Las Huertas must mean rock garden
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I have too many bicycles, but my oldest road bike, the Moots Compact SL, is the one that is most special to me. I remember waiting for my frame to be fabricated when Moots said they would put an end to their all 6/4 tubing bicycles, and feeling greatly relieved when I finally received what must have been one of the last of the all 6/4 Compact SL’s. Thank you Moots for delivering the envy of the local bicycling community. This bicycle has lived up to all the accolades that Moots workmanship has earned in the last 35 years, but my love for the bike is regarding it’s “can do” attitude. I live in Albuquerque where many riders enjoy what we call mixed media, a little pavement, a little rough pavement, some dirt roads, a few crumby dirt roads, maybe not quite a road, …. I think of one ride in particular known locally as ‘Round the Mountain. There are several versions of this ride, but all the routes require an 8 mile climb up Las Huertas, a steep dirt road that has no shortage of washboard, loose gravel and at least a billion insanely annoying tiny flies. The hardest version of the ride is the one where the rider makes his/her way through 4 miles of annoying tiny flies only to be greeted by a thunderstorm. I’ve been that rider on more than one occasion and for that alone, my little Mootsie deserves a makeover for enduring the warp speed descent trying to avoid death by lightening incineration. Rider and Moots are thrashed by washboard, assaulted by loose rock and coated with, yes you guessed it, a half billion annoying tiny flies. Most rides go well, however, and Mootsie gets a wash and a rubdown with lemon Pledge when we get home. The Compact SL has held up well for more than a decade, but a decal manicure and some lipofinishing are clearly in order. I would be willing to sit around in a Steamboat apartment for a couple of days contemplating the meaning of life while delivering Mootsie to your factory. We all must make sacrifices.