Santa Fe, NM

I spent 10 summers and occasional winters in SF, but not recently, so general suggestions.

- March into April can be cold, so dress for winter if going out early and be prepared to strip down to 55-65 temp's. It's at 7,000 ft., so you get temperature extremes as well as snow.

- Stop and Rob and Charlie's bike shop on Sy. Michaels. Ask for advice

- You can loop out of the downtown area, easily getting in a 40+ miler. Up Bishops Lodge Rd., over Encantado to Tano, down to Camino La Tierra and south towards Airport Rd., out to Rt 14, to Rancho Viejo to Richards, up Rodeo (now Rt 300) to Old Santa Fe Trail and back to town. Many road options on this loop.

- Or drive and park up near Pojoaque and take 503 NE to Chimayo, then Rt 76 up to Truchas. Bring your hill legs, but a killer downhill from Truchas.

- Also the White Rock Loop, either from Pojoaque west on 502 up to Los Alamos (Pajarito Rd. is quieter) to Rt 4 and back around and past Bandalier to White Rock, or back to Pojoaque. Or park in White Rock for a 28 mile loop. It's a bit higher up here on the plateau.

- Or Rt 14 south of town as far as far as you want and back. If doing this, park down south of I25 somwhere, stay off Cerrilos Rd. is general advice.

- Or Old Las Vegas Hwy out to Rt 285 towards Lamy and back. You can pick up Old Santa Fe Trail at Peralta then east to Gancho and down to OLVH

- Or Interstate 25 out to the Glorieta exit to Rt 50 to Pecos, then Rt 63 up to Terroro and back.

Many out and back's, go as far as you want then turn around. The scenery is always exceptional so the out and backs are never boring.

The big climbs are the Hyde Park Rd. in SF to the ski basin and back - 28 RT and +3500 ft.. Also the Sandia Crest in ABQ., from wherever. From Central and Tramway it's 54 RT and +5500 ft. of elevation gained. Or park somewhere up on Rt 14.

In general all road riding in SF is good excepting Cerillos Rd (Was awful, looks better), St. Francis and Rt285 leaving town until you get to the frontage Rd.

Food:

- Tesuque Market on Bishops Lodge Rd., the best breakfast burrito on the planet
-Tecalote Cafe on St. Michaels.
- Molly's NM cooking on Calle Lorca. Authentic NM food.
- Rancho de Chimayo in Chimayo
- Maria's on Cordova
- Plaza Cafe on the SF plaza had about the best green chille stew.
- The Pantry on Cerrillos, great pancakes
- Harry's Roadhouse out on Old Las Vegas Hwy.

In ABQ.

- Taco Sal's on corner of Menaul and Eubank.

For NM cooking, the chille is a sauce, red or green, on top of a enchilada/burrito/taco, etc... Green is typically hotter, but not always, you can ask and also ask for it on the side. Also order sopapilla's, a puffy tortilla thing as a side dish, you put honey on it and it cuts the taste of the hot chille.

"many potential rides are stymied by impassable arroyos during high water in spring"

Really ?. In my 10 years, all during the monsoon season, I only twice got wet from storms and was never stopped due to a paved road being impassible from water. One key to avoiding this, later in spring and into the summer is to be aware that it will rain (why it's called monsoon season), often starting around 11 and lasting on/off all afternoon. Thus it helps to be done with your ride by 10 - 10:30. Which coincides with riding early enough to beat the heat.


"random dead ends"

That's kind of a poor route planning issue - no ?. Certainly MapMyRide and RidewithGPS helps with that.

"and eye-wateringly boring stretches of highway that go nowhere (hence the out-and-back)."

Well, yes that's the nature of desert riding. You either like the scenery or not.


"That said, two above-average rides I like are the Prison Loop southwest of town"

Also known as Rt 14. There's a loop here called the Lone Butte Ride, named after the lone butte along Rt 14 south of the prison. The loop uses Rt 14, plus Bonanza Creek Rd., then part of Frontage Rd. along i25, and loops thru La Cienega to Airport Rd./Rt 284.