Gran Fondo: Taos • Mora • Angel Fire: Micro 46 miles DNF 7/5/14
When I started indoor cycling, before Spinervals, I had
scenic DVD’s where they simulated how the ride would look. They drove slowly in many parts of the
globe. I had many, but my favorite was
New Mexico. It covered part of Enchanted
Circle. When I lived in New Mexico, I
heard about it as scenic drive, but I never made it. So my dream has been actually riding on the
bicycle. There are events throughout the
year. This year, one of my A races,
girls only Bernalillo time trial never happened then I found this Taos Gran
Fondo! It is not Enchanted Circle, but I
get to have a taste of NM mountains.
Finally Tony agreed and Friday night hotel at Taos was
booked. We left Albuquerque in plenty of
time for packet pickup. I communicated
with Jennifer the organizer a couple of times and there she was! I really like the T-shirt. It was made in dri fit material and had a
cool bicycle logo with NM flag motif on the side of the shirt. And we went on to scout the route on the
car. We passed SMU Taos campus and the
climb seemed innocent enough: a few
rolling hills and steady long ascent.
Then it started to climb. It was
steep at times and long! Then it was a
little relief point and there was a public bathroom about 15 miles in. We saw a yellow traffic sign on truck going
down on triangle. Usually it means it
means it is scary going down driving.
What does it mean to me? I have
to do the reserve way going back. We
stay on US 518 without following High Road to Taos route on the bottom of the
hill and from there another steady climb to Sipapu Ski resort. It was summer camping season in full swing on
July 4th weekend. We rolled
down the window for a minute and took a deep breath and could not help noticing
smell of aspen in the air. The scenery
was gorgeous. We drove back in rain, had
great smoked meat and head back to hotel.
Tony decided to SAG because he was not comfortable about the
route. Half the time, we didn’t even
have decent shoulders. And the event was
small. Luckily the rain from the night
before dried out, but the morning was chilly.
I wore the event T-shirt inside to give extra layer for descending and reaching
the mountain. Once we got to the start
parking lot, I saw a lot of teams and Tony was commenting, this is no ordinary
ride. They are all ready for the
mountains. We got out of Family Center and
there were two left turns before 518 and I tried to stay with the crowd.
Once I get on 518, I passed a tandem and a couple of more people, which made me feel good about having somebody behind me on course. About 5 miles in, I was catching up with a small team of girls and there were a few guys passing each other ahead of me. They were taking up some space on the road and a car came behind us. I called out “Car back” for the first time (nobody was doing it for this ride), thinking this is not a cool situation. The next thing I notice, this car, made a U-turn coming towards us in ranging high speed on the wrong side of the street. I had my GoPro, but my brain was trying to process what was going on instead of turning it on for evidence. I would normally keep riding, but I noticed the girls ahead of me are leaning far right as they could leaning toward guardrail. This car made another U-turn driving as fast as it could, as if it was trying to hit some of cyclists. Then fellow riders started to talk about license plate numbers. I never turned on my GoPro! I started hearing Tony saying how we have to depend on drivers to be cooperative on some parts of the course.
Once I get on 518, I passed a tandem and a couple of more people, which made me feel good about having somebody behind me on course. About 5 miles in, I was catching up with a small team of girls and there were a few guys passing each other ahead of me. They were taking up some space on the road and a car came behind us. I called out “Car back” for the first time (nobody was doing it for this ride), thinking this is not a cool situation. The next thing I notice, this car, made a U-turn coming towards us in ranging high speed on the wrong side of the street. I had my GoPro, but my brain was trying to process what was going on instead of turning it on for evidence. I would normally keep riding, but I noticed the girls ahead of me are leaning far right as they could leaning toward guardrail. This car made another U-turn driving as fast as it could, as if it was trying to hit some of cyclists. Then fellow riders started to talk about license plate numbers. I never turned on my GoPro! I started hearing Tony saying how we have to depend on drivers to be cooperative on some parts of the course.
