Day 5 Final day on the Enchanted Circle ride was such a beautiful end to an awesome ride. We both were worried about what lied ahead on Saturday morning. The climb up Bobcat Pass seemed a little over whelming with our greatest climb over 5 miles and then an even greater descent with almost 10% grade at times (alright Stacy was worried about this part, not David). We left our condo at the Caribel in Red River about 7 am and there was no messing around. Immediately upon leaving the city limits we began our climb and it was not easy. I was quickly winded, but as we adjusted our pace to a little less aggressive speed and my legs warmed up I settled in for the long climb. The bike lane was definitely not as nice as the previous days, but it was still there and I believe the traffic was a little lighter. It took about an hour, but we slowly made our way to the top. The worst of the climb was over by about mile 4 and the remaining mile was more flat with some occasional difficult climbing. The views once again were spectacular, but due to the laborious climb up and the terrifying ride down my pictures were few.

The ride down the mountain for myself was exceptionally overwhelming. The amount of speed you gained in a short amount of time on a bike down from Bobcat pass was breath taking and although I am sure I will eventually become more comfortable with it the ride down was definitely scary for awhile.
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Upon arriving back to Eagle Nest we decided to return to Taos in the car and visit the Rio Gorge Bridge we missed because the heat and extra distance made the trip less than tempting. We are so glad we did. There were some amazing views from the bridge and on the way home we saw of heard of 20 or more male Big Horned sheep. My photo was poor of the sheep due to no shoulder on the side of the road so we were moving, but the experience was awesome.
This experience was so much more than I had expected and I am looking forward to our next cycling adventure.

Day 4 of the Enchanted Circle cycling trip was surprisingly perfect. We left town early because we anticipated an exceptionally difficult climb to Red River and although the climb is quite impressive the amazing views, wildlife and beautiful stream we followed all morning made the trip very enjoyable. We began by stopping right outside town at Eagle Lake that is one more thing that proves that Questa is a town that is worth your time. Once again they have done a beautiful job designing and maintaining this beautiful area that was well worth our time. If you have 30 minutes to an hour of time I would recommend spending some time here. We even saw some early morning fishers at this small but lovely lake.

About this time we also came up a sign warning us that there are often Big horn sheep on the road for the next 8 miles. I LOVE BIGHORN SHEEP!!! So I was slightly excited about the possibilities.
As we traveled up the mountain the cliffs were spectacular and the forest provided us with many shaded areas. It was shocking the difference between being in the shade of the trees and being in the sun this morning. Often I found myself cold in the shade despite being very warm on the road in the sun.

As we approached about mile 5 I had begun to dismiss the idea of seeing a sheep when I was looking up into one of the mining fields and saw a movement. We quickly stopped and sure enough it was a female Big Horned Sheep. She stayed on top of the ridge several minutes but then I believe it may have been a bleating male over the ridge called her back and she quickly disappeared. She was far up, but I was pleased I had seen my sheep. As we mounted our bikes to start again we heard a horn around the corner and sure enough there was another…right by the road!! David decided to go past her and videoed her but as he passed I realized there we two more coming a crossed. When they had passed I joined David and we soon realized there were a continuous line of them coming across the road. We guesstimate there were about 20 that crossed while we stood there. It was awesome.

We travelled further up the road and enjoyed the scenery including some amazing small falls in the river, a tree that had been cut down by a beaver and a historical marker explaining the mining history of the area. We then made the observation that the road had been a wonderfully gentle incline so far…oops…rookie mistake as we had not been on our bikes long before the climb became considerably more challenging. Luckily that only lasted for about four more miles.

We made it to town and our first stop were the ski slopes were we had taken our children to their first skiing adventure in Red River. It was awesome to relive some of the memories and to send pictures home to the kids. Then my wonderful hubby took me to a cute the coffee shop to get a vanilla latte.

We spent some time shopping the local shops and quickly fell in love with Red River. It is such a clean, relaxed family oriented town. They have an adventure park, summer tubing, lifts running and zip line for the kids. We went to lots of shops that include trinket shops, art work, and winer tasting shops. We also went to an outdoor museum and a little red school house. There are go karts, jeep rides, ATV vehicles to rent, rafting trips and lots of hiking opportunities. We could definitely spend another day here.

Lunch was at a Willy’s a cute little BBQ joint with an amazing staff. It was really yummy! We are staying at the Caribel where tenants can fish in a private lake.
We finished our day with a pizza from Anchovies which was excellent, watched the kids at our resort catch fish and a walk down the trail by the river.

