Veloviews for July 29, 2022 – Northern New Mexico

With the Tour de France over for another year and a new tour champion crowned, we have a couple of weeks before the last major stage race of the year starts, the Vuelta Espana (the tour of Spain). With that in mind, I thought I would share an experience of some riding I did around the mountains of northern New Mexico.

The roads I covered are located close to the Kit Carson National Forest, which is not far from Taos, New Mexico. I was staying with my aunt who lived at the top of the mountain. I rode out from her adobe-style house a few times while I was visiting with her, which involved riding down some gravel roads to get to the main road.

I don’t care what you say, riding gravel on a road bike is not only bumpy but treacherous. Of course, I had thin road tires on my bike. That said, I rode a circuit out and back from my aunt’s house, which involved some good hard climbs. Offhand, I don’t recall the exact grades on the ascents, but they were fairly challenging at around 8%.

If you keep riding toward the mountain, you’ll eventually come to the Taos Ski Valley. That said, the roads are in perfect condition, smooth gray asphalt for the most part. The best part was very little traffic, especially as you get closer to the top of the mountain.

Although I probably could have ridden to Taos, I chose not to. It wasn’t to do so much with the distance as the heavy amount of traffic on a busy two lane road. So, I turned around and rode around to the other side of the mountain, then rode back. Not super exciting, but I did get a great workout. And the scenery, as you can see by the couple of pictures I’ve added, is just beautiful.

Have you ever been to New Mexico? Have you ever been to Taos? Have you ever done any road riding or other activities there? Please like, comment, and share this post and let me know. I always love to talk bikes and bicycling with fellow enthusiasts and adventurers.

As I write this, the last full month of summer is quickly approaching. I hope you are getting out on your bike as much as possible because autumn will be upon us before we know it. Until next time, stay safe and have great rides!!!