A Surprise Adventure on the Bike!

It looks so blissful doesn't it?  It was the beginning of my sufferfest of hill repeats on 4.6% grades.  The only good things about it was that when people see a big girl on the bike that is working hard, uphill, they have to be supportive!    "You go girl!" "You're awesome!"    "You're working hard!"  It really helped me keep my drive to do hill repeats during this suffer-o-rama!

In the midst of the repeats were flying downhills that were tremendously enjoyable!

After I finished, I decided that I would do what I most love...go on a surprise adventure on the bike...to explore!  So, I set off on the road to who knew where.

After a mile or two I saw a sign  for an air park.  Was that a hidden airport?  There was another hill to climb in to get to it...not too bad..so in I went. And then I saw this sign.

This is an air park that has been around since 1955 so that people can fly radio controlled , gas or electric powered airplanes that they have made.  At the air park, I met Charlie and Robert who were happy to talk about the their planes and how they flew them.
Charlie told me that as a kid, he loved to make model plastic car kits that he put together with glue. Then he moved on to model airplanes .  He followed the directions and made the models.  He did the same thing with his plane only on a larger scale.

Charlie and his plane

At the Air Park, they fly their planes 7 days a week.  They have a covered "picnic" area to keep out of the heat and they can eat their lunches and have coffee too!  They can fly for 20 minutes at a time (their rule) and they wait their turn although I was told sometimes several people fly at once on busy days.

When I arrived, Robert was flying his plane.  I watched it taxi down the runway and take off....then I watched it climb high and do a loop de loop then fly down straight into a dive!

This is Robert

I asked Robert if he ever had been a pilot and he said no, that he just enjoys flying this plane. I asked if any women flew planes and he said there was one, but mostly only the men do it...he said,"....because men need their alone time and their own hobbies.  Of course women CAN fly, but they just don't."

The men were very patient with all my questions about the gas they use and how much.  Charlie's plane hold 12 ounces of gas and he used about 2 ounces per flight.  He likes to keep his tank filled and doesn't want to risk a crash.  He says it takes a lot of concentration to fly.

Robert showed me his radio control system and it was quite complex....this one is the landing gear, this one is the computer screen....and he went on and on over my head!  Here is a photo of Robert's control box.                               
                                          

Radio Control System

Up, up  up!

What a fun experience learning about something I knew nothing about that gives many people pleasure!   What a fun day out and about!  I discovered,  on my way out, that there were two other sections to the air park....one for smaller "toy" remote controlled planes and one for  larger radio controlled helicopters.

You can bring your lunch and go sit in the shade and watch the planes go up and do their tricks...something different that I did not even know was available in ABQ.

Casting Out and Reeling in...the Memories

After yesterday's sufferfest, I took a leisurely ride to Tingley Beach.  It was a happy 18+ miles at a relaxed and social pace.

I really enjoy saying, "Good Morning" to people and chit chatting along the way.  It seems to go a long way these days and I invariably get a smile or a hello in return!

It was was of those rides I did not plan in advance ...I just kept pedaling and I ended up playing cat and mouse with a man who could not decide if he really wanted to pass me...because when he did, he could not keep up the pace.

It is so nice now that you can ride effortlessly into the beach now.  In the past you had to venture across a rough terrain and I would usually just get off the bike and walk it in.  Now you can just keep riding!  What a pleasure.  I rode over to the men fishing and asked if they were catching any fish?    It brought me back to my childhood walking on t he beach with my dad...and talking to all the men fishing on the Long Island Sound...casting out and reeling in...the memories.....

This man in the photo above was feeding that duck crackers and the duck kept biting his fingers....he kept say "ouch!  ouch!"    He reported that now that the city is asking people not to feed the ducks bread, that he switched to crackers....thus the duck biting his fingers.  We discussed the city's request to feed the ducks carrot shavings, oats, fruits and veggies and the man dismissed that by saying that he always fed the ducks bread...so now he switched to crackers...go figure!

Golden Trout

No one seemed to be catching any fish this morning...one man said that the other day, he packed up and went to Pecos and he caught several fish there and had a great supper that night!

 Well, I am eating fish this week...but they are from the fish store!  This is the golden trout I prepared for dinner!  Yummy!

The Sounds of Silence- Except for My Cursing

I remembered why it took me so long to remember where the Hidden Trail was...it was a trail that made me suffer and I had put it out of my mind.....but I digress.

After two days of trying to locate this ride, I finally did after spending way too much gas doing so.  And I discovered,  to my initial dismay,  that the trail was closed.

As I tried to drive in I saw a cyclist ride in and thought I would do that too!  So back I went a mile or so away to see if I could park at the Boca Negra Dam.  I saw a car parked on the side of the road and did not see any places to park...so I did the same....but I was not comfortable doing so.  Suddenly I saw a cop and flagged him down and asked if there was an alternative place to  park.    He got out of his squad car and stood next to me and all I did was look up!  That man must have been 6 for 7!   He agreed that the place I parked was not ideal and suggested I pull to the curb in the neighborhood up the road a bit.

As I packed up my bike and gear,  he came back around and pulled a U Turn and told me that he thought I could drive in......even tho we  both saw cement pylons blocking the way in.  So drive in I did and sure enough... way down at the bottom of the dam was a black volcano rocked parking lot!

Off I went and took a ride around the damn...then went onto the highway to get to the Hidden Trail.  The barricades were still up so I went though them like only a walker or cyclist could...crossed the parking lot only to find the path was closed with yellow hazard tape.  It looked like the path was closed because they had just resurfaced the road.  No worries.  The paving was dry and off I went!  

And this began my uphill odyssey!  Oh!  The memories came flooding back. As I rode up, up up I thought ...this is good practice for the Chile Harvest Triathlon!  Along the way I dealt with 3 and 4% grades that you climbed to and then flattened out...climbed to and then flattened out.  But up, up , up I went.

A man flagged me down to tell me there was an angry badger up ahead on the right.  I was in the middle of another climb that was getting steeper by the minute.  I looked up and told the man, "Well maybe that will prevent me from doing this climb!"  I waited a few moments to catch my breath and up I went.

This is how the whole ride went until I decided I had had enough...Obviously my map was wrong about the mileage because I had already ridden more than the map said...so I turned around and rode back.

The rollers going out turned into short steep climbs back down and this turned out to be equally hard,  if not more so,  than the climb up.   This is when the cursing and the talking out loud began.  I was so glad I was on the high Mesa with only mean badgers around me!

First day climbing and all I could think of is how much more hard work I have to do!

Finally I got to the top of the initial climb and this became the best part of the ride...flying down hill!  Oh how I enjoyed that vs the misery I had endured...have I mentioned I do not like to  climb?  The wind in my face was a wonderful diversion from the suffering of the climbing and I was thankful  for this part of the ride.

Going back to my car, I had to be in traffic, cross highways, stop at red lights and cross over several lanes of highway to make a left turn....so the ride ended up having all the elements of a great and challenging day on the bike...where it was me, my bike and the road!