Secret Mission Tour with Sandra (video posted)

 43 miles with about 1500 ft of elevation gain. Sandra wanted to ride on the flatter side of the world but heading east on Badillo does not feel flat. She did a ride over the weekend with over 3k of climbing so I can't blame her. I myself, my third straight day of riding and I rarely do that. So I didn't complain about her thoughts of heading down to the flatter section.

But I did forget that the Santa Fe rec area is closed on Mon and Tues. What I didn't know not ever coming up the entrance driveway was that there is a big gate near the road blocking the entrance and there is NO WAY around it. Small gap in the center so Sandra hopped the gate then I handed the bikes over. Funny, after I handed my bike over, she said, "boy, you're tall!". Not sure if it was standing next to my bike or because I could lift my leg up to the top of the section she had to climb ha ha ha!

Headed east as Sandra was telling me about one of the groups she rides with does not exceed a certain speed to keep it together. Cool but she said she liked to pick it up some for a good workout. So that is what I did ha ha ha! A group ride we used to do would head west to start and everybody was flying. But once we turned and headed back east, it was a gentle climb and most of the riders would fade big time. Remembering this, I figured I would work out Sandra heading east, the gentle climb for a workout. It worked, she suffered some which is a good thing if one is looking for a good workout. She did tell me at the start of the ride that she was feeling good and strong so that's why I figured I'd pick it up ha ha ha!

But we both had a good ride and Sandra did ride strong as always. Really improved from when I first met her in a group. Once we reached the secret destination, she offered a Frappacino as appreciation for tagging along.  Vanilla Bean that was actually pretty good. OF course we all know anything that is free tastes better ha ha ha!

So we headed back and she went into beast mode once again. When we head east, she thinks she is wiped out but I know it's the incline and remind her. I figure we can burn it out then when we head back, it will be easier if for any reason we suffer too much. But Sandra has this thing about recovering really well. Very resilient and after riding with several of the female riders in the past, I think she is one of the strongest. A couple that are just flat out awesome monsters on the bike but Sandra ain't far behind. Never complains about climbing like some of the others and when it comes down to it, I'd place money on her making it to the top first. And as always, when I think she's cooked, she recovers and starts to punish me a bit on the bike. I have to remind myself that it will only hurt for a little bit ha ha ha!

On a good but sad note with Annette's passing, I had sent an email to Hillbasher (of the forums). We used to ride GMR together till he moved up north. I had sent an email but he did not respond then I remembered, he was 61 back then, I think 10 years ago? Notifying him of her passing and no response, I started to think, uh oh, maybe he's gone too! So I sent a text while Gina and I were having dinner and he responded rather quickly.  Whew! I was starting to worry that maybe I had lost 2 cycling buddies. But not, thank goodness! He did say that he hadn't been on his bike in some time and our of shape. Heck, aren't we all. I guess at this point in our lives, if we're still alive, we're ok! So it was cool chatting with him if even in a text message. Brings back memories and I still look back at our rides on my blog.

So still riding, alive and kicking, I'd have to say that I'm doing ok myself ha ha ha!

Youtube video