This is February

Winter is my second-favorite season. Fall is indisputably the best of all seasons in New Mexico. However, not everybody agrees about winter being the second-best season. I keep hearing complaints this month about the cold weather. Personally, I have not yet decided yet whether spring or summer is the worst time of year around here - both have their problems, but we'll get to that when the time comes. For now, why I love winter…

February 13, on the 10k Trail in the Sandias

As far as I'm concerned, this is exactly what February should look like. And the weather has been quite cooperative this year. This is the trail that inspired me to buy backcountry skis as it often pitches skiers downhill, around curves with trees everywhere. With a few inches of fresh powder on top, it is really a lot of fun. We usually just ski north along the trail for 45 minutes or an hour, then turn around and come back in about the same time. Then head home in time for lunch.

February 18 with WRW at the end of the Jemez Dam Road

Of course, this is also February. What you see in this photo tells me how you'd feel about winter in New Mexico. Do you see a perfect blue sky and dry pavement? Or do you see a bunch of cyclists bundled up in jackets and long pants for a cold winter ride?

Pedal Los Pueblos

The Multiple Sclerosis Society holds 2-day, 150-mile bicycling fundraising events across the country. The New Mexico version, called Pedal Los Pueblos, happens every August through beautiful northern New Mexican countryside, towns and pueblos. The cycling club I joined earlier this year (Women Riding Well) takes this event quite seriously, gathering some 50 riders as a team and raising around $40,000 together this year. It was a great weekend of cycling, riding and (for me) learning about MS and some very promising treatments that could use more funding.

I didn't think that I put in the necessary training to handle 150 miles, so I wasn't sure how much I'd ride. On Saturday, I decided to ride with my club going whatever speed we go, stopping as often as we like, and just see how far we get. The ride starts just north of Santa Fe in Pojoaque. On Day 1 (map) we head north through Espanola and Ojo Caliente, then turn westward up a big hill to lunch in El Rito, before angling back southeast through Hernandez and Espanola, ending back at Pojoaque. Turns out that we (most of us anyway)*, made it the full 88 miles and 5000 ft of climbing, in plenty of time to get cleaned up and enjoy dinner.

On Sunday, I was feeling so good, I decided to go the longer route of 55 miles, including an optional long, steep climb from Chimayo to Truchas. When I got to the turn-off for Truchas, nobody wanted to go with me... at first... and then 2 club buddies talked each other into it. Up we went. At the top, I found some members of the club that are also on the racing team. I had never ridden with them, but they said they were going to set a nice easy pace for a pace line on the flatter sections of the ride. I hopped on and did my best to keep up with the 20 mph pace through the rest of the ride. Wow, that was fun! I never would have worked that hard for that many miles without the group but with the group it was great!

* My worst nightmare about bicycling is a crash. Unfortunately, we had a crash. I couldn't possibly tell you exactly what happened because all I really know is that one minute we were riding along having a great time, and the next second everybody was falling over. It went something like this: With 73 miles done and 15 to go, Karen who I was riding next to, hit a big chunk of metal in the shoulder of the road (or she didn't hit it, but was trying to avoid hitting it and me) and went down. On her way down, she bumped me but I managed to stay up while bobbling around. Priscilla, behind us, also went down (rather than swerving into traffic) but much more softly than Karen. Once medics bandaged up Karen's road rash (no broken bones), she and her bike got a ride back to the end. Priscilla and I rode on.

Marathon vs Century

Note that I have done exactly one marathon (26.2 mile run) and one century ride (100 miles bicycling). Since I did the Santa Fe Century, I have been asked many times whether the marathon or the century was easier. So here is my amateur answer to this very easy question: The century ride. Why? It boils down to this: I enjoyed the century ride about 90% of the time. There were some difficult times, but most of it was pure fun. For the marathon, I enjoyed it maybe 60% of the time, and then the last 40% of the run was pure pain and suffering.

But there are some pros and cons:

Time (Marathon is easier)
Century: 9 hours, Marathon: 5 hours. Now imagine doing some fraction of that EVERY Saturday for a few months. So the century does not just take longer on the day of the event, every single training ride takes longer.

