Brammo Blog: Real World views from a Real Electric Motorcycle

26 06 2012

Blog 2, 6/26/12.

Today we talk about: Holy Moley is it CHEAP to fill up an Electric Motorcycle.

Now I know everybody has seen this image before…it is all over the interwebs.

or this one:

We get a chuckle, a bit of a laugh. Until we are the one driving up to the pump and realize that it is too close to the truth. “Hmmmm, buy needed medication or fill the gas tank?” should never be a thought running through anybody’s head.

Almost everyday I drive by an ironically named gas station: Pump and Save. Hahahahahahahaaaaaa, excuse me, hahahahahahaha. How about some truth in advertizing…Pump and make OPEC happy. Pump and there goes your vacation budget. Pump and kiss your retirement goodbye. Just about anything works, except: Pump and Save.

Even the most economical gas cars are really quite expensive to fill up and drive on a daily basis. Example: Toyota Prius. Good car (a bit fugly) and an industry leading 50 mpg. Good going Toyota!  A Prius owner can go 100 miles for 2 gallons of gas…at 3.50 a gallon that is 5 million dollars….oops, sorry, my math ain’t so hot (neither is me English)….so 7 bucks for 100 miles in a very functional and well built, though slightly fugly, Prius. Not bad! But not great considering it is the best the automobile industry has to offer.

Now look at the Enertia, which I have been lucky enough to ride for the last 8-9 months:

Yes, look at her sitting there in front of the Mountain Lodge off old Rt 66. I love this photo as it make me think of riding the Enertia through the world of Fallout 3, but that is a subject for another blog on another day…

The cost to “fill” the Enertia’s “tank” is just about 1 cent a mile to charge up from any 110v wall outlet here in New Mexico. 1 cent a mile = 100 cents for 100 miles…which is like zero dollars to fill up…again, not so good at math.

Actually we are talking (or typing and reading) a hundred miles for a buck. So the Enertia is 7 times cheaper than the best mileage gas car on the road. (and looks hella better and WAY MORE FUN to drive. And that is all proven by SCIENCE.)

And it is because electricity is so much cheaper than gas (and can be renewable and clean—Wind, solar, hydro, tidal, geothermal—Mother Nature is very giving. It’s like moving back in with your parents and sponging off them, but way cooler and no living in the basement with your Cheetos covered “Night Ranger ROCKS” T-Shirt.)

And it works for Electric Cars too. 100 miles in a Nissan LEAF is half the price or less than the Prius. And if you are fortunate enough, or had the foresight and have paid-off solar panels on your roof, well all miles could be essentially free and clean, thanks to Mr. Sun. I love you Mr. Sun…

So when you drive to work, or to the store, or when you’re out shopping to prepare for the coming Zombie Apocalypse, remember the two gas signs above…and know that they could look like this:

Plug and Save…now that is a “fuel” station I would love to see stretching from Sea to Shining Sea. 🙂

Gavin


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Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog: Real World views from a Real Electric Motorcycle

25 06 2012

With some very “not subtle” prodding (looking your way BrammoFan), I am reopening my blog and focusing it down to Brammo Motorcycles and the trips and experiences I am having just about every day of the year as I ride this Electric Motorcycle. Real world observations. Real world photos. This will be mostly a Photo Journal, peppered with some brilliant insights….or probably just insights that fall somewhat below brilliant…ok, very far below…jeez, you think I would get some respect from my own blog…but noooo, the dang critics in my head keep pestering me to be honest.

I am not a prolific blogger, but I will work hard to get a couple of new posts every week.

So…..without further ado:

Blog 1, 6/25/12. Today we talk about:

I have always counted on the Kindness of Strangers…or “business that allow me to charge.”

When I first received the “Loaner” Enertia from Brammo I assumed I would always just charge it overnight at home. I even set up a charge station with a nice little sign I bought from BrammoFan.

And I did charge mostly at home…still do. It is easy and you wake up every morning to a fully charged bike.

But one trip I was planning to ride looked to be impossible without outside charging (the loaner bike is Brammo’s first model and is really quite nice, but does have a 40 mile range. Great for commuting, not so much for long distance drives.)

Well the Rio Rancho Annual Toy Run was coming up and I really wanted to take the Enertia. Thousands of riders, a good cause and I thought it would be great to show off the Electric a bit. But the ride started 20 miles from my house, add in 10-15 miles on the ride, and then 20 miles back home—much of it at 55 mph which drains the battery faster than slow city commuting—and it is easy to see that 40 miles or less wasn’t going to make it.

So bail on the ride? No Way! First, I called the Toy Run staff. Sadly they did not have any electric power at the start of the race nor at the ending spot. They did let me know that the start was in the parking lot of the local High School and I could call them. So I called Rio Rancho High School. A very nice gentleman who runs the school’s activities told me it would be no problem at all to charge at the school. He informed me that there were outside outlets on the Gym and to “have at it”. Yea! Thanks Rio Rancho High School. You were the first place I charged away from home (and you are Walter White’s school in Breaking Bad–but that is another blog for another day).

So I left home early—the ride started at 11:00 am—as I needed extra time to charge at the school. One day that won’t be an issue, but right now I do have to make extra time and effort if I want to go electric and still do the longer rides I enjoy. The trade off, to me, is worth it 🙂

I depart at 8:30 am and get to the school at 9. Easily find the plug, plug up and….wait. I read a bit, I walk over and talk to some of the early bird gas bikers—the ride seems to bring every Harley rider in the State of New Mexico. At 11:00 the bike is about 95% charged and I am ready to join up with the gas bikes and my scooter friends.

So we do a ride of 15 miles and my scooter friends want to stop and get something to eat…I’m like, sure I can eat…and I start following them to a new place they want to try. Unfortunately for me they are riding away from Albuquerque and my home…which is where I like to charge. And when we get to the restaurant, well I am pretty sure I won’t be able to get all the way home. So I ask the staff…”Hey, I have this electric motorcycle, do you mind if I charge while my friends and I get some food and drinks?” “Sure, let me go get an extension cord.” That was a surprise…they even went out of their way to help me. But he comes back, “Hey, I can’t find our extension cord…but you can park the bike inside our storage area and charge there”.

So I rolled my bike up and into the back of the restaurant…Crazy. But hella nice.

Which brings me to the point, finally, of this Blog. I have yet to be turned down when I have asked a business if I can charge my bike while I shop, buy or eat at their establishments. It is really amazing. I usually have my argument ready, “it only costs about 10 cents an hour in electricity to charge**, and I will be spending much more than that while I am here…and I tip well.” But I don’t ever have to do that. A simple, “Hi, my bike is electric. I see you have an outside plug, do you mind if I use it?” “Sure, no problem. That’s a cool bike”, is the usual response. Often followed with many more question.

So I thought I would give a quick shout out and thanks to some of the places I’ve charged.

As mentioned: Rio Rancho High School…the school in Breaking Bad AND you guys have your own solar array…you guys ROCK.

Turtle Mountain Brewing Co.: I am upset with myself as I wanted to get a photo of the bike charging in your storage area…but forgot! Instead, here is a photo of their menu. You helped me to ride over 70 miles that day…the most I’ve ridden the Enertia in one day.

Subway: The Subway in Tijeras, NM has let me charge at least 3 times. One of my favorite rides goes out that way, but it is just a bit too far to go without some extra charge. So I stop, grab a sandwich and surf the web a bit and off I go with a nicely charged bike and a fairly full belly. Thanks Jarred…or Michael Phelps…or whoever Subway is using as their spokesman.

I am downtown most Tuesday Nights to play the Pub Quiz, Geeks who Drink, at the Blackbird Buvette. Plus I’m friends with one of the owners…and the Blackbird is a cool place to hang just about any time. As a bonus they have a lamp post out front that I can charge at. And if that isn’t working, they let me charge on their back patio…Thanks!

While Downtown, Albuquerque does have two pay charge stations…Good to have, though I haven’t needed to use them yet. Too much free charging available so far to start using my credit card to charge…but maybe one day.

I’ve charged at Walmart, Smith’s Grocery, Lowe’s Home Improvements…just to name a few. Anytime I am stopping for 30 minutes or more, I go ahead and charge. Every 30 minutes gives me 5 more miles in range.

And last, but not least, my work. This is the one place, other than home, where I have charged the most.

Covered parking AND free juice? What’s not to love about that.

And that is the wonderful part about electrics. There is a source for charging EVERYWHERE. And it is cheap and easy to use. Go to your favorite restaurant and ask them if you can fill your car’s gas tank while you eat. They will look at you like you are crazy. Because storing and delivering gas is hard, expensive and kinda dangerous. Storing and delivering electricity is not. Heck, by code every house and business have outlets every few freaking feet. I can attest to that as we have a one year old granddaughter and about 12 billion outlet covers in our home.

Still there is the slowness of filling my tank (which is why I do it at home, work or restaurants where I know I will be a while) and the shortness of range. Those two obstacles will be overcome with time, and, in fact, are already improving. My loaner gets 40 miles, but the Brammo Plus coming out this summer gets twice that. The Brammo Empulse will get 100 miles and has fast charging, which will fill those batteries at twice the rate of 120v wall charging. A few more years and the battery will last longer than what my butt will allow me to ride. And then we will have all the conveniences of electric drive: quiet, smooth, quick, easy, nearly zero maintenance and fuel that is cheap and everywhere; without the downside of range issues and slowness of charging. And we will have a fuel that can truly be zero emissions…when you have nice solar panels on your roof and 310 sunny days a year 🙂

Till next time….

Gavin

**This might be my next blog…the insanely low cost of charging. Or Park Anywhere! Or “Want people to be nice to you? interact and talk to you? Buy an Electric motorcycle.”


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Cold Weather Challenge Part 2…Yeah, I’m an Idiot…

3 02 2011

Ok, so yesterday I rode to work (and a bit more to make the ride over 10 miles long) in 1 degree temps. Wasn’t much warmer on my ride home yesterday (9 degrees).

Now riding in low temps is all about the preparation. And I’m pretty good at prep work. Layers. And Layers. And a bit of insanity helps too. Luckily I had both in spades.

Yesterday my ankles were a bit cold and my hands were very cold. So today, with the weather predictions of even colder temps than yesterday, I added a second pair of socks and a pair of stretchy gloves under my ski gloves.

About today’s ride.

Today was going to be the coldest day in 40 years here in New Mexico.  Mother Nature was telling me, “Ha, Scooter Boy, What you gonna do about this…BOOM, Minus SIX DEGREES Mofo…Stay in Bed under the covers like the little Pansy Boy you are.” (ed. note: I hate when she calls me Pansy Boy.)

So anyways, woke up and checked the temp:

Yep, Negative 6…At least Mother Nature didn’t lie.

So I get up, shower (if somebody is gonna find my Popsicle corpse I want it to be a clean Popsicle corpse), and Layer UP.  Head to garage, warm up the scooter and re-check the temps right before take off.

Dang, I better hurry before it warms up too much 🙂

Again, like yesterday, my one and only stop is the nearby bank. Every second I am glove-less is a moment of current and future discomfort…and my iPhone needs skin to screen contact to turn on, to select camera and to take photos. So the iPhone comes out only once on this chilly ride. Anyways….Bank photos.

Again, Bank temp not the same as National Weather temp, but COLD.

And I am a creature of habit….same exact time as yesterday.

Ok, so I take my long route to work, passing work, hitting Pitt Stadium, turning around and coming back to work. At work I check the temperature again.

Yeah, it is now 1 degree colder than when I started out.  Gah.

So what did I learn today?

One, 2 pairs of socks are great. Mmmm, toasty ankles.

Two, I need freaking heated gloves if I want to ever do this again. Of course the simple answer is, why the hell would I ever do this again?

Three, all face shields on full-faced helmets will fog up in cold weather. Luckily all you need to do is crack up the shield a bit when riding and the fog evaporates and you can put the shield back down. Repeat as needed. Well when it is -4 /-5 degrees that slight fog from breath turns into ice INSTANTLY…and at -4 / -5 degrees nothing will get it to evaporate.

So yesterday my hand and ankles were cold; but my face, body, arms and legs were great. Today, body, arms, legs and ankles all okey dokey….but hands and front of face, kinda freaking cold (at what temperature does the fluid in your eyes freeze? Off to the interwebs to find out++). I had to ride with my face shield partly open the whole way as a nice layer of ice was permanently affixed to face shield making it look like the lens of the cameras that filmed Cybil Sheppard and Doris Day at the ends of their careers*

But really not too awful. Get to work, park my scooter** and go punch in and check the temp. So ride was at an average of negative 4.5 degrees for a bit over 10 miles. Yeah.

Now came the fun part…and why I need NEED heated gloves if I plan to ride in negative degree weather…which really isn’t a common event even here at 5000 plus feet.

My darn throttle hand has to be up in the cold and wind the whole way (left hand can sometimes sit in lap away from cold and wind). So I get to work, unbundle many layers and blood slowly starts to seep back into fingers of right hand. Mmmmm, boy is that a strangely painful thing. Way is it that when blood finally flows back into near frozen tissues, well it is just sooooo painful. You would think it would be a relief or pleasant sensation…but oooooo no, not in the least.  Luckily it didn’t take too long. I only contemplated cutting off my right hand for about 2 or 3 minutes. But those are 2 or 3 minutes I won’t be putting into my “Happy Memories” jar (mmm, maybe that is why Mother Nature calls me a pansy…how many people have a “Happy Memories” jar?).

Oh well….our freak Arctic blast is coming to an end. These last two days have not been my favorite rides…but I’m glad I did them. It won’t be often I get to ride in minus temps…in fact this was my first time in my 6 years of scooter riding. Will I be doing it again…gah, I hope not….but if Mother Nature keeps taunting me, well sadly I know that some morning in the future I’ll be back  once again contemplating cutting of my right hand.

Gavin

*some say gauze was used, some say Vaseline…but to smooth out wrinkles and add a “dreamy” effect that made actors look younger, camera lens were covered lightly with Vaseline or gauze. Doris Day was reported to do this. Others also.

**so yesterday I was so proud when I parked my scooter at work because two other scooters were there too…well when I left yesterday they were still there, and they are still there, unmoved, this morning. So I guess I am the only one actually riding in both days to our work….seems the other 2 are scooters left to sit in the cold…I assume the owners either got other rides home or took the bus and will return to their scooter at a warmer date. Still no motorcycles.

sigh…other scoots are in exactly the same spot…thus “unmoved”…on the upside that means I’m the only one crazy enough to be out riding these last 2 days. 🙂

yesterday:

Today:

++

Can your Eyeballs Freeze?

Yes (kinda)

Eyeballs contain two types of liquid

– the Aqueous humor and the Vitreous humor, both of which are comprised of mostly water- which as we all know freezes and turns into ice.

If you had a set of eyeballs, detached from the human or animal body (for example cow eyeballs used for dissection purposes) they would freeze at 32 degrees F or 0 degrees Celsius- or perhaps a few degrees below due to the tissues surrounding the eye.

Eyeballs attached to a living human/animal will not freeze unless the entire body is lethally frostbitten.
When the eye is attached to the human body there is a constant supply of warm blood circulating throughout the eye, regardless of the temperature outside. There is also a massive amount of muscle and tissue surrounding the socket to keep the eye warm. So unless the actual body is dying from cold, your eyes will be fine.

 

 

EDIT: from my daughter, thanks sweetie 🙂  As of 9:45am on 2/3/11 we are still in negative temps and we are the coldest city in the US…crazy…I wonder how often we are the coldest spot?? Not often or probably ever. Shouldn’t Wyoming or Montana be kicking our ass in coldness??


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Categories : Rides around Albuquerque, Uncategorized

Winter Gloves.

27 10 2010

Sigh…Yesterday I had to break out the winter gloves.

Why? Especially so early in the year? Usually I”m not rocking the winter gloves till December. And no it’s not that I’m getting old and frail. Well not completely.

This is why…

33 degrees is just a bit cold, so time to put away the fall gloves and go for my “high tech” winter riding gloves…yep, regular old ski gloves.

Luckily I was back to my fall gloves this morning, and hopefully for many more weeks. What is crazy is that I was riding just a week or so ago up to the top of Sandia and getting a sunburn. I actually rode that day in light leather coat and even without a glove on my left hand as I was trying to film some of the ride while holding my iPhone….Yes, very dumb.

side note:

***Kids, don’t do what Donny Don’t does***

End side note:

But it was hella warm compared to yesterday. And that is up another 5 thousand feet and usually 20 degrees colder. Hopefully yesterday was an aberration, and that the winter gloves say hidden under the seat in storage until at least Thanksgiving.  Time, and my increasing frailty, will tell.

Here is the short video from the mountain ride…Yes I was driving slow…and yes the video is a bit jerky….you try driving one handed while videoing with an iPhone.

Again, iPhone…Scooter…twisty mountain road…filming…one handed. That said, I will duct tape the phone to my helmet next time 🙂

This was nearer the bottom and not as twisty as the top…I hoped to film going all the way up but: one, it really was less than safe. two, I wasn’t having nearly as much fun as I do when I get to ride the turns fast. So it is what it is.

On a second side note:

Went with Daniel and Zack this weekend on a ride up to Madrid and the Mine Shaft Tavern (surprisingly not a gay bar). Good ride, good company…Nice buffalo burger. Fall gloves 🙂

Third freakin’ side note (isn’t everything in essence a side note when it comes to blogs?):

Last night heading home from Geeks who Drink (we got 1st place…yea, randon knowledge and drinking…thank god the Irish are good at something 🙂 ) I hit 10,000 miles on my bigger scooter.

Will put a few more miles on her this weekend as Daniel, Zack and I (and maybe I can convince some of the scooter people?) head down to Los Lunas and visit The Tractor Brew Company. We will try not to “Get Plowed” as we will have to ride back and get ready for the Halloween Party at the McCullough-Aaron household.

http://www.getplowed.com/

 

This time of year is beautiful down along the Rio Grande…All the cottonwoods should be nice and yellow.  So getting a few good rides in before the leaves all fall is my plan…that and the weather (when not 33 degrees in the morning) is great this time of year for nice long rides.

That will be three weekend rides in a row…sweetness. And all the scooter people are riding down to Tucson the weekend after that. Not sure I can make it, but the thought of driving 480 miles with a bunch of crazy scooter people is almost too good to turn down. I feel a fever brewing around thursdays the 4th and might need a couple of days off work 🙂

8 hours of riding a scooter one day, followed by 8 hours of riding a scooter the next…ah, a painful bliss that calls to me. Sure by Sunday I will have to watch football laying on my belly with frozen peas duct taped to my ass, but the upside is hard to pass up.

Gavin

ps…yes I know I still have my solar panels to discuss and a blog to post on electric vehicles….soon…


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Categories : Family and such, Rides around Albuquerque, Uncategorized

Weekend Rides Around Albuquerque–TinkerTown

28 09 2010

This will be a monthly feature that will discuss fun rides to take in and around Albuquerque. It will detail: route, stops, distances and hopefully have some nice photos.

The first day-trip is…

TINKERTOWN

Home

Next quote is taken from the Tinkertown site.

It took Ross Ward over 40 years to carve, collect, and lovingly construct what is now Tinkertown Museum. His miniature wood-carved figures were first part of a traveling exhibit, driven to county fairs and carnivals in the 1960s and ’70s. Today over 50,000 glass bottles form rambling walls that surround a 22-room museum. Wagon wheels, old-fashioned store fronts, and wacky western memorabilia make Tinkertown’s exterior as much as a museum as the wonders within.Inside, the magic of animation takes over. The inhabitants of a raucous little western town animate to hilarious life. Under the big top, diminutive circus performers challenge tigers and defy gravity while the Fat Lady fans herself and a polar bear teeters and totters.

Throughout, eccentric collections of Americana (wedding cake couples, antique tools, bullet pencils and much, much more) fill Tinkertown’s winding hallways. Otto the one-man-band and Esmerelda, the Fortune Teller, need only a quarter to play a tune or predict your future. Through a doorway and across a ramp waits a big-sized surprise: a 35′ antique wooden sailboat that braved a 10 year voyage around the world.

Ever a work in progress, Tinkertown is ready to inspire your imagination and awaken your creative spirit. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Anyhow, a fun little place to check out and spend an hour or two looking at some amazingly complex handmade puppets and cravings, folk art and strange stuff.

Fun and cheap. 3 bucks to get in. A few quarters to get your fortune, play a few songs, test your strength with Uncle Sam and such. Ask for the history from the gentleman working there. It is a short but informative talk.

And, on top of all that, it is a nice little ride to take on a weekend day. ESPECIALLY if you are riding on 2 wheels!! (or three…but that is a different post)

You can also do the trip by car….but why? 🙂

Ride Facts:

This is a fairly short and easy ride. It is also a ride that has many potential additional rides to lengthen the trip. Some of these extra rides are quite nice*.

If you start from Tramway and Central, it is about 15 miles to Tinkertown (so 30 miles round-trip). You should not need extra gear* or supplies for this trip.

The route will take you on well paved roads that are 35, 45 and 50 mph. This ride starts with slight rolling hills on Route 333 that become larger graded climbs and downgrades on Route 14. None of the hills are too hard and any scooter should be fine with them, though 50 cc scooters will be slow on some uphills.  If you are taking a 50 cc scooter, keep to the right hand lane on these hills as the climbs are at 45 and 50 mph and cars will want to pass slower scooters. Luckily these hilly parts are two lanes both ways.  150 cc  scooters or bigger and motorcycles will have no issues with this ride.

There is gas at the beginning of the ride, and will also be gas along the route. No scooters or motorcycles should have to fill up along the way though as the ride is not very long.

