Tour de Subaru 18 Month Service

The 18 month Subaru service doesn't take too long but sitting in the waiting room only encourages me to think about buying cars that I don't need. Not to mention, turning more carbs into fat cells. So I threw the newly re-purposed 'cross bike in the back and took it on a short adventure while the service guys were doing their thing on the Forester.

I checked the trail maps before leaving home and decided to find my way to the Spur Trail and from there to the Rail Trail, which will be a future adventure. This ride involved heading up Cerrillos to Governor Miles Road from the dealership, riding to Richards, down Richards past the Community College to the Spur Trailhead, and then off to my destination, the junction with the Rail Trail. Were this a 60k check, I would have time to ride all the way to Lamy and back. But today my purpose was to simply ride to the Rail Trail, poke around a bit, and head back to get the car.

I ran into some mountain bikers at the Spur/RailTrail junction and they told me that the trail was  pretty smooth to Lamy except for some rocky stuff near the Lamy end. They said the ride could be easily done on a cross bike without losing my teeth fillings. So that will be a future ride.

I've been missing BombTowne, but frankly, there is a boatload of cool biking to do down here in Fanta Se.  Might take a while to get bored.  Oh, and since I am nearly to Social Security age, I just joined Santa Fe Seniors on Bikes, since in addition to being well into geezerhood, I have often been called an SOB anyway.

Heading South on the Rail Trail. Smooth as a baby's bottom up here.
At least compared to the singletrack on N. Mesa I am used to (see masthead).
The cross bike was ideal.

Foothills on the other side of the tracks

Heading back towards town on the Spur. 
My main problem is I'm pretty inept when 700-32 Ritcheys meet deep gravel

Nice panoramas along the route

Back to the dealership with 16 miles on the odometer. 
Salsa LaCruz in current form
That's a 48/34 on front and 11/34 on back.
Tires are folding Richey Speedmax Pro, 700-32.
45 psi front and 55 psi in the back.
They ride fast. I wish I did...
A little more flotation in deep gravel patches would have been nice.

Bicycling in and around Fanta Se

Well, I finally unpacked enough boxes that I can find the bicycles, helmets, and shoes in the mini-garage in Estate Solana (the previous owners had converted about a third of the small garage to a laundry/spare bathroom, so its really a motorcycle/bicycle garage now).  So it was off to the hills.

There are plenty of places to go as one rides north from Casa Solana. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, some are not paved. I rode up Camino de las Montoyas and then onto Tano (east) Road, followed the access road north, swung north past Tesuque on Bishop's Lodge Road, and up NM 592 into the Sangre de Cristo foothills. At the top of the climb, one can get on Pacheco Canyon Road and take that forest road up to the ski hill at 10k feet (see last summer's post for the destination). Unfortunately, Pacheco Canyon was so washboarded that after a half mile, I thought my fillings would fall out so I gave up and turned back. Not the place for 700-25 Vittoria Open Pro tires on an aluminum race bike.

On returning home, I decided to return one of the commuters to its roots as a cross bike. Let's see how that works next. Besides, since I am now commuting from Fanta Se to BombTowne, there is that other bike set up as a commuter to ride.

Up Santa Fe County Road 76. It looks nice.

Not the ideal washboard bike.
Stock photo from last summer.

End of Mr. Pavement at the top of NM 592.

Salsa LaCruz back to its roots. 
I think a set of 700-43's might be better, but these Richeys were hanging in the garage.
Still a bunch of boxes to unpack, but not today.

Cyclists raise safety concerns at Santa Fe City Council meeting

Carl Gable addresses the Santa Fe City Council. 
Sami Edge, Santa Fe New Mexican, photo credit

Good coverage of Carl Gable and company in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Sent this to Mayor Webber and the Santa Fe City Council

I apologize for missing last night's Council meeting but wish to second Carl Gable's concerns for safe cycling.

Traffic safety for bicyclists is a complicated issue. Road design, enforcement priorities, and both driver and cyclist competence come into play. I think all of these functions have to be working in order to have safer streets. A BTAC has to have real power to influence outcomes beneficial to bicyclists.

As far as behavior, little things matter.  Police have to put a high priority on deterring texting, distracted driving, and moving violations by both motorists and bicyclists. To fellow motorists, risky behaviors usually result in bent metal. To bicyclists and pedestrians, serious injury or death.

During my 12 years on the Los Alamos County Transportation Board, I made a point of working with Public Works, the Police Dept., and County Council to pass policies such as the Complete Streets and Bike Plan and worked one on one with Public Works and the Police Dept leadership towards safer streets. I hope to apply to the BTAC for membership in Santa Fe, if there is an opening.

We (spouse, cats, dog, me) are still getting our bearings in the City Different, tripping over boxes and bumping into walls, so I missed this meeting but agree with Carl Gable as quoted in the New Mexican story this morning. We have owned a home in Santa Fe for about 3 years and finally moved in full time. So far, my cycling experiences in Santa Fe have been good ones and indeed, I twice reviewed favorably Santa Fe's application for Bicycle-Friendly Community status for the League of American Bicyclists. I really do appreciate the five minute bike ride to my food co-op rather than the 15 mile round trip bike ride from my former Los Alamos home to the LA co-op! But as the recent spate of incidents suggests, we are not finished with the job of making Santa Fe a Bicycle Friendly Community.