Urban Assault Ride 2008

Beer, Bikes and Big Wheels. What more do you need to get you up and out on a Sunday morning?

NLBG loves partaking in silliness, after all, and the Urban Assault Ride provides ample opportunities among the 8 obstacle checkpoints (plus the FOUR mystery checkpoints this year!!)!

Pre-ride
Racking bikes, nibbling Clif bar samples, doing PT exercises...

 

Check out our intimidating uniforms! Watch out,  NLBG means business (well, almost)!

And then we were off, riding up Lavaca to the first mystery checkpoint on 43rd, before scooping up bottle caps with oven mitts at Ozone. Three more mystery checkpoints to catch and many more obstacle checkpoints to complete! 

Here's a look at the Pease Park obstacles:

                      

For me, this keg walk was tricky -- my feet kept getting stuck below the rim making me want to stumble. 

Other silliness: bike jousting at REI (we had to trade places on this one -- loaded down with Ricky, I just couldn't pedal well enough to get us really moving!), towing a keg in Lady Bird Lake at the Rowing Dock, newspaper toss at Bicycle Sport Shop (we went 3 for 3!), bike limbo at Jack and Adam's, human bumper cars at Rogue Running (even though I was double-teamed and laughing hysterically, I grabbed all four wiffle balls from the bucket at the same time -- think my laughter distracted my opponents!), mini-bike pedal at Jo's Coffee, and the grand finale, our all-time fave, the big wheel course and giant, inflatable water slide at the finish at Run-Tex . Getting wet felt good and refreshing, but there was another reward waiting for us:

 

Loads of fun once again! 

Westward Ho!

In a decision that was classified only as "insane"by numerous friends (including the one we were visiting!), NLBG loaded down the car with clothes, food, CDs, and bikes in order to do an 80 mph waltz across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico all the way to Albuquerque. Shouldn't everyone drive across Texas at least once? Shouldn't we?Austin-RoswellLeaving early on a Thursday morning, driving through Fredericksburg and catching I-10 near Junction, we began our westward trek. The land and sky opened up and traffic grew more sparse as we passed a wind farm and mesas and dusty, dried-up little towns. Through Pecos and into Eastern New Mexico, Carlsbad and Artesia. Dry lake beds,draws, scrubby, open land. Deer. Fewer birds. Check out the view from the car in Eastern New Mexico:

Roswell, Home of the International UFO Museum and Research Center.
There she was, five years later, our old neighbor from Baton Rouge, working in the UFO Museum! At first we couldn't believe. "There's no way," Ricky said, but I was nearly convinced that that was Kat who had passed us by in the entrance. We enjoyed the exhibits in the museum and the reunion with Kat! We would have loved to have lingered a while longer -- dinner with her and Rocky would've been really fun, but we still had another 3+ hours to Albuquerque and my head was beginning to pound after already having spent 8 hours on the road.

L'Arrivee: Albuquerque
Oh the joy, pulling into Ann's driveway, more than 12 hours after leaving ours, gaining at least 5,300 feet in elevation and losing about 20% humidity. The Sandias in view at the end of the street, the xeriscaped gardens, adobe-style houses, the swamp coolers, green chile on everything. Best of all, seeing Ann after all this time. And meeting her fiance. And finding out that he's cool and laidback and funny.

Camping in the Jemez

Fry bread with honey from a Jemez Reservation roadside stand.

 Through narrow, single lane tunnels in a gorge, onto a gravel road when the pavement ends, we found the best car camping site ever: in a bend in the stream, gorgeous trees, a beautiful tree-lined ridge in the background, black and yellow butterflies fluttering by the water, a super-happy camp dog, and lots of good food!

 Relaxation in a different form. It was sooo quiet, so tranquil, listening to the running water. 

The boys got in some fly-fishing practice while Ann and I chatted fireside, eating Tofudogs and Tings. 

Re-emerging on a paved road the next day, we had a delightful lunch at the Laughing Lizard Cafe in Jemez Springs before heading back to Albuquerque. All in all, a wonderful excursion!

Sunday Pedal

Well, as tired as we were, the need to move our legs led us to a great bike path alongside Tramway, near the foothills of the Sandias. Spectacular views of the mountains and the city and beyond. Ricky and I hung in there, even at altitude! It felt really good to pedal a bit before consuming even more of that gorgeous caramel doberge cake Ann had bought for my birthday!

Au revoir, Albuquerque

Suddenly, it was Monday morning, and suddenly we were saying good-bye, and suddenly, there we were cruising south on I-25 heading toward Hatch. I just had to see where all those peppers grow! Detour to White Sands well worth it.