My first landmark was SMU Taos campus and it took longer
than I imagined from yesterday’s car ride.
The climb was steady and my heart rate was not leaving tempo. That is really not where I should be, but I
thought maybe this is what altitude does.
Then steeper climb started. I
would finish one climb and it goes on.
About two is the usual common sense of who rides in Texas all the
time. OK, so this is not Texas, more
coming. I saw Tony caught up with me and
he had some kind of camera, so I kept going, but I thought maybe that was a
good spot to rest a while. Because the
climb kept coming relentless. Tony was
waiting for me again at the very top where Scenic Overlook, we said we would
stop on the way back, with who seemed to be USAC official. He was encouraging saying, “It will be
downhill for a while.”
Going downhill is really not my forte yet. I appreciated new Ultegra’s tight brakes and
with some on-bike stretching, I made a steep hill down and saw the first fellow
event MICRO FONDO distance rider coming back.
The mountain was gorgeous. The
trees have definitely become taller piecing into the sky and I can hear the
stream.
Eventually I saw Sipapu Campground and entrance to Ski
Resort: our first and only rest stop.
Tony was there and so were friendly volunteers and some food and
drinks. People were jealous about my
princess status of having a personal SAG.
I first went to the bathroom and noticed the guy’s bike I was going back
and forth sitting in the shade with jacket he was wearing. I suggested maybe Tony can bring his jacket
in the car back to the start line. We
talked about the accident again and the small team I was with at the time
decided to head forward for 2 miles and back because that would make 50
miles. I was not going to overperform
and told them that they would catch me in no time and head back the way I came
from.
Keiko is climbing on the steepest hill of the day.
Tony told me, he would wait for a small parking area one
more time before we meet up the Scenic Overlook on top of the climb. I definitely wanted to stop there and shoot
some GoPro videos. Some point in
descent, I felt a pretty good impact. I
was thinking, ah, maybe someday I should follow Brad Ellis’ advice and get
smoother tire for more comfortable ride.
I started hearing metal clicking sound.
After changing to Di2 shifting, mechanical noise has never been
shifting/gearing. I figured that is a
speed sensor and got off the bike and turned it around. Then I caught a glance of a road ahead of me
going straight up to the sky. “Oh,
S***. Is that where I am going?” Sure enough, Tony was waiting for me on the
bottom and I made to the first turn and noticed that my heart rate was to the
max and there was no way I could keep going.
I found a little area the car lets others pass and waited until the
heart rate goes under 130. I made sure I
was on the easiest gear and made sure to start strong. My heart rate went right back up and the
climb continued, but the grade seems to have become somewhat long and
steady. I thought if I go slow and stop
occasionally if necessary, I will get to the highest point sooner or
later. Then I started noticing bump on
the rear consistent with my revolution of tire.
I stopped at one area and sure enough the air was completely out. I thought I was ALMOST to the top where Tony
was meeting with me. I called and sent
text, but there was no cell service! I
didn’t want to damage the wheel, so I started to walk. It should be only tiny slower than
riding. Physically I felt OK and was
glad I had mountain bike shoes to walk. I
turned the first corner and sure enough the spot I was hoping to show up didn’t. Then I saw Tony’s vehicle came down to the
rescue! I told him about the flat, but
asked him to put it on the rack and finish the ride. I knew I was almost the top anyway and from
there it is a long descent that I could use less of. We made it to the Scenic Overlook as vehicle
passengers, talked to some motorcycle riders and took pictures.
Now I look at the profile, I am missing 300 feet to the top
of the climb where Scenic Overlook is.
My heart rate shows it was starting to settle down. I feel like if I go slow and rest occasionally,
I could have probably made the climb.
After that it was mainly descent and I would have made the ride
complete. But I learned MOUNTAINS in New
Mexico are nothing to take lightly of. Hopefully
soon Tony and I will come back to the area and test our climbing legs!
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