East of Santa Fe, 7500--10,200 feet. Today's adventure was to see how close we could get to the top of Glorieta Baldy Mountain. A mountain bike ride starts off well when the forest service road is smooth, packed dirt, and you are surrounded by thinned ponderosa pines. Better yet, the road followed a ridge so we gained our altitude with little waste. Finally our luck ran out as the road got steeper and rougher. It isn't just altitude and gravity that kills a rider off--it's the road texture.
I groaned when the ponderosa pines yielded to spruce and birch, and then to sub-alpine fir. The blackness and bugginess of dense forests is depressing. Still, it's fun to watch for transitions as a sign of your progress. The humidity and cloud cover were gloriously moderate; and the road was shaded. Were we getting anywhere near the top? I couldn't see anything of course. And yet there was the overarching reassurance of being on a ridge. There is beauty unique to situations like this: your lying-eyes show that you're losing the battle, but your brain believes that you'll win the war.
I never start off with a goal like getting to the top of some mountain. I only think of getting out there, and finding something. Maybe that's why I do go, so often. But inevitably, ambition kicks in as the usual cocktail of endorphines and dopamines gets into my blood. My little poodle acts the same way, even though he is twelve years old. In fact it was funny the way he really became crazed the last 1000 feet of the climb; his leash stayed as tight as a violin string. Surprisingly, we did make it to the top. There was an out-of-service fire tower on top. Ahh, so that's why the road had been kept in pretty good shape.
Not one other human being was seen on today's ride. Typical. Presumably this is due to the front covers of glossy magazines, since they hype expensive bikes, made of exotic materials and extreme designs. I don't think a lot of riders really appreciate how much fun and beauty they are missing by ignoring the numbered dirt roads on public lands.
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