Expense/Equipment (Marathon wins here too)
Basically, for a marathon you need good shoes maybe even two pairs and a watch. The rest of the clothing and special food is similar in running and cycling. For cycling, you need a bicycle, preferably a nice one along with all the accessories like gloves, helmet, cyclocomputer, repair kit, shoes, etc... Note that if you travel a lot during the training season, it is more difficult to bring all this cycling gear with you than running gear.

Pain (no clear winner)
This probably depends on the individual. Running hurts joints and can injure specific muscles. I now have plantar fasciitis which prevents me from running but I don't blame the marathon because the pain started 3 years later. Also, I found chafing to be a bigger problem running than cycling. Cycling could be quite painful on the hands and butt. I also fell over a couple of times on the bike, but with no injuries. I've never fallen while running. So there is more potential for pain from crashing a bike.

Recovery (Century wins)
After a long training run, I'd be done for the day and would hardly be able to eat. After the marathon I took an ice bath to speed recovery and the next day I could walk slowly but stairs were somewhat challenging. After cycling, I'd simply go back to life as usual except that I couldn't go running the next day. Cycling never bothered my stomach the way running did.

Fun (Century!!)
Flying downhill at 30+ mph, yippeee! No such freebies in running - it's all work uphill and down. This also makes cycling less monotonous than running. Running literally is "one foot in front of the other", hour after hour. Whereas cycling feels quite different whether you're heading up, down, or around squiggly roads. There's also the pace line to keep you entertained during flat, straight sections. On the flip side, I find it easier to talk to my buddies while running than while cycling.

There are plenty of other issues that divide marathoning and century riding, such as the fact that weather can be more of a problem to cyclists than runners. But then cycling can be a more useful form of transportation than running/walking (you get better distances) so it may be easier to incorporate cycling into your regular day.

Personally, I will likely never do another marathon but I'm already thinking about which century ride to do next.

Santa Fe Century

100 miles by bicycle - beginning and ending in Santa Fe. Here's the map, with North to the left (sorry, it fits in the picture better that way). We started at 7:30am and finished just before 4:30pm. So 9 hours, although my bike computer claims I was rolling for just over 7 hours. Where did I spend those idle 2 hours? At the rest-stops which I've numbered along the route (first one in Madrid). There were 6 of them, which doesn't seem like too many but apparently I spent an average of 20 minutes at each one.

Starting out with the Team in Training group. Not only have we been training together since February, we also each raised thousands of dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All of my teammates will be doing a Century at Lake Tahoe in June, some of them (those pictured) also came to Santa Fe with me.

First stop: Madrid. Looking good after 26 miles of pure biking fun! That first stretch was mostly downhill, but right after this stop we had a lot of uphill work.

Heartbreak Hill: too bad the great view is behind the cyclists! I'm not in this picture, but I looked exactly like that as I walked up the hill. The best thing about this hill is that it's the last hill for 40 miles.

After Heartbreak Hill, there is a whole lot of flat-ish road through the plains. Unfortunately, in New Mexico it is always windy on the plains. We kept a pace line through most of this which makes the miles go by much faster. In Galisteo at mile 82, we had our last break before heading up the hills back into Santa Fe. Throughout the ride, I kept reminding myself to take it easy so that I wouldn't be burnt before that last 15-mile uphill push. Apparently, my pacing worked because I climbed up Lamy Hill without a problem and flew on through the last 10 miles back to the finish line. Maybe riding along the shoulder of I25 gave me the adrenaline rush I needed to push through those last miles.

Finished! 101 miles and 9 hours later.

80 Miles

Today marks the 2-week countdown to the Santa Fe Century ride. In preparation, I bicycled 80 miles yesterday, starting at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo to the Gilman Tunnels (photo above from a few years ago), and back again. This was one of the most scenic rides I've ever done. It was tough work climbing the hills up to the tunnels, and I was worried about being able to finish the ride after being so burnt at the turn-around point. The ride back turned out to be pure fun in the sun... but less scenic as it flew by so quickly :)

Next week, it'll be 85 miles. Then finally, the 100 miles of the Santa Fe Century. I'm ready to be done with it. These long rides are getting tough. After this, I may stick with 50-mile rides for fun.

