The Happy Little Three Speed Daily Commute

I'm not particularly good at remembering to turn on any kind of GPS or cycling computer.  I downloaded Ride with GPS a week or so ago to see how long my three speed commute was.  I particularly wonder if I tackle any hills steep enough to meet the 5% climb challenge for the Society of Three Speeds Adventure April.  According to this, my maximum grade is around 14%.  I know that hill well.  It's where the bike path climbs out of the arroyo up to Siringo Rd.  Is it at least 100 feet long?  I believe so.

My daily commute runs 5.9 miles one way, and my overall elevation gain is 721 feet.  It is nice that I get to coast home all that way at the end of my day.

I'm still haven't decided if I can do a bicycle overnight in April.  The place I go for quick overnights is up in the mountains.  The initial climb up Gonzales Rd. is quite a bit steeper than the steepest part of my commute, and then it is on up into the mountains.  I could mash my way up there, with a bit of walking, but would I enjoy it?  Once the weather turns a little nicer, I'll do a trial run in the direction of the mountains.

There's a nice campground on the Pecos River near Ribera, NM.  I've often thought of doing a tour down there, but that's a 60 mile ride from my house, much of it along Interstate 25, which is not bad for touring on, but the noise from the cars and trucks drives me batty.  There's a 66 mile version that goes down 285 and cuts over to Villanueva on county road 24, which is probably dirt, and may be a private ranch road with a locked gate.  I'd have to go see.  Google maps places it at between 5 and 6 hours by bike.  Given my normal slow speed, (I have found I can go faster, I just don't think to do so), it would probably take me most of the day - much longer than it would take me to ride/push a three speed up to Black Canyon Campground in the mountains, so I'll continue to give it some thought.

I keep thinking that I will get stronger just by doing my normal commute, and one day, I'll be able to snap my fingers at riding up into the mountains on a three speed.  I can say that I am noticeably in much better shape than I was twenty-five years ago, although admittedly a little heavier.  I find the ride up to work pleasant, but it takes effort.  I never think, "Wow, that has become so easy, what else can I climb?"  But when I'm feeling whiny I think of those early Tour de France riders on their single speeds, grinding their way through the Alps.  (Though, as far as I know, they may have avoided the Alps early on.  I really don't know my bicycling history.)