back from new mexico
We had a great time. The extended weekend included sleeping, eating great food, watching movies, hiking, riding, horseback riding, soaking in the hot tub, eating pizzas, drinking wine and good friends.
We arrived pretty late on Wednesday, and settled into the house. On Thursday, I rode my bike into town to collect some maps of the hiking and biking trails in town. After lunch, Jonathan and I went and did part of a trail outside of town. We hiked up to about 9300' before turning around. We took some time exploring an old mine from the 1900s and Jonathan faced his fear of hillside trails.
On Friday, everyone else was planning to head to Carlsbad to see the caves. Graeme and I had been there a few years before, and Pete was on his way down for our training session. He arrived just as they were heading out. Pete and I got packed, went grocery shopping, and headed out on our bikes.
We rode the trails around town, including a super fun downhill run with beautifully made jumps that I just couldn't resist. There was also included the steepest hike-a-bike I've ever pushed a bike up. Post town trails, we made a quick stop for pizza in town before heading up the long climb to the ski area. It was a long, painful, ugly climb. We got to the top right around dusk after 8 hours on the bikes, rode up the trail a bit and ditched the bikes for our trekking shoes.
The wind. Oh, the wind. It blew all night. 40 mph. It nearly knocked me off the mountain. And it was cold. And we lost the trail. In other words, it was perfect adventure race training. In the end, we trekked for 12 hrs, rode for 10 and were totally exhausted at the end. More than half of the 22 hrs were spent above 10,000', and probably 6 hrs were spent over 11,000'. I felt really good about how I handled the elevation, with only a bit of a headache. Of course, I got out of breathe quickly, but I also recovered really well. That was encouraging.
Once we got back to the house, we ate and slept and ate and slept and ate and slept. Then Pete went home.
On Sunday, we went horseback riding.
We have to ride horses in PQ, so it was really good to spend some times on one. I hadnt been riding in at least 15 years. I still have to get certified for the horses, but at least I feel totally comfortable on one now.
So, it was a great weekend. Time spent with friends, time spent training, time spent with Pete. Perfect.
We arrived pretty late on Wednesday, and settled into the house. On Thursday, I rode my bike into town to collect some maps of the hiking and biking trails in town. After lunch, Jonathan and I went and did part of a trail outside of town. We hiked up to about 9300' before turning around. We took some time exploring an old mine from the 1900s and Jonathan faced his fear of hillside trails.
On Friday, everyone else was planning to head to Carlsbad to see the caves. Graeme and I had been there a few years before, and Pete was on his way down for our training session. He arrived just as they were heading out. Pete and I got packed, went grocery shopping, and headed out on our bikes.
We rode the trails around town, including a super fun downhill run with beautifully made jumps that I just couldn't resist. There was also included the steepest hike-a-bike I've ever pushed a bike up. Post town trails, we made a quick stop for pizza in town before heading up the long climb to the ski area. It was a long, painful, ugly climb. We got to the top right around dusk after 8 hours on the bikes, rode up the trail a bit and ditched the bikes for our trekking shoes.
The wind. Oh, the wind. It blew all night. 40 mph. It nearly knocked me off the mountain. And it was cold. And we lost the trail. In other words, it was perfect adventure race training. In the end, we trekked for 12 hrs, rode for 10 and were totally exhausted at the end. More than half of the 22 hrs were spent above 10,000', and probably 6 hrs were spent over 11,000'. I felt really good about how I handled the elevation, with only a bit of a headache. Of course, I got out of breathe quickly, but I also recovered really well. That was encouraging.
Once we got back to the house, we ate and slept and ate and slept and ate and slept. Then Pete went home.
On Sunday, we went horseback riding.
We have to ride horses in PQ, so it was really good to spend some times on one. I hadnt been riding in at least 15 years. I still have to get certified for the horses, but at least I feel totally comfortable on one now.
So, it was a great weekend. Time spent with friends, time spent training, time spent with Pete. Perfect.
posted by little b @ 4:28 p.m.
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