Road biking in Albuquerque

The tramway bike trail with chamisa ( aka rabbit bush) blooming on each side with Sandia Crest in the background

I am currently in Albuquerque, visiting with my sister and keeping an eye on her after open heart surgery a week ago. She is doing fine, but requires occassional sitting on to keep her from becoming too active and undoing all the good healing rest and recovery she is getting.

One way to keep her close to home is to ride her bike for her vicarious pleasure, so I have been enjoying some nice rides. Plus I haven't shown her how to uncouple her other bike from the stationary trainer. I'm sure if pushed she would figure it out herself but...

In the meantime riding in ABQ has been great. The city has been very active in developing a variety of bike friendly trails and routes, pretty equally split between exclusive bike and hike trails and clearly marked bike lanes in a lot of the major roads. Plus the busses all take bikes and their new "road runner" commuter rail, with room in each car for bikes, runs the length of the metro area from Bernallilo in the north to the south valley in the south. Several of the major east west bike trails cross the "road runner " at stops so it is possible to combine the luxury of being taken from point A to point B and then riding. It is so civilized compared to Houston biking, which is still in the process of adding bike racks to the downtown busses, while the burbs wait in hopeful patience.

Albuquerque also has the Bosque Redondo trail which runs along the Rio Grande from one end of the central metro area to the other. Built in the very wide flood plain of the river, this trail has cottonwood trees, chamisa and other native flowering plants and vines on both sides and goes past the Botanical Gardens, the Aquarium and the Zoo each with its own turn off.

From where Kris, my sister lives, there is a trail along side the Hahn arroyo, a major east west drainage ditch, which turns north and then west again to lead to the Bosque trail at Paseo del Norte. There are two slight climbs over the highway crossing and the commuter rail crossing, but other than that it was a nice 40 mile ride down past the zoo to the turn around and back. There were a lot of road runners, (the birds) who would dart crazily into the path, see the bikers coming and run alongside for a bit until they were able to dart back into the undergrowth. If you have never seen a road runner in motion, it is quite amusing. They run in a straight line smoothly but change direction with a mechanical jerk as if they were on a pulley or chain.

The other really pleasant aspect of riding on the bike trails is that they are wide enough for people to ride next to each other and talk, an amenity not available many places in Houston. About half way along the trail I fell in with an older gentleman, a retired army man, and we spent a pleasant 10 miles talking about the growth and changes in Albuquerque, with him pointing out all the local sights and side trails and where they led and how they were to ride.

The ride weather was about 80 degrees, which feels more like about 70 due to the total lack of humidity and sunny with the sky a dazzling dark New Mexico blue, a color you don't see in any other sky anywhere else. The cottonwoods along the trail were turning gold, the Virginia Creeper was dark burgundy and the chamisa was in full bright, yellow bloom.

Today I tackled the tramway trail which skirts the eastern most edge of the city at the base of the Sandia Mountains. It was a slow steady 6 mile climb up the bike trail to the tramway trail. Between the 5,000 foot elevation and the fact that I rarely ride slopes or hills at all, Houston being so flat, I had a good exercise in gearing down and down and down to finish the climb. of course native riders were passing me at a brisk clip but 8 miles and hour was the best I could do. Of course, when I got back and complained about the incline, Kris innocently said "oh, did I forget to tell you it was a bit of a ride up to the tramway trail?"

Once I got up to the tramway trail, I turned and rode north until the bike path gave out. This part of the trail is a series of slow rolls gradually increasing in length and elevation until the highway turns northwest to go around the point of Sandia Crest. I took a look at the long gradual decline down to the freeway in the valley below,and considering that I knew that there was no connecting bike trail at the other end of the highway shoulder, and that I would have to climb back up that same long incline to get back to the tramway trail, I opted for turning about and going back the way I came. As I rode along, a woman pulled up beside me and again a pleasant 10 miles or so passed in casual conversation before she pulled off to take another trail. It is such a luxury to have an opportunity to chat with and interact with other riders.

The tramway trail offers two options for riding. There is a paved off highway bike, hike sidewalk/ path, bordered bordered on both sides with chamisa or there is a generous shoulder marked off as a bike lane as well. Going out I rode the path and going back I rode the shoulder. Both were equally rideable, and for the most part the drivers seemed aware of the bikers and their maneuvering into the left side of the right hand turn lanes at the lights.

Probably the best part of the ride, aside from the scenery, and another beautiful day, was the glorious coast back down the 6 mile decline from the tramway trail to the bike path near my sisters house. As I was stopped at one stop light, the big SUV next to me rolled down its window and a "traditionally shaped" gentleman greeted me and asked how my ride was. I told him "fine " and then he said "you know, we all should get out and ride bikes. There wouldn't be so much pollution from cars." I agreed and said it was good exercise. He then took a swig from a beer can and said "yeah, you know? Everyone one would be healthier if we all could ride bikes." He was lighting up a cigarette as the light changed and the van pulled away.

Because of the spped of the downhill return, I even made it back before the heavy afternoon winds picked up, although as usual, there had been moderate headwinds in every direction during the ride. I spent several hours doing a major clean, degrease, lube, degrease again and lube again on my sisters bike both because it seriously needed it, and because it gave me an excuse to stay outside in the sun and perfumed air of the fall day a bit longer.

Ah New Mexico.......