I just returned from a vacation in New Mexico to celebrate a special occasion with my wife. She’s pretty terrific. While our trip lasted 8 days, we allowed each other a day to do something we wanted to do by ourselves. She took the day to go to visit the Ghost Ranch of Georgia o'Keefe Fame and you can probably guess what I did.

TaosWoman gave me some fantastic advice on a shop to rent a bike and some roads to ride in the Taos area. The routes she suggested had both climbing with “mountain views” and flats with views of the Mesa. The supper the evening before was not my typical pasta meal. Hey….we were in New Mexico so who could pass up the new Mexican fare with red and green sauces!!! It was hardly cycling food but I figured my iron stomach could handle it at least for one occasion. Little did I know I was going to be on the bike for 8 hours.

I’ll not bore you with all the details but it was a terrific day on the bike……like most all. It started with beautiful clear blue skies with temps in the high 50’s and doing a lot of climbing and ended on the flats with winds blowing me sideways and temps in the 90’s. While I kept an eye on the sky all day I didn’t quite make it back before a storm blew through and had to take cover for 15 mins. Just a typical summer day in that area.

The bike did not have a cyclometer so I didn't know how far I had ridden until I returned and measured it on one of my maps. That was probably a good thing! To my surprise it turns out I rode 102 miles. I'm guessing I was off the bike for 1hr to 1.5 hours for pictures, talking to folks, refueling, etc.

I did take my heart rate monitor as I did not know what to expect from the higher altitudes. I rode very conservatively and within my normal hr zone and I didn't experience any issues with being up 6000-8000 feet higher than normal. In fact, with the humidity being so low sweating was not an issue for me and I drank even less than normal which is really, really a small amount. I only had one water bottle and only refilled it twice over 8 hours........That is pitiful but I never felt dehydrated. Probably the new mex food and beer the night before!!!!

I’ll let the pics tell the rest.

The start at 6:30 am with cheap pancakes from Taos McDonalds.
The morning light on the road to Taos Ski Valley.
It was relief seeing the sign and that I had climbed to 9200 feet.
The ski lifts in Taos Ski Valley without the snow.
The view after leaving the ski valley and looking back.
The rental Bike-a Specialized Sequoia Elite-a nice rental!
The Gorge in Wild Rivers
The fast approaching storm.
Looking the opposite way from the storm-notice a difference in terrain and the sky?
The frozen advocado pie that tasted like key lime pie....
A good meal of new mexican fare featuring red and green sauces.
Taos Pueblo-some very interesting people to talk to and learn from.

Sweet! Great pix.

I was in that area (Ranchos de Taos) 30 years ago. Absolutely beautiful. And it was as if time had reversed itself. Someone told me (back then) that in that area many speak the language of Cervantes (in other words, the "old" Spanish).

My wife and I have been to New Mexico before (Taos and Santa Fe) but never for any cycling. We would love to go back there!

Nice Report jppe - My wife and I traveled out there about 14 years ago and loved every minute of it. Your pics bring back alot of the memories.
It sounds like you did quite a ride, any idea of distance ridden and how did you feel considering the altitude as you are accustomed to a mere 1,000 ft. above sea level.

Looks beautiful. I have been to Taos and spent a lot of time in Santa Fe, I love the food and 500 different types of margaritas!. I was not riding much at the time so I never road there. I was running and it took a bit of time for me to get use to the altitude, did you have any problems? Winter in this area it also beautiful but very, very dry and cold. I use to wake up in the morning desicated. Great place to vacation if you like arts/crafts and the O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe is nice.

Thanks Dan. I had answered those questions the first time I posted but was logged off and had to redo it.....Maybe our conditioning from riding helped to make the adjustments a little easier?? Also, I had been out there for 5 days and done some hiking so maybe that helped as welll.

I've added the info to the post above for the benefit of others:

The bike did not have a cyclometer so I didn't know how far I had ridden until I returned and measured it on one of my maps. That was probably a good thing! To my surprise it turns out I rode 102 miles. I'm guessing I was off the bike for 1hr to 1.5 hours for pictures, talking to folks, refueling, etc.

I did take my heart rate monitor as I did not know what to expect from the higher altitudes. I rode very conservatively and within my normal hr zone and I didn't experience any issues with being up 6000-8000 feet higher than normal. In fact, with the humidity being so low sweating was not an issue for me and I drank even less than normal which is really, really a small amount. I only had one water bottle and only refilled it twice over 8 hours........That is pitiful but I never felt dehydrated. Probably the new mex food and beer the night before!!!!

Hey those pictures look like my back yard! Wait a minute that IS my backyard!

From the route you told me about I think your calculations of 100 plus or minus is just about right.

But just because the humidity is low doesn't mean you aren't sweating, it's just evaporating so fast you don't see or feel the sweat. We carry water in the car everywhere we go.

I'm so glad you had a great time in my backyard.

I would enjoy that same trip I am sure.

Two questions.

1. How Hot did it get during the day?
2. Was the whole trip on paved roads?

I have dreamed of such a trip through
Indian Country on a bike for years.

1. The temps probably reached the high 80's the day I road-maybe even 90 in Wild Rivers as it was pretty exposed. However it cooled down when the clouds came rolling in.
2. Yes-the roads were actually very nice. On the major roads (Hwy 522) there was a 3 foot shoulder right of the white line that I rode while climbing. While I was going down a hill, I moved over to the white line to avoid any sand, rock and other debris at high speeds. Traffic wasn't very bad either. The biggest thing I found was to plan for water stops-although as it turned out I didn't need that many. There are probably some routes where it's pretty far between stores so some advanced planning is a must.

There are some really, really nice areas to ride out that way. I saw a lot of people on bikes throughout New Mexico.

TaosWoman-thanks again for all your help. It was really easy to have a great time out your way with your tips on roads, bike shop and places to go. I'm so glad I didn't try and ride out of Santa Fe. That would have probably been pretty miserable with roads and traffic.

Just let me eat at the Plaza restaurant and I will be happy eternally...