Oh, Lord, it’s been a long ol’ time since Your Humble Narrator rode the Santa Fe Century.
That’s him, third from the left, in case you’re having trouble reconciling these youthful images with the stove-up wrinklepuss we’ve all grown to know and love.
Well, Señor Wrinklepuss is going to have another go at it this year. Not the full century, mind you, but the half. I last did the full rooster back in 1991, the year I got married and we traded Fanta Se for Bibleburg, so, yeah, it’s been a while.
Pat O’B is interested, and so is Khal, so I’m throwing it out there. Anyone else up for a 50-miler in May? Early registration ends April 30, so if you want to save a couple bucks now’s the time to make your mark.
Give us a shout-out in comments.
Mad Blog Media 
I’ll be there unless the local traffic gets me first. This was taken in front of our house in the City Different. Fortunately, the lady driving this car survived. She hit Meena’s Impreza, which did not.
That’s a turble-bad job of parking she done there. The dirty side goes down. Shiny side goes up.
Just a thought to O’G. If whoever shows up for the Mad Dog Fifty Mile Express Train rides bikes that would normally appear in Adventure Cycling, could you get a publication (i.e., some filthy lucre) out of it for Adventure? I’m happy to ride the Long Haul Trucker or the Salsa ‘cross bike if that helps.
p.s. Love those toe straps! Man oh man, that brings back Memory Express.
Look close and you’ll see downtube shifters on that carbon-tubed Specialized Allez Epic and a big scar on my right shin from a Chevy Blazer wheel well, collected the previous November.
Alas, there is no money to be made from a venture such as this, so we’ll just have to enjoy it for its ownself.
My last set of downtube shifters were on my Cannondale 2.8 frame from the 1990’s. That was before I put the Campy brifters on it.
I will be there and will ride the half century. Along with my tandem neighbors who are riding the full century. And my nephew might join me unless family issues prevent him. Looking forward to meeting and riding with the folks who show up here regularly.
PS: Khal, I’ll be riding a Soma Double Cross. And, Patrick, that is a skinny fella, on a skinny tube frame, with some skinny ass tires. I’m thinking 21’s, maybe even 19s. Amirite?
The Salsa LaCruz would be a good bookend for the Soma Double Cross. But this time I’ll forswear the 700-40 all surface tires for something a little faster. Maybe the 700-28 Gatorskins that are on my Mavic Speed City wheelset.
The bike came with 25’s, Pat, but I might have put 23’s or even 21’s on it. I did have one wheelset with 19’s. ‘Tis a wonder I have any teeth left in me head so.
Also, and too: 52/42 chainrings and a 13-23 cassette. Owie.
As they say over here: BUON DIVERTIMENTO TUTTI!
Logistics would be tough … anyone want to watch two kids (8 and 6) while I give it a crack? Better yet, anyone want to watch a 54 year old with a bad attitude while the kids ride it?
Last official full century I rode was way back when a guy named Khal Spencer was running the Hawaiian Bike League. That was probably, what, the Truman administration? Good times.
Whaddya know? Didn’t even realize that as I was typing that, my laptop was sitting on this desk protector.
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0SG3KxPyGD3LCG
Holy smokes, now there is a blast out of the past. In ’96, I was either riding the Cannondale for 100 miles or riding the tandem for 75 with Meena, who got hooked on the twofer in ’94.
“Iron Okole” is still my all-time favorite ride name.
So who was “SCCC”, anyway?
Sangre de Cristos Cycling Club, maaaannnn. …
These guys as mentioned here?
http://santafecentury.com/Inside_Story/Celebrating_30_Years/
The same. Marc Sani, one of the co-founders of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, was a SCCC member. That’s one of the reasons I started working for BRAIN back in 1992, and why I’m still doing it today.
Hey, its swell you can still fit into your old racing jersey!
Most def a lean, mean cyclin’ machine there!!
I think I cracked a rib sucking everything in so I could shoehorn myself into the sumbitch.
Yo, buddy, do you ever throw anything away? But, still fitting into that old jersey is way cool.
I had a jar of duck fat in the cupboard. That and a really big spatula did the trick.
Just occurred to me. That musta been a pretty warm March day.
It was a photo shoot for some bit of nonsense I banged out for The New Mexican. You know — Fake News.
I’ve been teasing Editorial Page Editor Inez Russell-Gomez that the New Mex has become the political house organ for the People’s Socialist Republic of Fanta Se. Surprised they have not cancelled my subscription.
Damn Hippies, should have sent some tear gas grenades in there & a few dogs for a good chewing, don’t get me started…
No self-respecting dog would chew a hippie. They smell like patchouli, B.O., and Communism. And they taste worse.
#DylanesqueAdvice:
Don’t have birthdays & never look a 10 yr or older selfies (or whatever we called them back in the day)
Happily, few pix survive of me from the Sixties and Seventies. I got my fashion sense from Zap Comix.
At one point I recall wearing a black, flat-crown Resistol with a silver-concho hat band, pigtails ln Native-A-style leather wraps, aviator glasses, the inevitable scraggly beard, an Air Force winter greatcoat, a white Levi’s cowboy shirt with Mickey Rat embroidered on the back (courtesy of a big gal whose legs were so hairy that she looked like a bear wearing a girl suit), a braided belt, the usual ragged dungarees, and knee-length moccasins.
Now you know how the Sasquatch mythology got started.
I’ve seen a couple of those pictures of O’G in his youthful fashion sense, but unfortunately, did not download and save them to use for future blackmail.
On the other hand, there are some of me that I would prefer disappear. Such as the night that Tom Kellogg (yep, that Tom Kellogg), me, and a half dozen other undergrads went motorcycle streaking across the Univ. of Rochester in 1975. Yep, I have the pictures…threatened to trade them to Tom for a new Spectrum, but then he would have them. Fortunately that night, no one dropped a bike.
I got a little distracted from the Sante Fe Century ride. Besides Patrick and Khal, is anyone else interested?
Due to creeping dementia, I signed up for the 100. Maybe I will change my mind when I get to Lone Butte