minute. I had planned on doing a solo ride while I waited for Matt to complete his double. What a great change in plans! I think I'm ready for the doubles now!!

Tomorrow is the Chica ride--it may be a small one, Sue is in Japan for work, Kiyoko's son has pink eye (iffy) and Kim may have her son. That leaves me and Paige! Regardless, should be a fun ride. It's raining now and it rained yesterday. The trails should be in nice condition!

It's That Time Again!

So I'm counting down the minutes till it's time to head home for the evening ride, trying to ignore the smacking sounds coming from Noisy Eater's office (if you've been reading my blog, you know about this already). I'm starting to pack up when Noisy Eater lets one rip--I mean RIP! It was one of those really loud ones that reverberated from ass to chair like there was no tomorrow. I busted up laughing and quickly realized that since I'm in a cube, everyone can hear me, so I follow up the laugh with some profuse coughing, hoping to disguise my immature, yet totally acceptable--in my opinion, response. That's it, I'm not sticking around for the aftermath, so I take off, holding my breath, hoping I don't breath in any noxious fumes on the way out.

There's nothing like being outside, riding your bike to unwind from yet another uneventful day at work. It's even better when you have someone around to share that ride with. Tonight, Paige, Kiyoko and Sue met up at my place for the weekly Chica Ride. We did Kim's ride, which was perfect since Kiyoko's shifting wasn't working all that well. The bike needs some lovin', that's all I gotta say. Hopefully Bike World will treat it right and get it back up and running! The ride was fun, although there are increasingly more sandy spots on the trails from overuse. Sure wish it would rain!! I think I will venture out on the singlespeed when we do this ride again. There will be parts I won't be able to make, but might as well try!

Ride Stats

• Distance: 15 miles
• Max speed: 22.5 mph
• Avg speed: 7.1 mph
• Ride time: 1:55 hrs
  

Well, Matt and I are ready for Malibu, CA this weekend. Matt's doing another 200 miler, and I'm going to do some nice riding on my own, that won't even come close to 200 miles. I've ridden part of Mulhulland Hwy out there, so I may ride more of that or ride from Agoura Hills to Malibu and back. Haven't really decided and will play that one by ear.

Taos

It's been a long time since either Matt or I have been back to Taos, so we decided to make a day out of it. Pretty hot in the Burque, and nowhere really to go mountain biking with all the closed Forest areas in the area, so we loaded up the vehicle and drove to Taos. Once in town, we headed east on Hwy 64 and parked in the South Boundary Trailhead parking lot. We biked along 64 on the pavement about 7 miles, passing Shady Brook, which is being totally renovated, and veered off to the right. Directly across the road was a small spot to park. We were now at the Mondragon Trailhead, trail 164, and ready to begin our journey. This was a nice steady, 15-mile climb. There were a lot of dirt roads that intersected along the way, so I'm not sure if I could take the correct turns or not if I went at this solo...but, with Matt navigating, we came right up to Trail 164, the South Boundary Trail. We headed up this...one more quick climb. I can't remember if 15 miles was at the beginning or end of the South Boundary climb, but I think it was at the beginning. We were near Garcia Park, Trail 437, and Jaracita, Trail 121, around this area.

Well, 16 miles is my maximum distance until this day, so I was a tad nervous, but not much since I knew that the rest of the ride would be downhill...parts of which I could have benefited from riding the Intense rather than the Moots, but the Moots was perfect for the climbing! So after a very short climb up South Boundary, I switched my 80mm Marzocchi Marathon Race to full squish and headed downhill. There were only a few sections where I could have benefited from a full suspension bike, but for the most part, the YBB did its trick!

Biking downhill, I walked over an area I had biked 2 years ago. I can't believe I made it look that easy in the pic! Course the Juliana helped me through that one. Oh, and yes, that's mud on my face. We got dumped on during that infamous 2003 "Gaspin' in the Aspens" ride (founded by none other than one of the original FooMTBers, B Cherry)....yes, we really do get rain in NM!! Anyway, Matt and I decided to take the South Boundary trail all the way down rather than turn off on Ojitos. It was the better way to go because in the end, we plop right out in the parking lot where we started. Had we taken Ojitos and the whoopty-dos, we would have had to take some road back to the vehicle.

