Picked up the rental yesterday, a Haro 35lb something or another, double-ring, long-travel, hardtail with Avid cable discs and SRAM thumbies. Big wheels, big tires, big everything. The frame is massively overbuilt aluminum with a top tube that looks like a softball bat. It makes the Litespeed seem like a wet noodle. No subtlety whatsoever, just aim and shoot and let the bike do the work (though I've already pinch-flatted the rear, and suspect that the gnar-looking but suprisingly light Kenda tires are sissies in disguise.) It's the most 'new school' bike I've ridden and it's interesting. Anyway, rode around town a little yesterday with some Rails to Trails stuff and I wasn't coughing blood, so I'll be hitting some trails today at the north end of town. It's supposed to be basic rolling singletrack, about 30+ miles of it. It's nice out here. I think I drank two gallons of water yesterday and my lips are still chapped. I think I'd go insane, but my friends' little adobe house is homey, green chilis are some good [censored], and the Mex food is predictably cheap and great. Maybe I'll join some Manson-esque hippie cult....
In Santa Fe? You couldn't afford it. A street gang in Albuquerque, maybe.
CC
Did a quick loop of Dale Ball yesterday. Nice, easy-rolling park, seemed like it would a fun place to get wired and rip through although it was probably the most heavily used trail I've been on out West. I usually don't see _anyone_ out here, yesterday there were two other riders (out of towners with the same rental bikes we had) and one jogger. MOBBED! Not bad for beginners either. I brought a friend along who's a roadie for a couple years but has no mtb experience. He took it reeeeaal slow, but managed to keep himself upright. I think he had a couple anxious moments but had fun. I scraped my lungs once, along with my left shin -- just enough to establish that I was riding at a proper pace. Riding down Windsor (Winsor?) today. We're being dropped off at the ski area by my buddy's wife because we're being sissy shuttlemonkeys instead of real mtb'ers. Next time. There were some robo-babes in the parking lot after Dale Ball, but they were having none of my jive. /s
Windsor: 4 green chilis. That was schweet. Lots of variety, rolling, fun. That rental Haro is making an impression. The stiff and upright frame, double chainring, disc brakes and long travel fork setup works very well under the rocky/flowy/twisty/loose condtions. We were dropped off at the ski basin and rode down the 9 or so miles of trail. Must have seen almost a dozen guys riding uphill. Awesome. Sorry, not much of a ride report, but I'm sure Windsor's been reviewed out the wazoo. Besides, I was out until 4 last night. Gonna try to hit it again today before I fly out. /s
