I almost ran into a horse the other day. It was standing on the shoulder of the road. There was no fence, no gate, no barrier between me and 1,000 pounds of wild muscle – I’m definitely not in Wisconsin anymore… It stared at me as I rode past, chugging along towards Placitas, one of my favorite climbs in all of Albuquerque. It was odd, to say the least, going eye-to-eye with a thousand-pound animal in the middle of the desert. But that’s just how it is out here, the Wild West.
I saw a snake slithering across the road as I ascended La Luz the other day. I rode past at a worryingly-slow pace (the 1.5-mile climb averages over 8%), a little too close for comfort, and I could see its black tongue rattling in the air. It didn’t lunge at me, thankfully, but I made sure to take extra caution on the descent; I didn’t want to run into Mr. Rattler again.
The riding out here is different. There’s a little bit of everything, from hills to mountains, bike paths and long highway roads. My favorites are the climbs, long and steady. Sometimes I like a little punch, unless it’s 20%… Riding into the foothills, you get a lot of that. You’re riding along, enjoying the scenery, looking at the houses perched up on the mountain, and then – BAM! You turn the corner, and there’s a 15+% wall in front of you. It’s only a couple hundred meters long – can’t be that bad, right? – You get halfway up and you’re huffing and puffing. You avoided the rookie mistake and left your ‘Midwest gears’ at home (the ‘ol 11×23). But even a 28 won’t save you now. You’re paper-boying back-and-forth across the road. In the saddle, out of the saddle, everything hurts, even your arms. If your back wheel slips, you’re doomed. Unclip, and there’s no turning back. (Except literally – you can just roll back down the hill). But you’re competitive; you started this hill, and you’re going to finish it.
Once you reach the top, you can finally catch your breath. HR: 175 bpm says you Garmin. This was supposed to be an endurance day. Oops.
La Luz isn’t much easier. It starts out easy, building your confidence as you breeze through the first few minutes. I’ll make it to the top no problem! But then, halfway up, here come the steep pitches. 10%, 11%, 12%…15%. It’s not over. There’s a little dip in the rode. You can coast for a few seconds. But then, the La Luz uppercut. Just when you thought you could relax – you didn’t really think it was going to be that easy, did you? – the road pitches up to its steepest yet, almost 20%. Just to make it over requires 350 W.
Now there’s only two minutes to go. The road snakes and bends and pitches and dips. There’s a little bit of gravel in the corner, don’t let you wheel slip. You round the bend through the one-way gate, and there’s the final wall. Another 15+% pitch at the bottom, and then it hold steady at over 10% all the way to the line. You can’t go all the way to the top anymore – they’re rebuilding the trailhead parking lot – but that was enough for me.
10 minutes 31 seconds. Good enough for 9th place on Strava. I bet those guys all had crazy tailwinds…
That reminds me, I almost forgot. The wind! Albuquerque is famous for its spring wind.
15-25 mph is a normal day.
25-35 mph is a bit breezy.
35-55 mph… that’s when I don’t go outside. Some of the locals I know did five hours that day. There was a dust warning, but they didn’t see that until after their ride. Ignorance is…bliss?
***
Less than two weeks to go until the Tour of the Gila. Just a few more days of hard training and then it’s time to taper, and by that mean ride two hours instead of five. I’m feeling good – motivated, excited, and anxious…but in a good way. After seeing what my teammates did at Joe Martin – winning a stage and taking 4th Overall in a UCI race – I’m been inspired. A bunch of amateurs from the Midwest, taking on the top pros in the country, and winning…