Jacque had to go to Albuquerque for a training session for the upcoming Women of Light convention early this Saturday morning. We wondered what the weather would be ~ but it was not too hot by the noon-time the training was over so I loaded up the Tandem Trike in the junk trailer and met her downtown and we parked over at the Bio Park and started our usual Bosque Trail ride. We first rode over to Old Town and found a Knights of Columbus Fiesta in full blast on the Plaza, complete with Salsa tasting contests surrounding the plaza, hundreds of people crowding about, and a Mariachi Band with Flamenco Dancers strutting their stuff from the Old Town gazebo. Great fun.
As we rolled in on the tandem trike, the road was abruptly blocked for vehicular traffic, but we saw a couple of other cyclists within the no-car zone and rode around the barriers and pedaled on into the heart of the celebration unhindered. No parking spots were available so we parked up on the curb. Secured the trike with a locking cable to mildly increase the difficulty of stealing it. We walked around the entire Plaza, admiring the dozens of family and commercial salsa recipes in the making, and finally found something we could purchase to eat: The Knights of Columbus had a booth set up right in front of the old historic Catholic Church selling custom cheeseburgers at your request, and for 14 bucks we enjoyed the best burgers we've ever eaten. The fact we were pretty hungry had little to do with it, har har.
There was an elderly Navajo Code Talker holding court, selling books about the Code Talkers, one with his picture on the cover as a skinny young GI working his radio in the Pacific Theater, late 1940's. He little resembled the portly gentleman now seated behind the table, but it was an honor and a privilege to shake hands with him and exchange Yah-Tah-Hay's with him. I was astounded to learn he was from Grants, NM, of all places. What a great guy and a sad thing to realize how few of the Code Talkers (and other WWII vets) are still alive.
After satiating ourselves wit Honest-to-God cheeseburgers, we hit the road again and ventured north on the famed Bosque Trail. By now it was getting quite warm and we weren't finding much shade for relief.
We had ridden a short while on some of the new gravel trails leading off into the trees, awy from the paved trail but offering much more shade. I thought we should try that portion of the Bosque again to get more into the shade but I missed the first entry. I watched closely for the next opportunity and we took it.
These well-packed trails do not allow for much speed, but we are slowpokes anyway. We enjoyed the relative coolness and increased shade so much that we twisted and turned off onto unknown directions just to stay on the trail and in the shade. We had gotten so overheated earlier we thought we would turn around sooner, but this shady venue kept us motivated and cooled and we dawdled around much longer because of it.
Not only are these back trails cooler, but they are less traveled and quieter, and we met only a couple of walkers and maybe 2 or 3 other cyclists back in the trees. The shady gravel trail led us to the sandy banks of the Rio Grande itself, and we parked and walked the doggies the 100 yards or so across the beach-sand to the river and let Jacque and the dogs wade around a bit. Me, I stayed dry but enjoyed the closeness of the Rio anyway.
Shortly later, we were back on the paved part of the Bosque Trail and within 20 minutes or so back to our air conditioned Ford Exploder, er, Explorer. We always enjoy pedaling around, but today was especially great.
Ride Started: 12:47 PM Ride Ended: 3:56 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.9 Ending Voltage: 13.1(?) Lowest: 12.4
Beginning Blood Glucose: 164 Ending BG Reading: 69
Lowest Temp 78F Highest Temp: 84F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 10.46
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
5.1 MPH 7.0 MPH 14.6 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
2 hours 3 mins 1 hour 29 mins 33 minutes
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