Energy

According to MapMyRide, I burned over 2000 calories during my 60-mile ride and nearly 2500 calories during my 70-mile ride (a loop to Los Lunas and back). That sounded so incredible, that I did a quick estimate of how many calories I consumed while riding... On the 60-miler: some fruit & nut trail mix, gatorade and peanut-butter cookies. It's possible that that added up to 900 calories. But on the 70-miler I only had the trail mix, so more like 400 calories. Apparently most of the calories for these rides get eaten in the days before and after the ride.

The photo is my new perfect bike food: trail mix with pretzels mixed in for extra carbs and salt. I tried eating runner's goo when I trained for a marathon, but it gave me a stomach cramp which defeats the whole purpose of the terrible tasting stuff. So I stick to real food.

60 Miles

How to plan a 60-mile bicycle ride: Think of a place that seems far away that you can bike to. Map it out and realize that it isn't actually 30 miles away, then find a circuitous way to get there to add mileage. Make sure there are a few good hills along the way.

So here's my 60-mile west side hill climb ride. Starting at my house (the green circle), I went to the Bosque Trail at Central. Headed south along the trail to Rio Bravo. West to Paseo del Vulcan. North to Route 66. West along Route 66 until I hit 30 miles, and then do it all in reverse. This got me 60 miles and 2000 feet of climbing, on a 75-degree sunny day with just enough breeze to keep things interesting.

Apparently, the West Mesa is indeed a mesa... riding west out of Albuquerque, you will first ascend the mesa by climbing the infamous 9-mile hill. I did this on Rio Bravo/Dennis Chavez. Now if you keep riding west (as I did along Rt 66, aka I-40 frontage road), you will eventually drop off the west end of the West Mesa into the Rio Puerco drainage, home of the Laguna and Acoma Pueblos. The Laguna Peublo has built the Route 66 Casino there (marked by a coffee mug on the map), and a gas station where I was able to re-fuel with Gatorade and peanut-butter cookies. Rt 66 dead-ends a few miles past the casino, so you can't go further west without getting on the interstate or taking dirt tribal roads. At this point, I turned around and went back the way I came.

From Paseo del Vulcan (on top of the West Mesa) south of I-40, looking east. I could see downtown Albuquerque (the camera phone does not capture landscapes very well).

Looking east near my turn-around point, 30 miles from where I started. The massive white building on the right side of the road is the Route 66 Casino. Sandia Mountain is still visible on the horizon, but downtown Albuquerque is hidden by the West Mesa.

Thank you!

Thanks to a successful bake sale at UNM yesterday and all of the generous friends and relatives who have been sending me donations for the past several weeks, I have raised $2255.49 so far for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I set out with a goal to raise $2010 by the end of March, and am very thankful for everybody who helped to make that happen!

Team in Training sets a fundraising minimum for me, which was $1850. That is 4 times the cost for them to train and send me to the bicycle race; so that no more than 25% of the money is used to sponsor me, while the remaining 75% goes directly to cancer research and patient support. This means that every dollar donated above $1850 goes 100% toward cancer research and patient support. If you have not donated yet, your donation would still be very much appreciated.

(If you are reading this on my actual blog site, you may notice that the "thermometer" on the sidebar does not show the $2255 amount. That's just because several checks are still being processed, but they should be on there by the end of next week.)

36 Miles

This is the halfway-point on last week's ride. It's the overlook at Jemez Dam. Fun ride!

Thanks to all the wonderful people in my life that have donated generously! I am getting close to my fundraising goal which is a great feeling.

2-Wheel Commute

The hardest thing about commuting on two wheels is getting the motor started in the morning.

I have two different two-wheel vehicles that I commute with... one with it's own motor, the other uses my legs for the motor. Either way, sometimes the motor doesn't want to start on cold mornings. I may be able to fix that problem on the scooter by getting a new battery. As for the bicycle, I'm fortunate enough to have the time to eat a decent breakfast and have a warm cup of coffee at home before I need to commute. I rarely need to be on campus before 10am, so I can wait until it warms up a bit outside.

