Yeah, So We Rode Where it's Warmer

Today's Good Coverage Tracking

Jacque had an appointment for lab blood work this morning, so at the last minute, I of course suggested a new plan:  We'd go together, with the Tandem Terratrike on the roof of the Ford Exploder, and go for a ride in flatter and warmer Albuquerque (It was 31 degrees this morning, a couple degrees warmer than the previous 2 mornings).
So we did.
Instead of riding our favorite route, up and down the Bosque Trail along the Rio Grande, we decided to see if the much ballyhooed bike bridge across I-25 near Osuna was open and ridable.
Since I-25 is nigh unto impassable due to the ongoing Paseo Cloverleaf Project, and all available nearby streets that COULD be used to get AROUND all the mess are ALSO under construction (A New Mexico Tribute to Highway Planning), we took the long way around, going west on Montgomery to Edith Street and Edith north to Alameda.  Taking Alameda this way leads us to a relatively roomy and safe place to park the car and catch the bike trail running by and through it:  Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Park.
As we approached the entry to Balloon Fiesta Park, we noticed a new section of bike path where none had previously been, running parallel to Alameda on the south side of the road.  We decided we would first ride over to Osuna and attempt to cross the new wonderful bridge, then come back, and time permitting, explore the new Alameda bike path,
There was no problem riding down from the Park to the Osuna trail and heading east on Osuna UNTIL we got to the Jefferson trail crossing.

ABQ's Infernal Bollards

We had  complained about narrow bollards on the newly repaved Bosque Trail last year, resulting in very quick response and nice sufficient widening of the new bollards so our (and hopefully others') wider people-powered machines could get through.  Obviously this widening did NOT occur city-wide.  The width on the OTHER side of this gap is even MORE impassable, at about 10" LESS width.
We were able to barely squeeze through by pushing the middle bollard on my left HARD while scrunching through the gap.  On the way back through the other direction a half hour later this strategy did NOT work, and we scraped our paint badly going through.
We DID find the marvelous new enclosed bike bridge ready and ridable and..... leading to NOWHERE.  Well, sorta.  It ends in the small cul-de-sac between TD's Showclub and Alameda Animal Kennels.  There's also a sports bar there, so one must suppose one of these places is a destination for walkers and cyclists worth a million or more dollars' worth of new bridge.  We took a break in the shade of some trees in one of the parking lots and since there were no public facilities available I walked around the corner into a tree-lined alley shielded from public view to "water the shrubbery".  Much to my embarrassment a huge beer truck pulled into the alley behind me before I was totally presentable.  When I turned around to sheepishly face the truck driver it turned out to be a rather pretty FEMALE truck driver, adding to my loss of dignity.  BAH
We walked the doggies, saddled back up, and rode the bridge and trail the several miles back to Alameda and turned west on the new (to us) bike trail.  Not bad, not bad at all, UNTIL we tried to cross a paved street at the intersection:

Uh Oh, a very narrow street entry with a SHARP turn

 Jacque didn't dismount just to take these pictures, she HAD too in order for us to be able to flop the trike back and forth to gain entry into the crossing.

Not sure we can squeeze this thing through here

A bit of jockeying....

More Jockeying back and forth...

FINALLY got lined up enough to get through

 This turning entry took about 8 iterations to get through without having to heave the trike over the curb.  Next time we'll ride out in the street so we can more safely cross the intersection.

We spotted something we could not pass by peacefully:  A Sonic Drive-In.  They were thrilled to see us and the doggies and even threw in an order of onion rings free, just because they thought our dogs were so cute.  First time I know of they've actually saved us any money.

Then, about half a mile farther down the trail, the wonderful new trail just ENDED in a light pole abutment:

Typical Bike Path:  Ends for No Good Reason

 As we trundled the trike back around the other direction, we noticed a much narrower paved foot or bike-path on farther, but no reasonable way to pass this obstacle unless on foot only..... BAH

Trip Started:  11:24 AM    Trip Ended:  2:04  PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.1        Ending Voltage: 13.0
Lowest Temp  57 F      Highest Temp:  70 F
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  9.93
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  3.9 MPH                                6.5 MPH                    20.0 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours  34 mins                    1 hours 31 mins         1 hour 2 minutes