So, Matt sheep-dogged me all day, woof-woof!! But I suppose he got a decent ride out of the whole thing. I certainly did! The last pic shows the road, way down below...long climb!

Had some trouble walking after finishing off a Brown-eyed Ale at Eske's, and it wasn't because I was drunk. Definitely sore and stiff in the joint, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. So I've set a new record--27 miles! Guess doing a 30-mile loop at the Crested Butte grassroots race July 15 (if that's where we end up going) isn't out of the question now!

Ride Stats

• Distance: 27.1 miles
• Climbing: ~4000 ft
  
• Ride time: 3:49 hrs
  
• Total time: 4:30 hrs
• Max speed: 27.6
  
• Average speed: 7.1
• Average heart rate: 148
• Calories: 1700
  

Matt's got some more cool pics from the ride and a write-up of his own on his blog. Check it out:
More pics
Tacos Fanta Se

Revisiting Old Stomping Grounds

Kim and I did the Chica ride this evening, and decided to take an alternative from the route we normally take...one that Kim and Randy ride, but that I haven't ridden in a very long time. We headed down to Spain on the paved Tramway Trail and then rode the dirt up to the Spain parking lot and continued up, doing a loop in the Foothills. Then we headed back down the trails and rode around in Bear Canyon Arroyo. On the way home, I showed Kim the dirt trails that parallel the paved trail--pretty fun! Kiyoko will love this route. We'll have to take her on that next time she rides. :)

It was a quiet night on the trails. I think the looming rain clouds scared people away. But, as usual, the clouds were there only to taunt us. We got some sprinkles on the way out for the ride, but then nice weather the rest of the time. This was the perfect ride to follow after my Triple Lindy--Light from last night. I was pretty sore this afternoon and a tad bid nervous about riding, but this route was just enough to get my muscles loosened up without adding to the joint pain. I'm thinking that I could probably take the singlespeed out on this route for my first time on that bike. Not quite ready for it yet, but soon!

Ride Stats

• Distance: 15.2 miles
• Max speed: 25.5
• Avg speed: 8.7
• Ride time: 1:55 hrs
• Total time: 2:07 hrs
• Calories: 550

Well, I've been in 2 days of training off site from work. It's been nice to be away, but it's back to the old grindstone tomorrow. Blech!

Triple Lindy--Light

So I made another riding milestone today! It's the most climbing than I've done in a concentrated period of time since the surgery. I took the Giant down to the Casino and climbed back up Tramway, then headed up the 2nd climb to the Tram and around that and headed back to Tramway. My 3rd and final climb for the afternoon was up Elena Gallegos, past the guard shack and around the little look where the picnic areas are.

I was going to call this ride the Triple Lindy, but the *real* Triple Lindy for me will be the Casino climb, La Luz, and then the Tram. I never even did that before surgery!

So, I'm heading up the Casino climb (the pic is actually heading toward the Casino) at about 12.3 mph (fast for me--I'm usually around 10 mph at this point of the climb) and huffing and puffing when I see this huge shadow creeping up behind me. The biker behind me decides to draft me, doesn't say anything, just starts hanging onto my wheel to catch his breath. I say hi, he responds, and eventually rides next to me and stirs up a bit of small talk before heading on ahead of me. This dude was huge (tall, not fat)!! I'm telling you, the length of his legs had to have been about as long as my body, minus my head. I've seen him before, Trek bike, freak of nature legs. There's no way he could have been getting any drafting benefits off me, considering my size. Matt says he was probably just checking out my ass. Guys are perverts.

Heading up to the Tram was uneventful, other than almost getting hit by a car backing out of a parking spot behind the Tram building. I sped back down from here and road Tramway Blvd slower than usual...I was definitely starting to run out of energy. I think at this point, my ride time was 51 minutes. So I sucked down some water, tried to recover without going too slow, and headed to Elena.

