Rim Trail Mountain Bike Trail
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Description: Great trail full of long climbs, long descents and challenging switchbacks. There is 32 miles of trail to work with that parrallels the road leading to Sunspot, an observatory. The trail does require a certain level of aerobic fitness and high altitude conditioning. I've seen some of my strongest amigos push their bikes up the climbs (including myself) SCF





reviewed by pawndream on July 11, 2010
This review is for the stretch of T105 (Rim Trail) from Sunspot to the slide area (shortly before Highway 130 intersects 6563).
This trail is very rocky. Most of the time the rocks are embedded in the ground, but there are several sections where loose baseball-sized rocks cover the trail. It seemed to me that this was most true of the climbing sections, but maybe that was just because I was tired.
Speaking of which, it's been mentioned before by other reviewers, but I'm going to hit the point home again: this trail is at very high elevation (8,350 - 9,500 feet). You WILL get winded easily if you're not conditioned, which makes the climbs much more difficult.
There really are no steep climbs (that I saw), but it felt like they were. I had to stop several times to catch my breath when I first rode it.
You'd think that with a name like "Rim Trail" you'd get non-stop awesome views from the top of the mountain. Not so. Most of the time you will be riding in a wall of trees and won't be able to see very much. There were a few sections closer to Highway 130 where you could get a glimpse of the Tularosa Basin, but that's about it. I did see some elk on the trail though, so that was cool.
Great trail. Excellent signage. A little on the rocky side for my tastes (I ride a hardtail...Lightweight XC Full suspension ride would be the way to go if you have it!). Basically an out-and back. Ride as long as you can and turn back when you need to. The trail also parallels 6563, so if you're not feeling riding back on the same trail you just rode, hop onto the highway and pedal back.
Similar Trail: High Altitude Race Course
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