Chad and Jill, the bear and the Rusty Tooth

Good buddies Chad and Jill made their triumphant return to Los Alamos yesterday from the lowlands of Albuquerque. After they did minimal duties as Los Alamos slumlords, they came on by for a ride and some dinner.

Chad and Jill below Omega canyon Bridge




When they first arrived we cruised around the neighborhood Chad hauling Jill ably on the Big Dummy and me on the Project X. Then we changed to bikes more apt for the long haul and went for a ride.
We headed up into into the Jemez on our ride with a plan for chad and I to hit the top of the 4 mile climb and come down and meet Jill on her way up at which point we would all turn around and head back to the house. It was nice and warm, but not ridiculously warm. Chad was on his new to him 1979 giant Trek, jill on her Gunner road frame and me on the Kogswell P/R loaded with some snacks and a nalgene full of ice water in the front basket.

Chad and I climbed up the mountain chatting and reminding each other how much the climb hurts until Chad torqued me in the last steep bit and rode on to the top of the climb. We met at the top, had some well deserved ice water and took some pictures and found this excellent piece of Iron:


What is it? I am guessing a giant tree shreder tooth? Or the bitey part of a big chainsaw? Bobcat front loader spike? Any ideas?

Anyway, as we went down the hill a short bit we passed Jill and she joined us for the long fast descent. This was my first long descent on the P/R and I found that it seems to be in the holds its line well, but is not a curve carver bike. It is hard to make these generalizations about bikes, though, as I am comparing it to my road bike which I have had since 1996 or so, versus less than 300 miles on the P/R most of that shorter rides. I had two 35mm tires on it and a mild front load of less than 10 pounds. It was comfy to go descend on the bike, but it was not particularly inclined to lean into the curves, once leaned, no problem. Who knows, it was definitely comfy though. I will need to use it more for dumb descending soon to see.

We regrouped at the bottom and Jill explained that she would have been up to the top sooner, but she came within 30 feet of a very large bear crossing the road, so she turned around and descended a bit until some cars came by and then resumed her climb. I still have yet to see a bear here in Los Alamos, I know they are very near, but no luck yet. Good job Jill on seeing a bear AND not getting eaten and still climbing fast.

Chad and Me up there at the top of the climb, where we found the rusted tooth:


Afterwards we joined Elena for a nice dinner of massive amounts of Pasta with homemade vegetably sauce that I neglected to photograph. Yum.

Come back to visit soon Chad and Jill!