Riding in the wet and dry

A couple of coincidental trips put me and my buddy Charlie riding about in Seattle and Albuquerque in the span of a week.

First there was some of this humid stuff.

Then some rainforest shredding with Charlie and his oldest

Then there was a bunch of this dry stuff.

Probably about 5000 feet altitude, 30 degrees Fahrenheit, and 70% humidity difference between the two.

Aida on Shall Passing

None

You not

Acting! Thank you.

MOAR WOOOD!

By far my favorite use of the Big Dummy, swooping in and getting some curb find wood. Some nice clean burning aspen today. Saw it on the way home a couple blocks up the road. Asked the owner about it, he gave his blessings. I rode on home, got the Big Dummy, flew back up the road, loaded up everything and was back home in 15 minutes. Good for a couple days of heat at least. Woo. Anyone else in Los Alamos want their wood removed via bicycle, please let me know.

Previously:
Wood Hauling
More Wood Hauling

Some things to see

I think Vik stole this post from inside my brain. Lazy's guide to chain maintenance. I would stress again his points in case you don't want to read it: Don't clean your chain, just ride. 15 dollar SRAM 1,8 and 9 speed chains are your friends. Replace em often. Bright orange rust chain is good. Ok, maybe not that last part, but I would add that if you hate doing maintenance on your bike, ride more single speeds.

My yard is filled with clay soil, i want a woodfired pizza maker. I live in NM, why have I not done this yet? I will attempt to slowly rectify this over the next few years: Root Simple's Earth Oven I am pretty sure the guy who taught the workshop is based just down the mesa from here. I need to figure this adobe stuff out. And then cook the hell out of some pizza's and bread.

Finally some sweet Tallbikes are about. From Geekhouse:

and perhaps even better, this touring tallbike via the often NSFW suckapantss:

Currently headed from brooklyn to minneapolis.

Oh yeah, check out the big picture for great bike photos, among them an excellent flood tall trike in thailand (12).

Finally, if you like links of mostly bike stuff, check out the velocanoose, I post lots of bike videos and links over there...

Keeping it Real

My bro, no resemblance, keeping it real, Saleh style. Photo stolen without permission.

Arroyo Honking and Such in Santa Fe

A couple of Fridays back I had to drop the old car off for service down in the way other end of Santa Fe. I took the opportunity to bring the pugs to do some arroyo honking back up to town and have some fun while they replaced the fuse box on the Golf.

in the wild intersitials of Santa Fe

I used to ride the arroyo a bunch before Aida was born. Elena would drop me off in south santa fe hell while she did some errands and I would ride up the arroyo to the bike trails and head downtown for some coffee and such and then she would pick me up on the way back home. Lots has changes since then. The Lamy trail between Siringo and downtown is completely paved now. The Rail Runner, passenger rail from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, was added in the last few years. As such, all the interesting stuff and single track on the trail is gone. Including Hunter and the Zia Caboose, for those of you who were long time readers. The path is really well used now, which is good, but the old path was good too. For old times sake, check out old ride reports Santa Feans with mad sand skills, Lack of Big Rides, Caboose Home, Return to the Zia Caboose, Return of the son of the Zia Caboose, Boring Same old Folding Bike Santa Fe Post.
Anyone know what became of the Zia Caboose and Hunter? I think he was set up along the tracks diagonal across second from the Brew Pub for a while, but no sign of the caboose or even where the hell it would go.

Wheeled Detritus! my favorite thing to find.

Anyhow, when I have ridden the arroyo before, it was mostly hiking and riding, only really riding during monsoon season when the sand was a bit more packed. It is rough going on a normal MTB, and virtually unridable on the picnica. On the Pugsley, it was completely feasible. Just like the snow, lower the pressure until you can ride. Between the Santa Fe auto maul and Rodeo drive, it is pretty soft slow going, above Rodeo all the way to Siringo, it was pretty ridable. Hard work going up arroyo into the wind that day, but pretty easy coming back down. It was dry enough that I am pretty sure it was more or less unridable on a normal MTB. It was pretty smooth on the pugsley. I fell over in the deeper sand a couple times, but for the most part the section from Siringo to Rodeo was completely ridable and eerily clean of crap. There must have been a big arroyo clean up day. Good job peoples, the arroyo looked grand in this section.

Cruising down arroyo

There was still good stuff here and there to see. It was hot and smokey from the big fire down in the Gila, so I did not take quite as many photos as usual of the sights. But there was some wheeled detritus and other good things along the way.

Land Cruiser and pick up with engine in it parked at the Second Street Brew Pub

Once I hit the Lamy trail and went through the railyard, I got lots of comments on the pugsley. Mostly of the "look at those tires" variety, the winning comment of the day was from a slightly inebriated looking fellow fixing a car in a parking lot. He ran up toward me yelling "does it float?". I did get the chance to talk to Santa Fe fixture Ray for a bit. We chatted about bikes and some other stuff. He graciously let me take a pic of him and his service dog and his Worksman Trike. He loves the wheels as they don't need truing. The wheels did sport some damage was from someone backing into him in the Trader Joes Parking lot.

Ray and his rig

I stopped in the other Second Street brewery Railyard edition for some lunch and a beer. It was pretty fun to watch all the cyclists pass through the railyard on the way to wherever on a fine Friday afternoon. I picked up a growler to deliver to the fellers at Mellow Velo. It sort of fit in my musette, but I used another bag to kind of tie it in there.

Pugsley, Raleigh International, fully loaded Surly LHT. A great rackful of bikes.

When I got over to Mellow Velo, I delivered said growler checked out David's latest acquisition, a Schwinn Hollywood, to go with the coveted Schwinn Flying Star. Dammit, covet, dammit. I was also able to watch the shop van get painted in its new Wonderbread/Mondrian livery.