I'm going to try to do only 2-wheel commuting the rest of this semester. Cold doesn't really stop me, but precipitation does, especially snow. The problem is that if I drive a 4-wheel vehicle, I have to park far away and then walk to campus through the rain/snow, so it's not much better. On the other hand, the bus (how many wheels?) takes longer than riding the bicycle because I have to change buses downtown. so I may still end up driving the car on rainy/snowy days.

Quadrathlon

The Mount Taylor Quadrathlon happens every President's Day Weekend in Grants, NM. Here's the deal:

• 13-mile bike, with 1700-foot climb
• 5-mile run, with 1250-foot climb
• 2-mile x-country ski, climbing 1200 feet
• 1-mile snow shoe, climbing 600 feet
• Now turn around and do it all back to the start

Every year, I say I'll get a team together to do this as a relay... and every year there's some obstacle. This year, I simply forgot about it. Coincidentally, last weekend I biked on Saturday, skied on Sunday and ran on Monday... so I was just one sport shy of doing my own personal quadrathlon over 3 days.

I always thought I'd do any part of this relay other than the bike ride because I didn't have the right equipment. Now I am well equipped for the bike, but no longer equipped for the run... so I'll do any of these sports except the run. Who wants to join me next year?

Bicycling ABQ

For my first solo mid-week training ride, I decided to hit the Bosque bike path for an hour. It seemed the best place to get used to my new bike without worrying about getting hit by a car. I started at Central, setting my timer for 30 minutes, and found myself at Paseo del Norte, 7 miles to the north, when the timer went off. Sharing the path were plenty of bikes of various forms including recumbents, firemen doing PT, rollerbladers, dog walkers, runners, fishermen and a skateboarder. And this was the middle of the day on a Tuesday in February.

 

A statue on the trail near Central (from a previous winter after a heavy snow).

Albuquerque has been rated one of the best bicycling cities. Whether or not you agree, this trail along with others are probably a big part of why it's rated so high. The city claims 400 miles of paths and bike lanes. Check out the map here. Also, the weather is rather friendly toward bikes with so much sunshine. Even if it snows at night, it may be warm enough during the day for a nice ride. Then in the summer, it's nice and cool early in the morning before the heat cranks up.

I'm not terribly comfortable riding many places from my house. I'd need a better way to cross the river, bike lanes that aren't full of trash, paths that fully connect and the biggest problem is the loose dogs. But I'm going to try a few rides from home since loading the bike on the car gets a bit tiring.

10 miles

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting my Team in Training cycling team. It's an interesting mix of people who have hardly ridden a bike and others who regularly do distance rides, but all who support the mission of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For me, road biking is a new sport so I was a bit nervous about riding in a big group. As it turned out, the 10-mile ride was very encouraging. It seemed so easy. I'm not too worried about doing 10 times that distance!

Now that I think of it, our marathon training started at 2 miles which also seemed too easy at the time. But doing more than 10 times that (26.2 miles) was quite a challenge!

Racing for a Cure

In Support of All Families Facing Cancer

Five years ago, I was visiting my cousin Carla (pictured above with her family in 2003) after her second bone marrow transplant. While her team of doctors were commiserating about the pain they'd endure that weekend running a cancer fundraising marathon, I marvelled at their dedication to eradicating the disease, both in their professional and personal lives. Carla responded that she'd like to run a marathon when she got out of the hospital. That sentiment stuck with me and I decided that I'd run that marathon with her.

Four years ago, I ran the 26.2 miles of the Austin Freescale Marathon and raised over $3000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Carla was with me every step of the way, if only in spirit. Sadly, Carla was never able to leave that hospital bed to do all of the things that she'd rather do. At the time of her diagnosis, she was given an 80% chance of survival, which was a great number compared to the near death-sentence it would have been a few decades earlier. However there clearly is not a cure until that number is 100%.

This year, I continue my fight against cancer with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training by bicycling the Santa Fe Century (that's 100 miles) in May. Along the way, I'll raise another couple of thousand dollars for cancer research and patient support.

Please donate! Go to my Team in Training page, or click the purple badge on the right side bar of this page. Updates on my training and fundraising will appear on this blog frequently, so keep checking back often or subscribe (find the subscription link on the right).