Show your 2013 summer adventures (picture thread)

[emily_in_nc]

We just returned from two weeks in New Mexico and did some great cycling while there (in addition to excellent hikes). We took our Jamis mountain bikes rather than roadies as we figured our rides would be more urban and/or on unpaved trails in this part of the country. I've included links to some of our photos from the trip below. In all cases, the guest password is TeamEstrogen. Please let me know if it doesn't work.

We spent a week in Albuquerque where we were very impressed with the cycling infrastructure -- bike lanes and paths just about everywhere. Being a big city, there is a lot of traffic, but we only rarely had to ride on a road without a bike lane, and we used the Albuquerque bike map to determine our best (and worst) routes. The biggest downside of the riding here was goatheads -- oh my! We'd never experienced such a thing, having done most of our riding east of the Mississippi, but we quickly got an education when I got my first flat after one day of riding (on pavement -- did not expect that). I got more flats than DH, and after the first one, we went and bought tire liners and additional tubes. Still got a couple of flats even with the liners. And DH picked numerous goatheads out of our tires nightly before they could cause us to flat. He got very good at changing tires quickly.

Here are photos from our favorite place to ride in Albuquerque, the Paseo del Bosque trail: Paseo del Bosque trail ride photos

One day we took the bike-friendly Rail Runner train up to Santa Fe and rode the wonderful Santa Fe Rail-Trail there. What a lovely trail. Once you get south of town, it goes from pavement to an unpaved surface but is not technical, which was perfect for us, since we really haven't done much technical MTBing at all. Since we're road cyclists primarily, we prefer swoopy, fast riding to tight turns, roots, and rocks.

Links to these photos: Santa Fe Rail Trail Ride

Next, we headed to Taos for six days. We didn't care for the West Rim Trail at the Rio Grande Gorge as it was much rockier than expected, so we turned around after the first couple of miles. We later tried and much preferred the Rift Valley Trail at the Taos Valley Overlook area. It was an easy to moderate single-track trail. Had to walk a few times for short distances, but for the most part, it was doable for beginners like ourselves, and we got a good workout. Scenery was gorgeous too.

Photos here: Taos Valley Overlook Mountain Bike Ride

The urban cycling infrastructure wasn't too good in Taos and traffic was heavy, so we didn't ride on the roads there. Loved a lot of things about Taos, but Albuquerque was better for in-town riding.