OK, this post is for the cyclists. When most people think of cycling they either think of the guys dressed like idiots blocking traffic or the guys who have a really good fashion sense and are blocking traffic. There is one thing I hate about cycling, its cars. Makes me wonder why I got a road bike instead of a mountain bike, but here I am dressed like an idiot blocking traffic. Due to the fact that riding in a lane next to cars traveling in excess of 50mph gets me a little nervous, I usually take the long route home. This route entails many low gradient hills and some hills that better resemble a wall. Depending on how strong or stupid I feel that day I’ll target a certain power and work up the hills. Sometimes when I feel really stupid I’ll go for some PRs on some of the higher gradient hills. Today my target was Paseo del Puma. This is a pretty short climb, only a little longer than a tenth of a mile, but there is a catch! In the short distance, you climb about 110 feet. This gives an average gradient of 17%, but the final pitch of the climb puts you against a ~23% grade. At the end of the climb I am usually trying to not fall over and to keep my lunch down. I felt strangely strong today on the ride and beat my previous PR by 13 seconds and got a new best for my CP at 30 seconds. After the climb up I took a little rest and snapped a few pictures. The views are a lot better than my photos show. The houses up there are pretty neat as well. I wonder how much random traffic they see.

A look down Paseo del Puma

A look over the North East heights from the top of Paseo del Puma

After catching my breath and getting my heart rate lowered I continued on my ride. The rest of the ride has some more hills with a final hard kicker at the end, a short climb up to the base of the Sandia Peak Tramway. I decided to pass on La Luz today so I could save it for a post dedicated to it (OK fine… I was too tired). Yes, that climb is deserving of a post dedicated to it. Probably the most popular climb in the Albuquerque metro area. I barely beat the sunset home where my wife was waiting for me with some Thai food, she has my best interests at heart and has superb fashion. If you are interested in seeing the ride check out my Strava page here http://www.strava.com/athletes/280288. Also, check out the elevation profile for Paseo del Puma here http://www.strava.com/segments/2689898 . Here are a few more pictures for you viewing pleasure! Thanks for reading.

A look at Sandia Peak from the Elena Gallegos picnic area

Sunset from the Sandia Peak Tramway base