Fun with Biking Brits

Around-Albuquerque APRS Track
We received a last minute email announcement about a cycling group doing a Cross - Country trip from Washington DC to Los Angeles, 2800 miles total.
Their website is HERE.
They are a group of British cyclists promoting fitness, involving youth in exercise programs including bicycling, etc.
It was scheduled for 3 PM for local Albuquerque area cyclists to meet the group and ride from Smith's Food King at Central and Tramway all the way down to Civic Plaza at 3rd street downtown.  With the short notice we were initially reluctant to attend but decided to forgo our early-morning ride and participate in this instead.  We got there about 2:30 PM assuming we had plenty of time to unload and assemble the bikes, radios, etc., and wait for the arrival of the biking group.  We were mildly surprised to find them already there and on the point of leaving, with NO local cyclists except us accompanying them.  We hustled our buns and barely made it in the back of the pack as their RV's and cyclists turned onto Central.  We had been "promised" a police escort but made do without.  With their gaggle of cyclists up front and RV in the middle with emergency lights flashing, 4 or so of the 14 adult cyclists plus Jacque and I in the rear, with a huge open-top pickup taking up the rear, we navigated East Central fairly well, and I was pleasantly surprised at the courtesy afforded us by most drivers.  Jacque had Tinkerbell riding high right behind her helmet on the trike and that drew a lot of favorable attention from passing motorists and pedestrians.  I thought of pointing out some of our infamous East Central Streetwalkers as we rode along but thought better of it.  At this early afternoon hour none were decked out flamboyantly enough to distract the cyclists anyway.
When we arrived at Civic Plaza, it didn't seem like the Big City was ready for our affable British visitors.  The Mayor had promised to be there to welcome the group, the local cyclist clubs were supposedly going to attend en masse, etc.  Except for 20 or so teenaged BikeABQ cyclists who joined us as we passed UNM, the plaza was largely empty.  Hizzoner the mayor turned out to be preoccupied and had sent a lower ranking replacement who did a good job on short notice.  The Brits had some cute song and dance routines they performed for us few ABQ'ers.

 It was great fun.  After the official pronouncements were over and the local teen BikeABQ'ers left, many of the British visitors were so enamored of Tinkerbell we stayed a bit longer so the cute doggie could be photographed.  Several of the kids expressed keen interest in Jacque's trike and we wound up letting ALL of them "Take a Go" around the plaza on her trike.  About half the adult riders also wanted a "Go" on it as well and Jacque was happy to accomodate.  They seemed to be amazed at our recumbents and asked many questions about how hard it was to ride laid-back instead of vertical, etc.  Here's a group of VERY fit and experienced cyclists who are 3/4 toward completion of a 2800 mile bike trek and they're amazed at OUR rides.  It reminded us of our visit to London several years ago, and while Jolly Olde England has unmatched clothing, jewelry, and porcelain/china, electronic and mechanical gadgetry for sale is harder to find.  Here in Albuquerque there are probably over 20 bike stores and shops, with only 3 or 4 offering non-standard bikes such as trikes and recumbents, but that may well present more offerings than available in Liverpool, home of our British biking group.  When I was commuting daily in Albuquerque I would encounter other recumbents, trikes, etc, at least a couple times a week.
Then we finally started the long ride back to the SUV.  We thought it wise to avoid traveling back on Central, just the two of us, even though it was absolutely the straightest and most direct route.  Digging out my trusty Albuquerque bike map,  I decided we should ride up Martin Luther King to Edith, north to Indian School, to Stanford, and down to Constitution, all of which have bike lanes.  We got bit lost navigating the confusing bike trails through the UNM campus.  When we got closer to San Mateo, Jacque recognized the area being close to one of her favorite places to ride, so we went that-a-way and got to the bike trail parallelling I-40.  We are dismayed with the lack of maintenance this summer on Albuquerque's otherwise wonderful and numerous bike paths.  The ragweeds are so tall as to obscure visibility, and the mats of goat-heads, absolute death to bike tires, are massive and threatening.  This is the stretch next to Los Altos golf course just west of Eubank:

Within another week or so, these carpets of goat-heads will extend halfway - if not ALL the way - across the paved bike trail.
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.0   Ending Voltage:  11.2
Lowest Temp  73 F      Highest Temp:  84 F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:     21.77
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
4.1 MPH                                 7.7 MPH                    22.3 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
5 hours 21 mins                    2 hours  49 mins        2 hours  32 minutes