Again, another uneventful climb, not many roadies out today. I made it past the guard shack (I think I was at 1:08 hrs here) to the top of the picnic area and see an Albuquerque Police Dept SUV parked with an officer working on paperwork inside the vehicle. I give a nod to say hey--it's cool to see them out there keeping the areas safe! I keep going on and the cop follows me and rolls down the window...turns out it's Pat. He's one of 20 police officers that works with Open Space. He came to one of our FooMTB meetings a while back ago. He's busy as usual, but had just gotten in a Foothills ride before getting back to work. How cool is that?!? So, after chatting a bit with Pat, I head all the way back to Tramway Blvd. On the climb up, the hip started to hurt right as I passed the turn off to Eagle Ridge. This is good to note, as I think I'm going to do this ride more often to mark progress. I decided against riding the neighborhood because that would have entailed more climbing.

Got back to the turn off to the house and I had in 19.4 miles. Doh!! So close! So I turned onto Tramway Vista and wrapped around...not enough, 19.8!! I biked around our condo and came right in at 20. Yeah!! Oh, and yes, that's a picture of the turnoff to our house. No, I didn't take it. I found it searching for Albuquerque images. Some person actually took pictures of their drive around Albuquerque and posted them online. Good grief!

So, here are the stats for today:

• Distance: 20 miles
• Max speed: 37.1
• Average speed: 14.7
• Total time: 1:30 hrs
• Ride time: 1:25 hrs
• Average heartrate: 163 (Damn that's high!! It's usually around 140ish.)
• Calories: 641 (this seems VERY low. I'm not believing that reading considering how hard I rode today--who knows)
• Casino climb stats (1st climb): max--13 mph; min--7.9 mph
• Tram climb stats (2nd climb): max--8.9 mph; min--4.0 mph (yep, I was a hurting puppy here, no break time really between the Casino and here)
• Elena climb stats (3rd climb): max--10.1 mph; min--7.0 mph (pretty typical for me, so it looks like the short flat across Tramway was a good recovery)

Tomorrow is the Chica ride!

Albuquerque Criteriums

Today was Matt & Jen ride day, so we decided to head downtown on the road bikes to watch the Albuquerque Crits. Matt took the Bianchi San Jose singlespeed and I took the Surly Pacer. It turned out to be a great match for us since I'm still really slow. Matt didn't have to sheepdog me on the San Jose, he just had to ride a little slower. :)

Well, after a nice 18 mile spin down Tramway Blvd and then south on Rio Grande, we made it to 4th and Roma where the crit starting line began. We ran into an old coworker of mine and friend of ours, Larry! He's just come back to the states after a nice vacation to Spain. I'm jealous. He was with a friend of his, Alex, who knows another of our friends, Scott. Geesh, it's a small world when it comes to the bike community! We ran into Jackie while we were down there as well, and tons of other bikers that Matt knows.

By the time we were done watching the first round of crits, we were hungry, so we took off for lunch at the Rolling in Dough Bakery & Cafe. The food hit the spot and we were ready to go back to the crits. Bummer, we only caught the tail end of the women's crit. There was only 1 group of only 5 women. I'm used to seeing multiple categories--of course that's in Durango at the Iron Horse. Guess it's more popular. Got to watch 2 of our friends, Dan and Travis race in the A and B crits.

Got home with 37 miles and 2:30 hrs total ride time. Just in time to catch the Miami Dallas basketball game on the tube and fire up the barby for some dinner.

~It was a wonderful day~

????WTF????

I don't feel I need to say anything.

Article

Video

Playing in the Dirt

Went back to the Foothills again for a ride. Not much around here I can ride right now. Still, had a good time. I decided to attempt the North Foothills again. Last time I did this I walked most of the North side. This time, I took off from the house, starting out on Dan's trail. I made it to the Tram parking lot with only 3 stops. Not bad! Took a break at the start of the climb up to the water tank and made it to the top without a stop. Impressive (for me)!! The terrain is still too rocky for me in parts, but the good news? The rock garden is now a challenge again! I ended up walking through that too. It hurt too much to be bouncing around in that. Maybe I should have taken the Intense, but I don't care, I still had a blast!

I rode all over the central part of the Foothills, then back down the dirt trail along Simm's Park Rd and paved Tramway trail back to the house.