A side

flip side

So anyone want to give me their Flying Star or Holywood?

After chatting a bit at the shop, I took a nice easier ride back from whence I came and picked up the car. Total riding was probably about 16 miles or so, maybe 6 or 7 in the arroyo. It was a good day.

I picked up 700 billion goatheads getting out of the Arroyo back at the automaul. Fortunately I had slimed the tires that morning. Fortunately surly thought to put removable cores in their fatbike tubes. I am not really sure if any of the goatheads actually made it through the tires, they are pretty thick, but I will probably spend some time with a pocket knife prying out thorns before winter. While I was removing thorns in front of the service area, most of the mechanics came out to check out the Pugs. I probably should have let them ride it, but I was worried that the tires were going to go completely flat due to all the thorns. They are still holding air two weeks later, so maybe next time fellers.

A small fraction of the 700 billion goatheads

I drove back through town stopping at Trader Joes for supplies and was delighted when a previously unknown to me blog reader stopped me and introduced himself. Whats up Rick? This has happened to a few times and it always makes me really happy. It is hard to find the time to blog about stuff anymore, and I always wonder if it is just me, my ma, the seven of you who comment regularly and random google searches providing all my traffic. Stuff like this tends to spur me to slightly greater blogging heights. Anyhow, if you see me and know me through the blog, please say hello, then I can take your photo and have something to blog about. I will even hook you up with some Tarik Saleh Bike Club stuff if I have some with me.

Me and loyal(?) reader Rick in Trader Joes

After I loaded up with frozen pizzas and coconut oil infused dessert products, I headed home to the family. I grabbed Aida and plopped her in the trailer and rode downtown for the Red Elvises show at the duck pond. Aida really liked it.

Aida, Me, Red Elvi

Dancing with Mila and Clay

Like I said, good day.

Big Dummy on the Roof of a Hatchback

One way to carry the big dummy when it must be carried on a small car.

Going criss cross over multilple roof racks was much more sturdy than I originally thought.

I was almost able to lay it straight with the tire on the roof of the car and strap the chainstays to the rack, but it did not seem to be that sturdy.

This way let me drive from my house to the ski area parking lot, 7 miles and 2000 vertical each way. This was to haul a bunch of camping supplies, water and tools up into the Santa Fe National Forest for a trail maintenance party a few years back. I was just discussing how to haul the big dummy on a car with a pal, and thought I should share...

UPDATE,5/15/12:
From the comments, check out Big Dummy Daddy's solution More permanent like...

Yeah ya moms

Happy Mothers Day Not shown, sack of breakfast burritos on the backside.

Cat in Bag

Wink 256 does his part to keep Moscaline on mission.

Weirdlinger Burrito Run

I was shuffling about last Friday slowly getting myself in gear to hook the trailer to the reborn Black Sheep Weirdlinger and take the infink downtown to secure some breakfast burritos. As I sort of halfheartedly organized the biking apparatus and waited for the big girl infink, opinionated and sure, to grace myself with her presence, I noted that it was 10:50. Alas, 10 minutes to get the 2.1 miles from the house to chiliworks and get the burritos before breakfast would be unserved. I resigned myself to no burritos, but a minute or two later, there had been no movement on the daughter front, I decided for an all out last minute solo dash to get the burritos. I hopped on the Weirdlinger and noted 10:53 on the cell and tore off in pursuit of the green chili goal.
Black Sheep Weirdlinger, she rolls
I sprinted hard around the neighborhood, through the school, across the big street, got caught at the light, hammered up past the theater, over past the pond, caught at the other big street for a bit, waiting to cross saw the 10:59 on the clock. Sprinted the final block, cornered hard into the parking lot right at 11:00.0000. Half skidded, half laid it down, half cyclocrossed off the bike to the tune of my pedals scraping across the sidewalk and right through the door of the burrito place. All the workers there look up as I burst through the open door and casually say, still serving breakfast?
Guy behind the counter says, sure, you are usually good until 11:30 buddy, 11:15 at worst. So I sheepishly get my burritos, pack em in the saddlebag, meander home and eat some green smeary goodness.

Gogo is in!

You can be too.
tariksaleh.com/tsbc

Now with decals:

Snowy Spring Conditions

Got a little sticky last night on the commute home:



Yearly photo of Apricot flowers covered in snow:


Safety glasses to keep the snow from sticking to your eyeballs


This is why I usually keep the studded tires on the bike until mid april. Alas, I took them off a few days ago. Fortunately the pugsley is incapable of being rendered useless in snow and will ride me to work this still snowing morning.

Apricots and the Spectral Child

The apricots are in full bloom again, Started 3/26



We usually have at least one hard freeze and a snowstorm when the apricot flowers are in bloom, small chance of snow on sunday, so we shall see if we can set the fruit before the flowers are destroyed.

The apricots flowers make nice cuttings and attract the spectral child, haunting the realm of the shutter lag.

Bane

of my NM based existence.




Two weeks ago these tiny cones were not open. But they were damn near vibrating they were so ready to pop.



Today, they are most definitely open and spreading demon Juniper seed into the air, afflicting me with the dreaded spring seasonal allergies. Dammit.




Seen while on a hike at Tsankawi, part of Bandelier National Monument,





More photos from that day here

A payment of sort

The mule deer left a nice antler in the yard for us. Sort of makes up for them taking out the aspen, eating all the fruit trees, the grapes, the tomatoes, pooping everywhere, etc. etc.

I have tolerated the mule deer as they are too big to do anything about short of shooting them or building a really tall expensive fence. I am no longer contemplating taking up bow hunting. For the time being.

A normal summer morning in our yard: