# Santa Fe Century



## morryjg (Jan 6, 2008)

What a great ride! This was the first century I've done on our tandem and it was my wife's first century ever.  We were a bit worried coming into the week because all the weather leading up to the ride on Sunday was rain, rain & more rain. We lucked out! It was awesome on ride day. Started out the day with jackets and such but after the first 20 miles the jackets came off. (and the climbing began) One other RBR rider found us in the masses (Spanky_88007) and stopped to say HI.  The first half of the ride was awesome and went quicker than I thought it would. The wind picked up (as usual) around the half way point and we had crosswinds on the bottom of the loop, which meant we got headwinds/crosswinds on the way back up to Santa Fe. They were not too bad compared to what we had run into at home and in KS when we were training. So, we just found a good pace and got'er done. 

What's a good ride report without some pictures?!

Beginning of the ride. I think this was at least 12 - 15 miles in. I forgot to take any pictures real early because we were busy getting out of Santa Fe and the fingers were cold so I didn't want to fumble the camera while riding.










Funky artist's place










Looking up at the road from the first rest stop










Stopped to take off our jackets so I took a pic looking up the road










Another artist's workshop/gallery










I thought the windmill poking up out of the trees looked cool. Not sure if the pic does any justice, but it _was_ shot driving the tandem. (that's my best excuse  )










Top of the first real climb. We topped out right by some single bikes and said "See Ya." Then we proceeded to pass a car on the way down. Tandem's sure are FUN on the downhill!










Sandia Ski Area - I learned to ski there!










Heartbreak Hill. You can see the road cut angling to the left in the center of the picture. I wanted to get another pic to show the climb itself but failed. It was a b* of a climb. But we made it without stopping!!! There was at least one dude pulled over to the side that looked like he was trying to keep from yacking up everything he just ate at the rest stop. Glad he held it in until we passed.










Goofy shot as we were cruising along.  










Out in the plains on the southern part of the loop.










Draft behind the biggest person you can find, or in this case the tandem.










Cool church across from a rest stop.










Pretty much the last climb. This one sucked because there was so much broken glass on the road. 










Elevation Profile - Heartbreak Hill is the straight up section at about 42 miles. Those next miles sure were fun!! We were riding easy and cruising around 30mph. The first roller we hit we pedaled in hard and were pushing 35-38 at the bottom then passed everyone going up the other side and coasted over the top of it still over 20. :thumbsup: 










That's it for photos. After that climb we were pretty much done and just rode. It was a great ride. With the mileage too and from the hotel we were at 105 and change and 4777 feet of climbing according to the garmin.


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## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

Nice report. Heartbreak hill looks like fun - straight up


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## Spanky_88007 (Aug 28, 2008)

That first massive downhill was great. I passed a few people that were really pedaling to stay ahead of me. 

That is funny that you mention the guys looking like they was going to yak. There was one that in fact WAS yakking as I got to the top of Heartbreak. That killed any intentions I had of resting at the top. 

How funny, that Orbea was parked there when I stopped at Galisteo, as well. We crossed paths many times and didn't even notice, it seems...

Great pictures, and good to meet you, even if it was only briefly.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Looks like you had a great time, I had a great time looking at the pix!


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## morryjg (Jan 6, 2008)

Spanky_88007 said:


> That is funny that you mention the guys looking like they was going to yak. There was one that in fact WAS yakking as I got to the top of Heartbreak. That killed any intentions I had of resting at the top.


When I saw a guy pull off to the side and lean over his bars I was praying that we made it past him before he yakked. I did NOT want to witness the event with any of the 5 senses and didn't want my wife to either. It may have just ended our quest for the top without stopping.


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