Day 1 Enchanted Circle Cycling Adventure - Eagle Nest, NM to Angel Fire

Stacy Brogan Sanger and I are off on a cycling adventure. This is our first self supported (only take what we can carry on the bikes) ride. We are riding the Enchanted Circle in New Mexico (Eagle Nest to Angel Fire to Taos, then to Questa and Red River is next before we head back to Eagle Nest). We drove to Eagle Nest and Saint Mels church agreed to let us park the Suburban in their parking lot until we return. We got to Eagle Nest around noon today and then rode the bikes to Angel Fire. We stopped on the way to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial just outside of Angel Fire. The road up to the memorial was very steep and I was only managing about 3.5 mph at the steepest section ( Steep road and 8400 ft elevation had my quads fussing). After arriving in Angel Fire we headed up toward the ski area and had lunch. This was another steep climb, but not nearly as steep as the road to the memorial. I had a green chili cheeseburger and it was very good. We went to the motel room and cooled off and cleaned up. We then went for a 4 mile walk around Angel Fire. A lot of the shops and restaurants aren’t open (not sure if that is because of Covid, summer season or because it was around 5pm). Off to Taos tomorrow. We are expecting to climb for the first 6.5 miles and then mostly downhill for the next 20 miles. We are considering an additional ride tomorrow out to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge which will add another 26 miles (we will have to see how we are handling the elevation).