White Sands

Small strips of white on the horizon, the approach to White Sands from Las Cruces gives little away. In fact, it takes driving in a short way to appreciate. Even more fun is getting out of the car and spending time on the dunes themselves.

Balmorhea Bathing
What a reward following hours of hot, dusty driving through West Texas! A true desert oasis, as they describe it, and fortunately for us, our Monday night layover, as I was not looking forward to 50 more miles of driving at dusk to Fort Stockton.

Of Heat, Wind and Canines

Heat:
Well, it's been hot. 23 straight days (well) above 90 -- several of those in triple digits of 100 or 101. Many others at 98 or 99. Yesterday topped out at 101. But, again, it's not so humid here, so I can be outside without being drenched in sweat.

Wind:
Gusty times! Winds blowing from 20-30 mph, with gusts of near 40, made pedaling less than a "breeze" (sorry!) this past week. Take last Wednesday's Balcones ride which first led me straight into the fierce wind down Lake Austin Blvd., and later, as I turned a corner, got me and my bike pushed over a foot or so as a gust picked up and blew across me.

Canines:
Saturday we FINALLY participated in our first informal group ride. Again with the wind! Again with the heat! And something new to the mix: dogs. Country dogs that shot out of nowhere, two of them, not only to give chase to the five of us cyclists, but also to "go for the kill." The ride leader got bit by one of them. I narrowly escaped, as did the rest of the group. In any case, we decided to turn around with them, thereby ending the ride early...we still managed to log 24 miles, and hey, with the wind we had to work against, it probably counts for more!

Real Ale Ride = Real Fun

Well, at least they were honest in their description of the course: "Big Climbs, Hilly, Low Traffic Area, moderate climb, Rollers, Rolling Hills, Rural, Scenic, Waterfront"

We opted for the 30-mile course, due in part to how beat up/worked over I felt following Friday's PT session; I didn't think I had 50 in me. Mike chose the 50 -- Ricky and I were figuring that he would finish that before we could finsih 30! Ha!

Waiting to roll, we ogled lots of cool bikes and saw all sorts of people -- from hipster fixie kids to hardcore triathletes, to the owner of our neighborhood bike shop: the Peddler. It felt quite festive! Looks like Ricky was pumped up to pedal!



From the elevation profile and course map, I knew about when it would be coming -- the steepest, longest hill I would have ever tackled on two wheels. It was a nasty one. Ten times the one on Pecos. Some people simply fell over, others pushed their bikes up. Not knowing how much I had in me, I just kept spinning and counting and breathing,and then there I was, at the crest! Another shot of Accelerade and I kept going. Then, there was another fairly nasty one, which I wasn't quite anticipating. I made that one, too, and cruised to the first rest stop.

See, it doesn't look soooo bad, does it, as we're about to head out from the first rest stop? Well, around the curve in the road, way up ahead, there was a nasty surprise that rivaled that first one. More people falling, more people walking. I made it, seated, just to the top, where I had to take a breather. Before I knew it, I was flying down the longest, steepest downhill ever..having forgotten my computer chez moi, I have no idea at what speed I topped out, but I do know that it was fairly exhilirating, and that whatever it was, Ricky was much faster, thanks to gravity...he absolutely blew by me!

In no time we arrived at the second rest stop where things were festive -- music jamming loud from a PA, and volunteers in uniforms of camouflage t-shirts acting as bike valets. A very sweet lady held my bike for me while I refilled my water bottle. Ricky indulged inadvertently in Pickle Juice, believing that it was actually a small bottle of Gatorade. NON, MERCI!!

Following my "big climb" thrills, the remaining "rollers" and "rolling hills" passed relatively painlessly, and by the last few miles, I dare to say that I felt pretty strong, which doesn't mean I was ready to do the whole course all over again, but that I probably could have handled the 50 miler. Mike did tell us, though, that that route had another 3 or 4 pretty steep climbs.

Of course, the reward was the post-ride fete at Real Ale Brewery -- live music, food and brew! Why, there was even a vegetarian option. While Ricky chowed down on brisket and sausage, I enjoyed a Portabella mushroom burger on a whole wheat bun with potato salad, veggie beans, and slaw (a vinegary kind -- no mayo). Only one way to wash it all down and get some post-ride carbs -- Fireman's #4 in our commorative Real Ale Ride pint glasses!

We stuck around for the very educational tour of the brewhouse and another round of Fireman's!

So, there you are..the Real Ale Ride was so much fun! And, like I wrote above, they were honest in the course description -- it was absolutely scenic! It's gorgeous out there, and I wish I had taken some pics out on the course itself!