Friday, April 25, 2008

2 Legit 2 Shift in Gallup

DAWN .........








   Well Dawn til Dusk has come and gone. There were some last minute casting changes. Anthony came down with a bad bug the week before and had to bail. I thought I was gonna bail too then Ben from my work stepped up and volunteered to race in Anthony's steed. I ended up driving down with CottonKennedy who was gonna go and make a solo attempt. So we caravan'd down to gallup with Ben. To get the trip started right we met at Santa Fe Brewery's tasting room to fill some growlers and drink a pint before embarking on our journey. We finally got on the road later then we should of and it was snowing pretty good here in Santa Fe. The drive was uneventful as I fell asleep as Brian drove which wasn't what a good navigator does. OOops. We got into town and found a GHETTO grocery store to buy some provisions. IT was a Lowes grocery store and had to be one of the most horrendous grocery stores I have ever been in. Ben and I proceeded to check into our hotel which was rather Ghetto as well.Brian was camping out so he split to go set up camp and go to sleep as well.Ben and I decided to go get something to eat.

    We decided on going to this place. I would suggest you keep driving when you see this sign.



    So feeling like crap after eating some dinner we went back to the Days Inn for some sleep. We watched some of the Spiderman movie which I was enjoying till we dozed off into a restless slumber. We awoke the next morning not really wanting to get up and get ready. I stalled untill the last minute. Finally got up and out the door and made it to the race and proceeded to not be able to find the crew of people that we were setting up shop for the day with. After some tense searching we found them and got dressed and Ben was gonna do the first lap so he made his way to the start to find no one because we were 5 minutes late for the game. Ohh well, It was about 20 degrees at the start and the temps climbed slowely through out the day. We camped out with Frankie Flats and Death Ray who were doing a duo team in the masters division. They ended up with a 3rd place finish.Also we were camping with CottonKennedy and he rocked it solo pulling in 6 laps. We also camped with a nice couple with a new son They were also from Santa Fe. I think there names were Tim, Kai, and Dax was there sons name. The rest of the race went well. We ended up with just 9 laps and had a ball. I hope that they have a SS duo class next year. I think there would be plenty of entrants for it. I didn't get many shots at all but I did sneak off a few.

Ben getting ready before the sun hit our camp.



The RIG waiting for some action


Brian after a couple in a row comes in for a snack and change


Frank was riding an old Fat Chance SS


I guess Frank is a fan of GW


This was Tim Kai's, and Dax's casita that they had just bought. IT was really cool inside.






Ben coming in from his last lap. Had I known he would pull a good lap time I could of gone out and gotten back in before 7 and we would of had 10 laps. :(

If you notice this Big Wheel Racer got a little off track. I thought she was gonna wreck into those rocks in front of her but she pulled it off.

Here is another BWR it seemed like every other racer I saw on the trail was a BWR. Soon all of New Mexico will be on BWR.


You have to love streamers

I saw this guy coming in and thought it was DeathRay cause he had a Bike-n-Sport jersey on but alas it was not him

and then.....

I saw Nate at the race shooting pictures og his fellow BWR peoples. He did the race solo. He has a nice digital SLR.



When I got back to camp Ben was all ready to start consuming some malted beverage.


Some people camping next to us had New York plates on there car. That is a long drive.

Ray comes strutting back into camp


   So we packed up Bens car and rolled home. Stopping on the way back at the El Rancho for the free lasagna dinner put on by the fine folks who put on the race.


......till Dusk


   When we got to the El Rancho I saw these purdy Black sheep bikes


    All in all it was a great time. prolly do it next year again.

   What is in your audio player? I have the new Portishead in mine. It has been like 6 years since they put out an album. It is a lot diferent from there last 2 studio albums. I dig it. It is growing on me every listen.





                Later

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good report Tim!

How are those American Classics treating you for everyday and racing use? I'm considering a set for my 29er build.

Chris

Tim Wise said...

Hey Chris. The American Classics are rolling just fine still. Despite some of the naysayers. Maybe I could get you to take me on a tunnel otero tour soon.

StageWest said...

Tim, good to hear about the AC's. Matt spoke highly of them, and also some others like the Velocity Blunts laced to Paul's hubs.

A tunnel/otero tour sounds great. Let me know when you want to come down.

Chris

Anonymous said...

Hey - been reading your blog for awhile. I'm coming out to NM from Philly to ride with a friend who lives in Corrales. He knows the Albuquerque area trails but no so much in and around Santa Fe.

Any chance you could give us some suggestions or even a tour? We'll trade beer and food for a wheel to follow. We'll be riding 5/31-6/4.

We're reasonable riders, I do a couple of 50's a year on my SS and he's no slouch either.

brianburgess3593 at yahoo dot com

DirtBuddha said...

Hey Tim! Just catching up with your blog. Its been an epic summer for everyone, so it seems. I am surprised by your comments. Regardless of how things get interpreted on MTBR, I can totally appreciate what it must have taken to complete one of those endurance events. Congrats on SFBL and best of luck at DB!