Ride Stats

• Distance: 16 miles
• Ride time: 2:00 hrs
• Total time: 2:20 hrs
• Max speed: 30.5 mph
• Avg speed: 7.5 mph
• Avg heartrate: 148
• Calories: 800

Ouch--I'm very sore right now. Took some ibuprofen, but that didn't do the trick, so I took something a little better. That's at least masking the pain, but I can still feel it from the inside out, right at the hip joint. I think I did enough to inflame it just a tad today. Ahhhh, such is recovery. :)

So, waiting for Matt to get back from his century ride. He should have been back an hour ago if he was doing a century, so my guess is that he's decided to make it a 100+ ride today. Surprise? Not really!

Rain to the South!

Went on a road ride today. I was hoping to get in about 35 miles or so, but was stopped for a bit by an incoming storm that brought lots of rain, thunder and lightning! I saw the storm approaching, but had hoped I'd be able to miss it...no such luck!

I made it to 4 Hills and did the ride around the neighborhood out there. The winds were really building and I could hear the thunder around me. I was still being optimistic, thinking the storm might go around me. The winds just kept getting stronger and then the lightning came, which was a tad scary, even though the rain was going to be a welcome sight. Heading down hill back to the Smith's, it started to rain hard--really hard! I made it to Smith's and ducked inside. The lightning and absolute downpour turned me into an instant wuss. I waited until the storm died down and then headed back out. Still raining, but not as hard. I got to the light at Central and Tramway and was stopped. The wind was really, really blowing, but thank goodness it was at my back--rain blowing in the face wouldn't have been fun. To give you an idea of how hard it was blowing, I rode up the little climb from Central & Tramway at 26.5 mph without any effort!! I'm normally lucky if I can get up that at about 15 mph. I rode the Surly today and it made a difference with the wind. The other day, riding on the Giant in the wind was uncontrollable. Today, I felt in control, even though I was getting pushed around...the extra weight of the bike did the trick.

So the wind pushed me along until I hit Lomas, and then, as always, it switched directions. So I got rain from the side and from the front now. Luckily, by the time I hit Montgomery, it had stopped. I was really drenched, but the wind (with no rain now) dried me out by the time I was at the bottom of Simm's Park Road! Headed up to Elena (where it was sunny!!) and rode around the guard shack. Then did the neighborhood climbs/ride. I decided to go to the neighborhood north of the road to the tram. Did fine until I tried to climb Rock Ridge. That was a bad idea...I stayed in the seat, but was pushing the pedals way too hard. I heard something pop in my right hip joint. I have no idea what it was, but it hurt, so I decided to call it a day and headed back home.

Ride Stats

• Distance: 30.6
• Ride time: 2:10 hrs
  
• Total time: 2:30 hrs
  
• Max speed: 49.5 mph (I'm questioning that speed--I went fast in the hood, but I don't think that fast!!)
• Average speed: 14.8 mph
  
• Average heartrate: 150
• Calories: 940

Got home and Matt was working on the new singlespeed for me! Yeah! Got a chance to ride my transformed Kind Cycle and it's cute little 24" wheels. I'm riding on gearing that most singlespeeders would call wussy--even plus 2, I believe is what you are supposed to say. I've got a 36 up front and a 20 in back. Well, I guess I deserve a little help since I'm still injured. ;o)

Las Chicas

We had the weekly ride tonight and Kiyoko (the frog is her blog pic) was able to show up! Usual suspects, Paige and Sue were there too. What a great night for a ride! Overcast skies, not too much wind, nice temps. You sure can't beat that! so Kiyoko hasn't been on a bike since '99, yet she managed to keep up with us the entire time. Longest wait? Maybe 1 minute, tops. Quite impressive to say the least! She's gonna be a great addition to the group.

So, here are the stats for the evening:

• Distance: 14.6 miles
• Max speed: 25.5 mph
• Average speed: 9.1 mph
• Ride time: 1:33 hrs
• Total time: 2:00 hrs
• Calories: 700

Not too shabby for someone who hasn't been on a bike in years! The girl is gonna be scary once she's used to the altitude and has ridden some more.

We stuck to the Elena Gallegos area, heading out from the house. The usual weekly night ride. Not too many bikers out tonight, and the chuckheads decided to stay home, which was a pleasant relief. Sue is now riding middle of the pack, we don't want her getting knocked over by an out-of-control fatty! Gotta protect her and the new cargo she's got growing inside.

Well, tomorrow is my Friday. Yeah! No plans yet for the weekend, but we shall see. I'm sure I'll be riding somewhere. Good news? No painting!!

