Season prediction: 1. At some point '26 Mets will be lauded as in "The Wild Card Race." 2. This will only happen because "The Wild Card Race" is a stupid concept. Winning the Division is true love; "Winning the Wild Card Race" is a Hallmark Valentine's Day card. #LGM #MetsSky #Mets #SNY #LFGM

These are the absolute worst and best Mets games. Worst because we're down 7-0 in the 5th. Best because Gary, Keith and Ron can just riff on Venezuelan baseball, or whatever, for as long as they want, and it's great. #LGM #MetsSky #Mets #SNY #LFGM

In 1B Strat-o-Matic fielding terms, prime Keith Hernandez is about 1e6, Pete Alonso somewhere around 4e12. Mark Vientos, I don't know even know if he's a 4. At least at this point. #LGM #MetsSky

Sure, be nice if the Mets won tonight, but Gary Cohen's tie has already won the evening and the season. #envy #Mets #LGM #LFGM

Sticking with Peralta there against the lefty hitter. Maybe Manaea wasn't ready, but...hmmm. #LGM #MetsSky #Mets

Brandon Sproat throwing a no-hitter this afternoon would constitute quite the cherry on top of things currently. #Mets #MetsSky #LGM

The Melendez ringing double was impressive and Lindor's running up the pitch count excellent, but... #Mets #MetsSky #LGM Also, having Joe Buck call a game with Orel and Ron is definitely "one of these guys doesn't belong here" and it ain't the Hall of Fame or almost pitchers.

Today seems a good time to post what I wish the #Mets typical batting lineup would have been this year: 1. Kwan - CF 2. Bichette - 3B 3. Soto - LF 4. Alonso - 1B 5. Baty - 2B 6. Lindor - SS 7. Alvarez - C 8. Benge - RF 9. Ted Williams - DH Ted wasn't available, but Kwan very likely was. Sigh.

I'm disappointed that McLean's great start was wasted and the 'pen beyond imploded, but Steve Gelbs is showing great hang in sticking with Keith and Ron while they go blow-out loss wacky. Tremendous viewing. Thanks to all three. #LGM #MetsSky #Mets #SNY #LFGM

Serious Vientos leather. Seriously! ‪ #Mets #MetsSky #LFGM

No Gary. Steve is fun and I like him, but there's no Gary. Sigh. #LGM #Mets #LetsGoMets #MetsSky

Dear #MetsSky, you win sixty, you lose sixty, and there's the other forty-two. I get the doom, it's in the fandom DNA. I don't get the outrage. We're having fun, right? Baseball is all about losing, at least 1/3rd of the time. #LFGM

It's a shame "xenophobia" is such a fancy, hard to spell word. It captures what's wrong with our country's current leadership and why most of it can't wait for it to be over.

The good thing is that Todd Zeile knows filling in for Keith in the booth, particularly in San Francisco, is harder than any job he had playing the game. He's trying real hard and sitting in for Keith Richards for a Stones concert is tough. It's just tough. #LGM #MetsSky #Mets #SNY #LFGM

It took 33 years of living in New Mexico, but I discovered the absolute best bike path in the state Tuesday.

Slick fielding/throw by Baty to end 10th. He's looking good at 1B so far. #Mets #LGM

Transportation and No Kings Day III Regarding tomorrow's Burque iteration of "No Kings Day III," I first want to express my admiration for the unknown (to me) person who first said/asked at some meeting a while back, "Why don't we just close San Mateo, Montgomery, Louisiana, and Comanche during…

AMAFCA sediment clean-up makes riding up Tijeras Arroyo too inviting to pass up.

Trader Joe’s via Dragon Arroyo Visitors asking us locals down here in ABQ's South Valley "How do I get to Trader Joe's?" are met with that human equivalent of the quizzical turn of the dog's head. "Huh?" is the typical South Valley response, as it is for questions regarding: Whole Foods Thai food…

Cycling Las Campanas Not really a fan of folks having more money or house than they need, but a certain symbiosis exists between cheapskate cyclists (me) and rich people who buy big houses away from the riff-raff in town. Enclaves such as Las Campanas outside of Santa Fe combine very low-density…

Regarding today's "real game." #MetsSky. This word, "real," I do not think it means what you think it means. I'm excited; we're all excited, but let's keep it "real." The only real thing about today's game and the next 20 or so is the regular season pricing of tickets and concessions. #Mets #LGM

Bosque Trail: The Night Time is the Right Time Each personal social circle is different; the folks/family with whom I spend time generally think I'm at least a little crazy for riding my bicycle places. That sentiment of crazy is pretty much never expressed until it comes to me riding at night.…

Free Walking/Rolling at Winrock Mall I'd like to report this as "Winrock Mall closes street to vehicular traffic to create pedestrian mall," but the fact drivers can't turn from Pennsylvania NE into Winrock isn't about us/that. Well, at least directly. While I very much enjoyed seeing drivers…

If you've never had the patronizing, soul crushing experience of being in a Special Education classroom, watching Peacock announcers of mixed doubles curling right now is an excellent example of what it's like. #curling #olympics

Roadways and the Two Types of Presidential Protest For reasons that are all too painfully needed, everywhere you look these days there seems to be another protest of the worst president ever. I support them all and have attended a few so far, looking forward to both the next one and the time,…

Btw, here's the link to the White House Correspondents' Association contact page: whca.press/contact/?

