bikefix Exclusive Review: New Mexico

I first came through New Mexico riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route back in 2000. We were ready to be done with Colorado and New Mexico seemed pretty mellow by comparison. The northern mountains were far greener and more beautiful than I expected. Riding through the southern part of the state in the middle of August was rough (especially the all-sand days near Pie Town), but still pretty. Several years later, a girl, boredom and the threat of another Boston winter brought me to Albuquerque, where I've been ever since. Coming from New and Old England, the music scene is not really to my taste (and the dating scene horrifying), but at 5500', the weather is pretty darn good (cool at night, dry), the job market pretty strong, the living relatively inexpensive, and the riding awesome. The city is being very proactive about creating and maintaining cycling infrastructure, and more and more pros and pro teams are showing up every winter.

The riding in and adjacent to town is surprisingly good and if one is willing to drive a little bit, there is some fantastic road and mountain biking to be had. Over the past two weeks, the bikefix and Bikeworks crews have done some epic backcountry rides. Over the course of 5 and 7 hour rides (one just outside of Santa Fe), we came across one other rider. After nearly four years here, I still get you haven't ridden there? You've got to check it out! comments. Not all of the riding is for everyone- it can be hard and not all of it is signed, but if you're game, there is an incredible amount to be had.

So, if life brings you this way, bing your bike. I did, and for a stab in the dark, it's worked out remarkably well...

marc

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Hard at work...

Short update this time 'round: We spent several days last week in Moab testing gear from all sorts of folks- Commencal, Uvex, SRAM, Specialized, Pearl Izumi, Adidas and Fox (to name a few). Unfortunately, with a weekend lost to riding, real world duties will have to take precedence for a day or two. So, here are a couple of pictures to whet your appetite. We hope that its sunny where you are...

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must be an Alleycat!

Thanks to the time change and my sleeping past the beginning of Sunday's planned mountain bike ride, I decided to check out one of Albuquerque's increasingly frequent Alley Cat events. For those who aren't familiar with the idea, alley cats are essentially bike messenger races. Rather than a closed course and set route, riders are required to find and visit any number of sites within a city and prove that they've been there. Route finding is often as important as outright speed (if not more so). It's all about how you connect the dots.

Albuquerque doesn't actually have any messengers as such, but (as elsewhere) messenger culture (fixed gear bikes, messenger bikes, tight jeans) is certainly on the rise here in the Duke City. While there are a fair few yahoos out there, it's neat to see riding considered 'cool' by the college set (full disclosure: I was a messenger during graduate school and just after and was not considered cool). Crank 2, held yesterday, saw 58 riders out, competing for messenger bags, gift certificates and even a complete donated bike (all finishers were entered in the raffle for that one).

Despite some frenzied starting sprints, folks rode generally respectfully. Riders were required to find raised plastic labels in six of Albuquerque's small parks and take crayon rubbings of each. Route choices were widely varied and I was fortunate enough to hop on with the Dans, who know the city much better than I do (never having lived or really ridden downtown). It was a frenzied hour or so worth of riding, and Dan L took the win for a nice Chrome backpack.

All in all, it was a good time. Even the kids and families at the parks were getting into it. Save a broken fork, there was no real carnage and everyone seemed to be in good spirits afterwards, enjoying their beer and pizza on what turned out to be a beautiful spring Sunday. It's cool that bikes are cool.

marc

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Welcome to Sunny Tucson

We're back from this year's 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo just North of Tucson, AZ. 1,600 or so teams and over 3,000 people set up in 24 Hour Town, about 10 miles off the road and into the desert. 24HitOP is a well-run, friendly and reasonably-priced event. We come from all over the Southwest for some good weather, good singletrack and friendly competition.

Despite some unexpected snow on Thursday into Friday, the clouds cleared by the opening shotgun blast and the course was largely dry by nightfall. A couple of era miles of singletrack compared to last year meant longer lap times and less recovery. We got a chance to chat with and ride gear from several manufacturers, including Ay Up, Siren Cycles, Uvex, Swobo, Ergon, Specialized and Spot- look for reviews over the next couple of weeks.

Team bikefix? We did well- a respectable 14 laps for 14th place despite a possible lack of training and some GI problems. We caught up with old friends, ate lot and enjoyed the the sunshine when it did come. All in all, a great way to spend the holiday weekend.

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off to the races

I wanted to do a review of some fantastic WickWear socks tonight, but unfortunately they're buried in the car, along with the camera. So, let's talk riding music. Music is invariably subjective, and of course you really shouldn't ride on the road whilst listening to headphones, but these mixes really keep me going during the long laps between midnight and sunrise...

DJ Never Forget's Second Class: the Story of a Laptop DJ: It's a free download and my favorite of his... I'm not down with all the genre names any more, but some Rapture, some Scissor Sistors, and some Sebastian Tellier provide enough variety and vocals to keep things from getting dull... Going to Work Mix and Team Summer Rations Mix are along the same and quite good as well...

If you like dub or cheeky Beatles mashups, check out Kid Kameleon. His DittoEcho Mashup Mix is funky and dub-y and work well on the single speed. Absolutely Shocking has is more dubstep focused- not usually my cup of tea- but makes for a pretty cool descending soundtrack.

Heck, they're free, so there's no harm in a listen... Have a good weekend.

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We haven't forgotten!

Sorry guys & gals- we've been running around like mad lately, trying to get ready for Saturday's 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, where we fully expect to be destroyed- both physically and mentally. It's all for you, though: we have several new products in from Uvex, Specialized, and the promise of a go on Ay-Up's sweet-looking LED lights. Of course, we'll have plenty of time on stuff we're alreday riding, so look for several reviews next week- and maybe a quickie tonight. Stay tuned, and if you see the Scandal out there, come on up and say hi!

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24-Hour Road Racing!

Patrick Adams, the promoter of Mountain Mayhem and Sleepless in the Saddle 24-hour mountain bike racing events, among others, has announced what is first 24-hour road bike race (that we're aware of). Adams has secured a road circuit in a Welsh army training area, which ensures that it'll be traffic-free for the entirety of the event. We wonder if lapping a sub-9 mile course on road bikes could get monotonous (mountain bike races tend to be 10-15 miles per lap and are of course a fair bit slower), and we could imagine leading 5-person teams racking up nearly 50 laps over 24 hours. That said, Adams has a reputation for great events to uphold, so he's probably got the details down.

Check out www.shimano24.com for images, maps, and even an accelerated video of the course. Could be neat if you're in the neighborhood...

shimano24.com
bikebiz.com
bikemagic.com
singletrackworld.com

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