Southwest - Albuquerque NM for July 4th weekend

Hello!
I am going to be in ABQ over the coming weekend and will get to ride on Fri-Sat-Sun mornings. I will be staying with the in-laws who live around Montano/Coors (West Mesa) and was wondering if there were any good routes of 30-40 miles each that I can ride where I won't spend too much time competing with vehicles for space on the road/trails/etc.
Any feedback/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Hi:

I live a couple of miles from there. For a 30 mile ride you can do the 'volcano loop':

Follow dedicated bike path at montano & montano point road (0.7 west of coors & montano) south. This will eventually run parallel with unser.

Follow bike path to unser & ladera.

turn right (up hill) on ladera and follow to dead end. take a left at dead end (becomes 98th street).

follow 98th street to (south) to central ave.

turn right(west) on central and go up the hill to paseo de volcan.

turn right(west) on paseo de volcan and ride until it becomes paseo del norte going east.

follow paseo del norte until you reach universe.

turn right (south) on universe and follow to unser.

go east on unser until you reach montano.

Hi:

I live a couple of miles from there. For a 30 mile ride you can do the 'volcano loop':

....

Much appreciated, I will be giving it a try first thing on Friday.

Sure thing. Another option is just to get on the bosque trail. Very close. Go east on montano and pass coors. After you cross the montano bridge you can turn right onto the bosque trail. The length of the complete trail is 30 miles or so. Pretty flat recreational ride. Lot of people there on the weekends though. I tend to avoid it on weekends for that reason. Going south will take you past the zoo and botanical gardens and tingley beach.

Have someone give you a lift, east on Central, out to Tijeras - then ride up the back side of the mountain.

Then, it's downhill, almost all the way home.

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=35.153075~-106.399334&style=r&lvl=11&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&rtp=pos.35.088121_-106.381005_near%2011896%20State%20Highway%2014%20N%2C%20Tijeras%2C%20NM%2087059-7702__~pos.35.2105110883713_-106.448909640312_near%20Street%2C%20Sandia%20Park%2C%20New%20Mexico%2087047%2C%20United%20States__&rtop=0~0~0&encType=1

Then Jump on Tramway on the way back, very bicycle friendly, and coast downhill all the way to the Rio Grande.

Have someone give you a lift, east on Central, out to Tijeras - then ride up the back side of the mountain.

Then, it's downhill, almost all the way home.

I had thought of that but I intend to take it easy while I am there. Have hiked up Sandia on La Luz before as well has driven up and down the road on the backside.

Sure thing. Another option is just to get on the bosque trail. Very close. Go east on montano and pass coors. After you cross the montano bridge you can turn right onto the bosque trail. The length of the complete trail is 30 miles or so. Pretty flat recreational ride. Lot of people there on the weekends though. I tend to avoid it on weekends for that reason. Going south will take you past the zoo and botanical gardens and tingley beach.

I have walked along the bosque on the weekend and found that it (some of the pedestrians) isn't too cycle friendly due to the crowds... I will definitely get up and around the volcano calderas.

adp1-
Thanks for the route! I got to ride it twice while I was there. The first was on Friday morning (in the rain from beginning to end), and the second was on Saturday. I have to say that the grind up Central was much easier on Friday when I could barely see anything......

03FinestAL:

You bet! Glad you enjoyed it. Just finished that ride myself this morning. It's my weekday ride that I do before starting work. Going to go with my group to ride to NM south 14 tomorrow (near tijeras). If you're in town again and want to do another route let me know.