Cycling at the edge of the Paseo/Unser Universe Apologies to folks who consider the edge of the universe home, but riding buddy and I rode bicycles out to the edge of the universe yesterday, i.e., Paseo del Norte and Universe/Rainbow/Unser. The route went something like this: No, we were not drunk…

Ode to Silver Bike Boulevard Your humble blogger told an outrageous fib the other day. I declared that the City of Albuquerque has zero bike infrastructure signs pointing out landmarks and such. Not true! As shown in this horribly out-of-focus photo I took yesterday, the City's Silver Bike…

This was posted in the new Epstein files release and removed about 20 mins later. Wonder why that is.

That Wacky Bike Lane at San Mateo and I-40 Here's something you probably don't hear much in coversations between Albuquerque cyclists... "Yeah, yesterday I was out for a ride and took that bike lane on San Mateo at I-40." Did you know there's a bike lane on San Mateo Blvd.? I only know because I…

News Not Found in the “News” As it appears, again for the billionth time, that a statement by our current president will not be passed along by any major news organization in this country, BB will fill in the gap by passing it along to the seven, eight on a good day, readers of this blog. Trump:…

El Paso Signage Every time I visit a city, I take a picture like this one and wonder, again, for the umpteenth time "Why doesn't Albuquerque have signs like this?" It really isn't that hard or expensive, folks. We can do this. And yes, if you squint you can see that the "Murchinson Drive Bikeway"…

New Mexico Oil’s Boomiest Boom As my friends will tell you, I spend WAY too much time looking and obsessing over how much crude oil is produced in New Mexico. Hey, we all need hobbies. from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Neighbor Texas continues to dominate in terms of totals, but…

Larry Stoehr and Claremont NE at San Mateo Blvd Larry Stoehr was killed while cycling at Claremont and San Mateo last November 14th. I didn't know about it for several weeks, as I've been practicing the same form of mental health news curation many of us have chosen to remain at least somewhat…

Just wondering. Did we fix the ACA subsidy thing yet? Or release the full Epstein files? Because otherwise this invade this and credit card that are the very Reality TV president bullshit they are intended to be.

@zzbenz.bsky.social & Santa Fe friends...

At a small demonstration in Albuquerque protesting the death of Renee Good at a federal immigration facility, two people were detained, an agent used pepper spray and the crowd of about 20 was declared an "illegal assembly" and ordered to disperse or face arrest.

Visiting El Paso and Streetcar-Oriented Tourism Getting out of town over MLK, Jr. Weekend and heading down to the West Texas town of El Paso (cue Marty Robbins). My first visit of substance and I'm really looking forward to riding this: Courtesy Creative Commons creator "B575" That's an El Paso…

That “No E-Bikes” Sign in the Bosque Deciding to obtain and ride an e-bike adds a plethora of legal, moral, ethical, and sociological complexities to one's life. That is to say e-bikes are heavier, and not just because the battery weighs ten pounds. One of those trillion legal, moral, ethical, and…

Wanna Read a Really Good Book About Albuquerque? I believe the current parlance for the following statement seems to be "saying the quiet part out loud." Statement: Why aren't there any really good books about Albuquerque? Up to now, pretty much every book about Burque or New Mexico is either one…

Best Rides of ’25: LA and L. Ron Hubbard Way So very often the best bike rides are also the most ill-considered. After 16 straight hours of sitting on Amtrak from ABQ to Los Angeles, I decided to eschew sanely putting the loaded bike on a Metro train out to my AirBnB in Santa Monica and, instead,…

Living in the Present with John Prine "I'm leaning against a cherry-red 1977 Coupe de Ville at a Citgo station in Gulfport, Florida, waiting for the car's owner to emerge from the attached convenience store." Thus begins Tom Piazza's slim, yet rich time spent with American treasure John Prine. In…

This Past Week’s Public Meeting on Lomas Blvd. In the good 'ol Pandemic Days of 2020 we would have called this week's Lomas Blvd. Safety Improvement public meeting a "COVID Party." About 100 folks were crammed into the small "Learners' Chess" board game training center to see some info boards, try…

My New “Free” Membership in El Pueblo Train Track Crash Club Grouch Marx famously said he'd never join a club that would have him as a member, and it was my strong intention to never join this one. But yesterday afternoon I made a bad decision that left me joining the very large number of cyclists…

Looking West atop Nine Mile Hill The road goes on *forever. Enjoy. *Actually, this road ends at the Rio Puerco about three miles west of this spot. But you get the idea.

Importance of Underground Trails Residing in the far South Valley hinterlands beyond Rio Bravo Blvd, we locals go "to town" quite a bit, as the far South Valley doesn't have much in the way of "town." Myself a cycling local, the photo above shows an extremely important bit of active transportation…

Am finding it rather pleasantly possible to just port my fandom from a team in the NL East to AL East because, hey, it's all really about hating the Yankees. Right? So the Pete move is all good. Plus, having a bird on a jersey/hat is boss. #metssky. #LGM

The Kids Are Alright Had the unbeatable fun and privilege yesterday to serve as "judge" for a mock trial round at my old teacher stomping grounds, Jefferson Middle School. Here's the scene outside the school on a December morn: I counted about ten bikes and both the bikes and plentiful room for…

Connector Trail to Paseo de la Mesa Trail: Teaser Post Was/am going to pass along a much longer post on this subject today, but don't believe the hype: Retirement is busy! So many little things, mostly naps, to do every day. Anyway, as placeholder, I'll just post the photo below today along with a…

Upcoming Lomas Blvd. Public Meeting As follow-up to our little series here at BB on how much crossing Lomas at Yale is less than optimal, we need to mention a December 17th public meeting that will take a look at current awfulness and possible improvements a bit further east down the stroad that…