Inaugural Albuquerque Rivendell/Steel Bike Ride

[Patrick Moore]

I’ll let Chris give the full report, such as it is, but I’ll add my own apercus from my own perspective.

We started with out with 11 interested and dwindled down to 4 at the meeting point and further down to 2 (Chris and I) at the ~8 mile turnaround point. Chris and I did another ~30 miles including some big hills — note on that. I rode the Matthews “road bike for dirt” — note on that. I also wore my new Aussie (Kiwi?) extra-stout merino boxer briefs under Giro non-lycar, no liner shorts: note on that too. Finally, at a total 38.91 miles from my door back to my door, I felt fine — last note on that.

Note 1: I’m out of shape on hills! I’ve been riding N/S along the Rio Grande where we have plenty of wind but few hills; all the real hills are East and West. I took the Matthews RBFD because with the Soma wheelset it is geared from 96” down to 32”, and it has a freewheel. I had hardly used the granny at all in my 9 years of owning this bike but man, I certainly used it today, and I got down to the very bottom gear, 28 X 25 (32”) and wished for a lower gear on the first, longest — what, mile? half-mile? and steepest hill. I also felt the weight: probably 35 lb with 2 full 550 ml bottles and the stuff in the seat bag.

I brought gloves in case I should need them — I’ve not used gloves for 25 years except for rides over 30 miles — but I am very happy to announce that the new very thick and bright orange bar tape was so effective that I felt no need for them, even for my very sensitive left palm.

Note 2: About 2/3 of the way through the ride I realized that I hadn’t given the saddle (Flite) or my pants a single thought. That shows success for the saddle/saddle adjustment/lower garments combination. I’m chuffed.

Note 3: Apart from the 30-40 minute initial stop at the meeting point, I kept my clock running. I averaged 9.7 miles including numerous stops including 1 to unpack my unwieldy seat pack to dig out the finicky multitool and adjust the left pedal, several bathroom stops, and an extended stop — 15-20 min? —  at a weirdly dystopian-seeming somewhat failed planned community (Mesa del Sol; reminded me of “Asteroid City”)  — high on the SE mesa for ice cream bars and a nice sit down and chat. Then back through town and to the N/S RG bike path and home.

Nothing remarkable for many or most riders, but I’ve not ridden more than 37 miles for years and my typical “long” rides are and always have been 30 miles or so, tho’ usually on a moderately high-geared fixed gear. With a bit more to eat I think I could have done 50 miles relatively easily, even with more climbing. This is the difference between riding at a relaxed pace and always pushing yourself.

If I do more 40-50 mile rides, I do think I’ll want a derailleur road bike. We’ll see.

The weather was lovely.

Lastly, one of the other 2 riders rode his ~2004 understated custom Vanilla; such a lovely pure road bike. I’d like one; sure, wouldn’t we all. Chris rode his Homer, Anne her utility 1990s steel Bianchi Volpe. Anne rides 160 miles a week, btw.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,

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I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Patrick Moore]

Oh! And another 15 min stopped to feed Daisy the Donkey on the outskirts of the ABQ zoo.

On Sun, Sep 7, 2025 at 1:59 PM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

… Note 3: Apart from the 30-40 minute initial stop at the meeting point, I kept my clock running. I averaged 9.7 miles including numerous stops including 1 to unpack my unwieldy seat pack to dig out the finicky multitool and adjust the left pedal, several bathroom stops, and an extended stop — 15-20 min? —  at a weirdly dystopian-seeming somewhat failed planned community (Mesa del Sol; reminded me of “Asteroid City”)  — high on the SE mesa for ice cream bars and a nice sit down and chat. Then back through town and to the N/S RG bike path and home.

[Christopher Young]

Thanks Sir Patrick! That's such a great summary, so I only have a few things to add.

1. At that 8 mile turnaround for the other two riders, we took a break to feed and provide some medical attention to Daisy the donkey, whom Ann has been caring for through the fence for many years. Daisy had some pretty bad looking sores earlier this year, but she's looking great now and thoroughly enjoyed the apples and oats we brought her. 

2. Organizing a group bike ride seems to be an extreme example of a "cat-herding activity", and I'm not sure I'd go through the trouble again. But check out the cool poster I got ChatGPT to make for the event.

3. Going for a ride with a small group of friends that you can count on to show up is a great thing to do, and I hope to keep that up in the coming months. I'm so pleased that I got Patrick to go for his longest bike ride in a while (and he was riding smooth and strong at the end), and that maybe I got my friend Rob to start riding again (he has the Vanilla road bike and an Atlantis from the early 2000s: how's that for an awesome pair of bikes?!).

BTW, I got to end the day by watching the Prairie Home Companion 50th Anniversary Show at the Santa Fe Opera. The show was amazing, and I can't imagine a better venue than the SFO with the sun setting over the Jemez mountains in the background. 

So, to sum up the day, to quote a couple of famous philosophers,
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime you'll find you get what you need."

Happy bike riding to all of you!

Chris