Albuquerque to Taos

Today was the first day of our "motorcycle trip" and with all due respect to our adorable wives, the REAL reason for this whole damn ordeal.  As Rob Glass said, "I'm enjoying the foreplay, but when does the real fun begin?"  Rob, the answer is, today my friend.

Our route today (which was about 220 miles and took eight hours to complete) was less than direct...principally because I really wanted to ascend Sandia Crest which is a 10,600' peak that rises dramatically at the edge of Albuquerque, is home to a huge antenna farm and promised some very dramatic views of the city when viewing to the west and of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness when viewed to the south and east. 

City streets led us to Route 66, which led us to NM14 northbound. 

A few miles later we took NM536 all the way to the peak of Sandia Crest.  En route to the top we were passed by knee draggers on sport bikes and we passed several cyclists.  At the top the weather shocked us...the temperature had dropped a full twenty degrees and was 36F and the wind was howling at 30mph.  I was cold as hell and I grew up in Buffalo fer chrissake.  KC was growling like an injured bear...he could not get down soon enough. 

However, the views were stupendous, both of the city of Albuquerque and of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness in the other direction, so honestly, I'm very glad we went.  Halfway down the mountain we turned to the north on a Butler Map "recommended dirt road". 

It was eight miles long and OK...rutted and rocky at times, a few good views.  Both of us were tired from getting those pigs through this section.  Honestly it was the only way to head north from Sandia without circling all the way back to Albuquerque.

Once past Placitas, NM and across I-25 we picked up NM550 and took it to San Ysidro, NM along side the Jemez River and Rio Grande River through the Zia Indian Reservation. At San Ysidro we picked up Hwy 4 which is highly rated by Butler Maps.  As it should be...we had breathtaking scenery through Jemez Springs and on to the Valles Caldera National Preserve where we passed by a lush, gorgeous ranch lying in a valley surrounded by mountains that provides winter feeding grounds for the Elk population. 

Hwy 4 bypassed Los Alamos and took us through the Bandelier National Monument, through White Rock and on to Hwy 30, then Hwy 76 and Chimayo, NM. 

Eventually we found Hwy 518 which wound through the Carson National Forest and into Taos, NM.  The scenery was prototypical northern New Mexico in every respect...the geography, the demographics, the weather.  It was everything I'd hoped for for our first day on the bikes.

Since we'd not eaten any lunch both KC and I were famished and had a hankering for some Mexican.  200 yards down the street we found a great spot named Guadalajara Grill and dined on massive chimichangas and enchiladas.I'm stuffed and tired.  I think a shower and early to bed sounds about right.