BAM (Brown Air Monday)

I was worried about the forecasts for increased Arizona Smoke today, but as usual, it did not live up to the forecasters' extreme predictions.  The air was hard to see through, Mount Taylor 60 miles West of Albuquerque was not visible this morning, just a wall of brown haze to the west.  I brought along a nurse's face mask in case my throat started burning but it wasn't needed.  I could just barely taste the faint smoke bitterness in the air as I rode.
Saturday, we had a fun fam get-together in Albuquerque at Rotary Park.  All my kids except Sherry showed up,. and all my grandkids except for Eric showed up.  We had a great time stuffing ourselves with barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers and chips and soda and all the great holiday pig-food.  Jacque did most of the cooking but little of the eating, what with her spit-it-out-if-it-tastes-good diet.  She did cheat and sample one of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bon-Bons Sarah brought me.  Mercy.  Yum.  A couple of Jake and Stacy's kids brought their bikes which made Grampaw jealous since I had left mine home.  We need to do another Saturday Family ride sometime soon....
This morning, As I was  unloading the recumbent and loading up my junk to ride the last 7.46 miles to work,  I heard a faint voice saying something like "Dad!" behind me, and it turned out to be Sarah.  She regularly does this to me, since her bus drops her off at almost the exact spot where I park my car and load up the bike, and often we arrive so close to each other she has time to walk over and say "HI" and exchange quick hugs and back-scritches before she hurries off to catch her city bus.  But invariably I don't see her coming and it usually startles me when she appears..... but what a treat.
No funny incidents to report on the bike trail this morning.  School is now "Out" so some of the clots of kids that wander the streets during my morning commute no longer appear.  In the afternoon some of the rich ones will undoubtedly make it a habit to ride their illegal gas-powered 4-wheelers and small motorcycles up and down the trail.  I have passed and noticed (repeatedly) a young girl, a bit on the pudgy side, who is always walking by herself, with ear-buds in place, to and fro on the trail.  Last week I passed her at least a mile past where I park my car, after I'd passed her earlier while on my bike, and realized she must be walking at least a few MILES almost every day, probably to spend time with a friend.  I'm impressed with her mileage but wonder why all that walking isn't doing a better job of helping her slim & trim.  Maybe she's like me.... exercises a lot but eats a lot too.  I get good reports when medical folks take my pulse, blood pressure, etc, but I haven't lost any weight.  People accuse me of being skinny but they don't get to see my spare tire I see every day when I step out of the shower.... lucky them.
Awakening BG:  109                              Post-Ride BG:  97
Morning Stats from the GPS:                 Total Miles:  7.39
Overall average speed      Moving Avg         Max Speed
10.1  Mph                          12.4 mph             22.2 mph
Total Trip time                   Moving Time       Stopped Time
43:59 mins                          35:49 mins            08:10 mins

HOWEVER, for the AFTERNOON ride..... the gray air wasn't too bad until I got back to my car.  About then the air got so smokey and dark and full of ash and smell it felt like we were already consigned to Hell.  We couldn't see any flames, but the darkness, the sun weakly glowing red when it could even be seen, the sulphurous smell, and the already hot summer air, contributed to the sensation of being doomed.  Mercy.
We kept the swamp cooler off all the rest of the evening, thank goodness we live at 6800 feet elevation so it was much cooler than in Albuquerque.  Nasty Stuff.