Stops: There are no real stops on this trip, but at the halfway point you can hit Molly’s on the way back for a bite or a beer. It is a seedy little restaurant and bar…but those are my favorite :). Molly’s is package sales only on Sunday.

*******

Start:

We start at Central and Tramway.

We usually meet there so people can gas up and grab a bite to eat before taking off (no food at Tinkertown, but you can grab a soda there….just remember to leave them the glass bottle, they use them to make all the walls at Tinkertown).

But we aren’t there yet…as a matter of fact we haven’t left Albuquerque yet….


So a nice way to start would be with a “meet and eat” at Einstein Bros Bagels on Central and Tramway. It’s the start of the ride and a good place to meet up with everyone that is going.

Riding alone? That’s fine too, but really call around and get a group…Group riding is much more fun. And TINKERTOWN screams out to be explored with friends.

Now if you have a name like Einstein Bros, perhaps you should embrace the whole “Hey, we’re smart” thing a bit with some better proofreading…

Our parking site, I think? How did that song from the 60’s go? “I don’t want a pickle, just want to ride on my motor cicle.”

Anyways….From there, once gas tank is full and belly is satiated, time to take off.

It is really a simple ride. And very pretty as you will be traveling first in the canyon between the Sandia and Manzano Mountains. And then riding along the east side of the Sandia mountain. Very green and nice clean mountain air. Traffic is usually light.

Directions: finally 🙂

Start by going straight east on Central, which becomes rt 333 (this is the I-40 Frontage Road). Take that pretty rolling road for 6.5 miles till you get to Tijeras and then turn left onto Route 14.

Route 14 is a bit faster and a fair amount hillier. Take that about 6 miles till you get to the turn for the Sandia Peak and Sandia Ski area. This will be Sandia Crest Road. Turn left and go about 1.2 miles to TINKERTOWN. Turn left and park and have fun.

This photo from The Kid…I took one too, but his was nicer so I stole it off his facebook page.

After seeing the crafts and folk art, watching the humming birds fight over the best feeding spot and checking out the gift shop, it is time to head back.

Easy enough, just turn around and head back the way you came. Leaving TINKERTOWN, turn right onto Sandia Crest Road and start back…..Or

**********

*Better yet, take a quick ride up to the top of Sandia Peak.

Leaving TINKERTOWN, turn left. This will be an additional 12 miles or so each way. Fairly steep with lots of switchbacks, still it is a very doable ride on a well paved road. Watch for Bicyclist and also for Deer–the time I rode my bicycle up the mountain a deer come out of the woods right in front of me.

This ride is very green with huge Pines and has nice views of the city from the top of the mountain. It is also a  good place to take a short hike on some well marked trails.

(again, watch for Deer. **Funny and slightly embarrassing, but once on a hike at the Peak I saw a young deer, less than a year old, with its mother. I was with my wife and kids and I told them to keep on the trail and head back to the car, but I was going to try to get a closer photo of the deer and mom. That I would catch up to them on the way back to the parking lot in just a minute or two. So I move a bit close to take a photo…move a bit closer…a bit closer…till I must have hit the enough point for mom and she comes charging at me…FAST. Crazy eyes and making a weird bleating noise I didn’t know deers made (or perhaps that was me).  I will admit I ran like mad the opposite direction.  Seeing the family up ahead I start yelling, “Run kids, run….The Deer is chasing me….” Of course by that time the deer had stopped and I just looked like a crazy fool running down the path. I really think I impressed the family that day with my masculinity. 🙂  “Dad, tell us again how you ran and ran from that ferocious animal. What animal was that again? Oh yeah, the highly dangerous doe. Run dad run, Bambi is going to get you”   Sigh.)

Remember to take the correct clothing, it is usually 20 degrees colder at the peak than in the city.

The peak ride is a must add-on for anybody from out-of-state visiting the area. Free Parking at the top and you can get a bite to eat at the cafe or some semi fine dining at the High Finance Restaurant.

http://www.sandiapeakrestaurants.com/highfinance/

Remember to drink water. And use sun screen if you are doing a hike…the sun is strong at 10, 678 feet.

Other additional rides are taking Route 14 north to Madrid or even all the way to Santa Fe…but that will be a post for another day 🙂

Route 14 between the Crest road and all the way to Santa Fe is very twisty and pretty and fun. A must ride for any motorcycle or scooter rider looking for a fun day taking a ride around Albuquerque.

http://www.turquoisetrail.org

G


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Categories : Rides around Albuquerque

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