The high point of today’s outing, just below the Sandia Tram.
“And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”—Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, “Beyond Good and Evil”
Screw the abyss, I said, and went for a ride. And what a fine idea it was, too.
It was sunny and warmish out there, away from the Mac, and grew more so. I’m still reviewing the Fuji Touring Disc for Adventure Cyclist, and thus it’s the go-to machine for any bike rides out of El Rancho Pendejo, unless I absolutely, positively must have some dirt time.
I can’t stay gone for long. The Boo has been showing signs of the Dogzheimer’s and frequently forgets the difference between indoors and outdoors, with deleterious consequences for the brick floors and carpets. I kennel him when I leave, but that’s no guarantee that I won’t come home to a mess. And confining him to quarters means he can march around in any messes that he makes. I should get him some little Wellingtons to wear in the slammer.
So, yeah. Short rides, two hours or less. But still, it beats watching everybody in America be revealed as a perv’, fascist, false prophet, lickspittle, tinpot dictator, coward, fool or some combination thereof.
Tags: Fuji Touring, Mister Boo, Nietzsche
November 21, 2017 at 6:16 pm |
When all else fails, go for a ride. That has always worked for me too.
Working on another 12,000 mile year. That’s lots of therapy. Hopefully it’s helping, because I’m going try to cut back to about 8,000 miles next year.
November 21, 2017 at 6:31 pm |
Yikes! 12K? Hijo, madre. I dibs your wheel if we ever have a Dog-a-Thon.
I stopped adding ’em up back around Interbike, which is when tradition dictates that everything go sideways around here. But once I crunch the numbers I expect my final figure will be shy of your mark by, oh, about 9,000 miles or so.
Well done indeed.
November 22, 2017 at 12:42 pm |
Dog a Thon, huh? Not the Mad Dog Media Rio Grande Fondo?
November 22, 2017 at 4:45 pm |
How’bout a Mad Dog Mondo Fondo & Rondo? If everybody rides beater bikes we can add “Bondo” to the moniker.
November 22, 2017 at 7:12 pm |
You name it, and we will come. Well, I will anyway. Next spring? Any ideas on routes that would satisfy everyone? I assumed the Paseo del Bosque would be one. The parking lot we started at would make a good gathering place. But, I’m thinking you have other routes in mind.
November 21, 2017 at 6:42 pm |
Wow..that’s about 33 miles a day. Some serious saddle time. If I attempted that in Michigan I’d have to get used to being cold, wet and somehow shed my sissified ways. Good to read you’re making up for we slackers.
November 22, 2017 at 1:46 pm |
I get what you may be facing before long I’ve attended one of those euthanasia processes on a Springer that was with us for a number of years. Truth be known, the breeder was dishonest, the father had a history of epilepsy with many of his pups, and she still used him as a sire (dog and bitch are the proper terms I think).
We spent way more medical money on Chap (the Springer) than we spent on ourselves during that time, and we were happy to do it, and we still keep his ashes.
November 22, 2017 at 4:48 pm |
Yeah, Dale, Mister Boo was a vet’s wet dream right out of the chute. We’ve often wondered about his backstory. He seemed quite well trained, but why would someone spend time training a dog only to abandon him? Did the owner die and the kids not give a shit? Who knows?
Anyway, you buy the ticket and you take the ride, yeah? It’s not his fault he’s feeble and daffy any more than it is mine. Say, what were we talking about, anyway? Nurse! Someone peed in my pants again!
November 21, 2017 at 6:34 pm |
You forgot cretin, blue bellied ball bagger, groin plumber, lacquer sniffer and suckerduck
November 21, 2017 at 6:58 pm |
Yea, and my new favorite, twatwaffle.
If I was looking for a new touring bike, and I’m not, that Fuji would be on the short list. I hope your ride was just spiffy. Lately, like the last year or so, I ride for sanity more than miles. Not really a good thing.
November 21, 2017 at 9:17 pm |
Twatwaffle: Fabulous and thank you Pat, I have a new favorite word to describe our “president”.
November 21, 2017 at 8:17 pm |
So at what altitude did you top out?
November 22, 2017 at 6:19 am |
K, I’ve laid out a rolling, 20-mile circuit that winds around and about through the Sandia foothills. The total vertical gain is about 1,500 feet, though that varies depending on how I ride the loop. If a review bike is trailworthy I’ll often drift off into the dirt at the Elena Gallegos Open Space. Those trails are gentle enough for a road bike, though I note that most people seem to think they need one of them boingy bikes with the tractor tires.
On this ride I stayed beneath the base of the Sandia Peak Tram station. Didn’t check the GPS, but I’d guess I was at around 6,000 feet. The tram station is at 6,559.
You can tack on some nice vertical gain by adding the La Luz climb (4.7 miles, 999 feet gain) and/or the La Cueva climb (don’t have any data for that one).
November 22, 2017 at 7:16 am |
Cool.
November 22, 2017 at 5:13 am |
Right on… RIDE ON!
November 22, 2017 at 9:07 am |
Too damn cold here for any sort of outside cycling – but perhaps on Turkey Day? And I’m counting less than 3 weeks now until we can escape to SoCal for the holidays.
November 22, 2017 at 4:49 pm |
Iowa is not the Promised Land for cyclists. Not in winter, anyway. Albuquerque ain’t half bad, if you can keep the drunks from adding a Goodyear tattoo to your head and the cops from shooting you.
November 22, 2017 at 10:19 am |
I have a very old REI/Novara bike water bottle. Still use it. On the side there is a quote that’s all scratched over but still legible: “Never a bad time to ride”. That just about says it all.
For Boo:
Wee Wee pads work pretty good for our mutts that have lost their doggie incontinence. Or better yet, just print out copies of the president’s daily breif ( http://cdn4.straatosphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/president-daily-brief.jpg ) and let Boo take care of the rest.
– doug moore
November 22, 2017 at 4:53 pm |
Doug, we’ve been using pee pads, but The Boo also has some cognitive malfunction that causes him to walk in tight left-hand circles when he gets agitated. He also has some locomotion problems, only the one eye, and (I suspect) some hearing loss.
Anyway, he gets to cutting donuts in the slammer and wads up the pee pads, then lets fly on what now has become an exposed floor. We’ve tried taping them together but no soap. Well, actually, plenty soap. And vinegar. And Pine-Sol.
We’re using a belly band on him from time to time, but I worry about rashes. One more thing to clean up.
December 15, 2017 at 6:09 am |
Hi Patrick,
My name is Jens and i´m a german living in germany …
I´m very much interested in buying a fuji touring disc and i just can´t wait for your review to be published. Fuji is not a big deal here, so reviews are pretty hard to come by.
I hope it doesn´t require membership with adventure touring association, since it wouldn´t make much sense for me..
Maybe some kind of donation could help, as i very much appreciate your work.
Keep on riding,
Jens