Santa Fe mountain biking week of 9/12/11

[crjdirt]

I’m going to be in Santa Fe 9/12-9/15. If anyone has any recommendations for "must do" rides or even better wants to join me for a ride (mornings will be best but I should be able to sneak away any time) please let me know.

If I’m solo something close to town would be best for me, with company I’d be up for an epic ride anywhere in the Santa Fe area. Nothing crazy technical wanted but challenging is always good.

Is it worth taking off from downtown and connecting the local trails? I hiked a bit of that last visit and it seemed pretty easy but maybe fun if you can connect enough of it together for a longer ride?

Thanks,
Chuck from Denver
best way to reach me- [email protected]

[John Fisch]

The local epic is the Winsor Trail, but that requires a shuttle, so it may be tough if you’re going solo.

The closest thing to "must dos" in or near town, especially if you’re looking for fun without maxing out the tech factor, are the La Tierra Trails and the Dale Ball Trails. I found the Dale Ball Central trail network to be very entertaining. Dale Ball North was also good. Dale Ball South and Atayala peak gets you into brutally steep territory.

Also, a few miles south of town is the Galisteo Basin Preserve, which is a nice place to put on some miles with some flowy singletrack and unexposed views of the surrounding mountains.

Mid September can still be pretty hot and La Tierra and Galisteo are pretty exposed–Dale Ball has is all in a Pinion/Juniper forest, so there’s a little relief. Ride the exposed areas in the morning/evening and the wooded areas pretty much any time.

If you have the time/transportation, it’s worth the hour to head north to Taos and/or Los Alamos or south to White Mesa.

If you want to hit something along the way to/from Santa Fe while you’re cruising I-25, there’s a great singletrack loop in the Sugarite Canyon State Park just outside Raton.

[Mark Larson]

Hey Chuck –

We’re in Denver too. Just got back from SF / Jemez (west of Los Alamos) this past weekend. Agree with all skibum’s comments, and reiterate Los Alamos / La Cueva / Jemez (all west of Los Alamos off Rt. 4) as "worth it" if you can get up there. Jemez Springs is a great R&R stop apres ride too on Rt. 4 after it turns south toward Albuquerque. There was a lot of damage from the Las Conchas fire this summer but enough trails are open for a trip up.

A simple, easily accessible from downtown, and gorgeous ride is the 12 mi. Rail Trail (2x out and back). The beauty part is you can get there from downtown starting at the Railyard (Guadalupe & Montezuma / Manhattan?) and it’ll take you out of town in a coupla miles, then you head southwest through high desert with great mountain views all around. Not too technical, and pretty well maintained. You can go to Eldorado and as far as Lamy to the east. On the backtrip you can conveniently stop at Second St. Brewery or Cowgirl Hall of Fame in the Railyard / Guadalupe St. district to slake that NM sunshine-induced thirst.

Happy rides. Any more specifics I’d be happy to respond. I’m John and my email’s [email protected].

[crjdirt]

I’m new to the site and wasn’t aware I had replies. I was jut sending a reply to myself that there must be good enough riding in Santa Fe for people to not be surfing the net and that’s a good sign! Glad I saw your guys replies before hitting send 😳

Thanks for the info guys! decisions, decisions….

I’m thinking an evening ride @ Galisteo Basin Preserve, and take off for a morning on the rail trail, maybe tie in some Dale Ball if time/ temp permits? I’ll hit up one of the local bike shops for maps.

I’ve been itchin to explore Taos- sounds like a good long-weekend trip for next summer…

Thanks again for possibly saving me from lame rides or driving aimlessly looking for good spots to ride. I’ll print this info off and take it on my adventures next week.

Chuck

PS- I just clicked "notify me when a reply is posted"

[crjdirt]

So I stuck with Dale Ball and the Rail Trail. Santa Fe mountain bikers are very lucky to have trails like this so close to downtown.

Here is a link to the route I rode on the Dale Ball Trail System http://www.nmts.org/rides/daleBall.htm I taped a quick reference sheet (1L, 3R, 4R, 6L, etc.) to my top tube which made navigating the route easy. Nothing too hard or technical but a good workout with nice views of Santa Fe down below. I was nervous of running in to hikers (literally) so I never really got to go full speed on the faster funner sections. The few hikers I saw were very friendly. No mntn bikers out on the weekdays I was out, just a few roadies on the way up to the trailhead.

Rail Trail is good for a mellow spin.

I agree with the replies above- good trails within a short bike ride from the Plaza area but I bet the riding outside of town (Taos especially) is awesome, can’t wait to explore it.

“A mediocre day of mountain biking is much better than a good day at work”

[Author]

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