Wind and Sprinkles

It rained today! Unfortunately not enough to get us the moisture we really need, but I guess every bit counts. I had planned an after work road ride, so despite the wind, I decided to get out and do it. I attempted to head down Tramway Blvd. toward the Casino, but a side wind kept pushhing me toward traffic. I had absolutely no control of the bike and was freaked out to say the least. I decided to head back and do some neighborhood riding instead. I was hoping I'd be blocked from some of the wind...for the most part, it worked.

Took the road to La Cueva campground since the La Luz road was way too hard for me...still can't stand in the saddle, so needed something with less of a grade. I stand for most of La Luz, even on my better days! Anyway, got to the top of La Cueva and immediately headed down. I got creeped out by the fact that each camp area (these are picnic areas, not overnights) had 1 vehicle in it. Nobody out, just the vehicle. What does someone do solo at a picnic area?? To top it all off, this guy on a small motorcycle came creeping up the road at a very slow pace behind me. He had a full helmet on with a totally black visor so I couldn't see his face. I was at the top of the road, turned around, and got the hell outta there. Don't think I'll be riding that road anymore.

Finished up with a neighborhood ride. Forgot the stats, but I think it was about 19 miles, 1 hr, 40 minutes.

Time for bed.

Catching Up

Wow, it's been a while since I've had a chance to catch up on the blog. I've been doing nothing but catching up all around...catching up on sleep, work, biking, you name it! Guess that's a good sign though. If I can't get to the blog, then I'm probably out on the bike. ;o)

Tuesday I got a chance to get up early and ride with Sandy. If you recall from my previous blog, Sandy is recovering from surgery as well. As expected, she was pretty scary fast (even at 1/2 of what she used to be able to do on the bike). We meet at the corner of Montgomery and Tramway and pedaled our way up to the Foothills. Sandy let me lead on the climbs for a bit, and never left the back of my wheel. When she led, I could keep up for the most part, but not for sustained periods of time. Then came the downhill. Holy crap! Sandy wisked through the Foothills faster than anyone I've ever seen before! I tried to to stick to her rear wheel, but just got scared and slowed it down. I've seen some dumbass chuckheads speeding through the Foothills, but they are fat and completely out of control. Watching Sandy ride was amazing. She could cut turns without skidding, and effortlessly slow down when approaching hikers were near--again, without skidding. It was like she wasn't even really touching the ground. It's hard to explain, you just have to see it.

Wednesday was an elliptical machine day--blah. I need to work in other cardio besides just biking, according to my PT. Guess I work different muscles if I switch cardio types, which better improves my hip strength. So I caught some news and a bit of this thought-depraved Deal or No Deal TV show--I'm glad I don't watch TV much. If this show is any indication of what the American public wants to see, I'm afraid of what the country is becoming. Surely we'll outgrow this trend of thoughtless, homogenized automatrons who display "patriotic" bravado by putting stupid ribbon magnets on vehicles to prove to everyone that they're on the "winning team". We got spirit, yes we do! We got spirit, how 'bout you!?! Mark Twain said it best, "Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about".

Thursday was the chica ride! The usual suspects showed up and we had our fun in the Foothills. The skies were overcast, making for a great day to ride! Nice and cool. Ran into Randy, Kim's other half, who was out doing a solo. Then we saw Matt, out on the new Bianchi San Jose singlespeed!

Went to Il Vicino (as always) for dinner, and ran into Denise. She's going to do the Crested Butte 100 with us July 15. I'll be sticking to the short version...very short, but Matt will do the 100, I'm sure.

Friday was a rest day.

Saturday Paige and I went to Santa Fe and rode Dale Ball Center and North. It was slightly cooler in Santa Fe, so the ride was pleasant. We stopped at 2nd Street Brewery for a treat on the way home. Sue was supposed to come along, but morning sickness hit...yeck, sure am glad I'm not her.

Sunday was paint day. Matt and I managed to get most of the outside of the house completed. What a pain that was! The coyote is back too. He decided to leave a dead rabbit near the doorstep this time. Glad Matt always finds the carnage because I would just freak out anyway.

I'm tired now! Time for some shuteye. Gonna ride the commuter into work tomorrow. This will be a first!