Albuquerque is laid out between the Sandia Mountains (10K feet high) on the east and the "west mesa" on the west -- a table land some 4-500 feet higher than the Rio Grande valley floor at about 5000 feet. After the abrupt but rather brief climb to the mesa, the land rises graduallly to the continental divide some (IIRC) 50-70 miles west of ABQ city limits, 6500-7000 feet. I live 1/2 mile west of the Rio Grande, so that the geography of my riding environment is a flat north-south landscape with climbing east and west; eastward being largely gradual and continuous until you get to the foot of the mountains; west being abrupt up the side of the mesa, and then rolling and gradual west of that.
Once you get away from the valley floor, though, if you ride north or south from a westerly or easterly position, the terrain is rolling and, generally, sloping upward from south to north. As long as I stay away from the mountains proper, the inclines are either steep but short (my usual route to climb the west mesa is (to my legs) brutally steep but only 1/4 mile long (after ~1 mile of gradual climbing, continued by the gradual upward incline to the west). To the east, the land slopes gradually upward from the river to the foothills; thus when I commuted 15 miles east across town, a good 13 or or more of that was continual climbing, mostly gradual but with some steeper section inclines (eg, from Broadway up to the University, about 1 mile). The gradual slope gets steeper closer to the base of the Sandias. A favorite ride is from my mother's house up on the west mesa: go largely north on more steeply upwardly rolling terrain for ~ 4 miles until this particular road turns into dirt; turn around and seek interesting detours. Long story short: as long as I stay away from the Sandias proper, few hills are both very long and very steep. I don't know the grades, but the popular 5 mile Tramway climb from the valley to the base of the mountains is easily doable in a 60" gear, and I've done it in a 75" with a howling tailwind. Of course, I prefer to torque slowly, so others may have different opinions, but the overall point is that there are no very long, very steep hills that I have to deal with. I stress that, while I love climbing, and even standing climbing, my rides are short. A good hilly ride won't be more than 20 miles, unless I do a Tramway climb, in which case the out and back will be ~30; most of my riding is shorter still, like today's west mesa out and about which was 16.5 miles. It's not hard to climb ss/fixed for shorter distances. On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 4:55 PM, Michael Hechmer <[email protected]> wrote: > Patrick, over the years I have probably spent 2-3 weeks in Albuquerque and > the surrounding areas. I don't remember any walls to climb up but i do > remember a lot of hills. How do you get around on a SS? > > Your note reminds me of a Saturday when I went out in the car to run some > errands. When I got home I realized that they only stop that absolutely > required the car was at the gas station! > > Michael > > > On Wednesday, July 2, 2014 5:19:52 PM UTC-4, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> The usual ride: turned a 3 mile rt by car to PO and store into a 16.5 m >> rt by bike. >> >> Aside: I enjoy this sort of riding: just rambling around neighborhoods, >> if there are a few hills and enough longer stretches to allow spirited >> pedaling. I used to love this sort of riding when I was a boy in India, >> where the neighborhoods were a lot more interesting than SW American >> suburbia; but there are enough interesting detours around nearby Corrales >> to allow even a 30 mile ramble on pavement. >> >> -- >> Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and letters that get interviews. >> By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. >> Other professional writing services. >> http://www.resumespecialties.com/ >> Patrick Moore >> Albuquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Etats Unis >> >> ************************************* >> * "Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to >> never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from >> it. Where is there a place for you to be? No place.* >> * "Nothing outside you can give you any place," he said. "You needn't to >> look at the sky because it's not going to open up and show no place behind >> it. You needn't to search for any hole in the ground to look through into >> somewhere else. You can't go neither forwards nor backwards into your >> daddy's time nor your children's if you have them. In yourself right now is >> all the place you've got. If there was any Fall, look there, if there was >> any Redemption, look there, and if you expect any Judgment, look there, >> because they all three will have to be in your time and your body and where >> in your time and your body can they be?* >> * "Where in your time and your body has Jesus redeemed you?" he cried. >> "Show me where because I don't see the place. If there was a place where >> Jesus had redeemed you that would be the place for you to be, but which of >> you can find it?” -- Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood * >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and letters that get interviews. By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. Other professional writing services. http://www.resumespecialties.com/ Patrick Moore Albuquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Etats Unis ************************************* * "Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. Where is there a place for you to be? No place.* * "Nothing outside you can give you any place," he said. "You needn't to look at the sky because it's not going to open up and show no place behind it. You needn't to search for any hole in the ground to look through into somewhere else. You can't go neither forwards nor backwards into your daddy's time nor your children's if you have them. In yourself right now is all the place you've got. If there was any Fall, look there, if there was any Redemption, look there, and if you expect any Judgment, look there, because they all three will have to be in your time and your body and where in your time and your body can they be?* * "Where in your time and your body has Jesus redeemed you?" he cried. "Show me where because I don't see the place. If there was a place where Jesus had redeemed you that would be the place for you to be, but which of you can find it?” -- Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