It was a perfect day!

Tomorrow, our last day, once again provides us with a challenge. Quite possibly our hardest one yet. It appears to be a greater climb than our second day, but will end with a breath taking decent back into Eagle Nest. I find myself once again nervous, but excited to finish this challenge!!

Day 3 of our cycling adventure around the Enchanted Circle Drive in New Mexico is complete. It started off traveling through the busy streets of Taos, despite an early start, but as we left the city the view and the ride was beautiful. A fellow cyclist past us as we stopped to take pictures and stated “It’s majestic, isn’t it?” and his words were correct the haze on the mountains and the sun coming up made for a majestic site and that became even more real as we looked across the sky and spied two hot air balloons floating
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After completing about 13 miles of the trip things then got “not so majestic” and a whole lot of work. Wow! The last thirteen miles proved to be a challenge. The down hills were steep and short and the uphills were steep and seemingly unending at times. There were two particular stretches that were unbelievably long and definitely a challenge. A different sort of challenge than the pass yesterday since it was 13 miles, but definitely a mentally tough morning. I do have to say for the most part the bike lane/shoulder was wonderful and allowed for pretty low stress travel. We were grateful for the afternoon to rest and enjoy Questa.

The owner of our hotel in Questa was very generous and allowed us an very early checkin . The Motel de Sangre is an older hotel, but it is clean and has an exceptionally nice owner who let us in our room before noon and provided us with a lot information about the area.
After cleaning up and washing our clothes in the bathtub (the laundromat is at the bottom of the hill in town) we decided to walk to lunch at the Bobcat Drive inn where we had a very tasty lunch. We both enjoyed the Bobcat special which was a hamburger, fries and a drink. David had green chilies on his that proved to have a pretty good kick to them. I believe the fries were homemade and were very good.

On our walk home we stop by several locations located on a walking tour of Questa including a cemetery near the Catholic Church, Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church which has an amazing restoration story, and the Questa information center which provided more information about Saint Anthony’s restoration. The woodwork was gorgeous in the church and we suspected it was hand carved and our spontaneous stop at the Information Center confirmed our suspicions. The grounds also in included a Prayer Garden which included some Stations of the Cross, but sadly the area currently is not kept up, but it appears the citizens of Questa are working hard to clean up many of the areas like this that have over grown so hopefully this garden is on their list. We then stopped and grabbed a drink at the local coffee shop and headed home for a nap.
After resting up we headed the opposite direction to Franks and had dinner. Their tacos were yummy and fresh and David’s fries and chicken strips looked tasty. As we finished dinner were heard a loud bang and walked over to see an terrible looking accident, but luckily when David got to the scene he found that everyone was in pretty good condition. Sadly it appears the person that caused may have been under the influence of alcohol.

We then visited the local grocery store which was impressive for a small town grocery store. We grabbed breakfast, water and some snacks and headed home to watch a little television and get things ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is only 12 miles, but it is about a 1500 foot climb with only 72 feet of downhill. That worries me a little but I am looking forward to exploring Red River.

I was very nervous about today. The uphill, narrow roads scared me, but the downhill narrow roads terrified me. Honestly I finished the day feeling fantastic! It was scary, but all in all proceeding with caution and respecting the space of the cars, trucks and even bigger trucks made it a pretty comfortable and exciting day. The second three miles we stopped a lot to catch our breath and let our legs rest, but the last twenty made it all worth it. I can’t tell you exactly how fast I was able to go but it was definitely very fast and a moment or two I believe it was slightly over 30 .
I am so glad we took the short ride the day before and took some time to acclimate to the altitude. Observations from today are I would never have done it comfortably without my mirror and my Ebike unquestionably was my friend. Although it didn’t take away the work it definitely made it bearable and almost enjoyable as I could somewhat enjoy the scenery.

​My hubby is definitely my hero as he completed every mile of that uphill without any assistance and that is simply amazing. He is one tough man!!

We spent some time at three different churches in the area, explored downtown Taos, a little, ate lunch at Michael’s Kitchen and went to Walmart. We wanted to go out the the Rio Gorge bridge, but decided to keep that for another time (an additional 20+ miles wasn’t tempting enough today). After doing some laundry we ate calzones at the Italian restaurant across from our hotel (they were so good), grabbed some breakfast sandwiches for the morning and now we are prepping for tomorrow and heading to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a tough one, but the roads appear much more friendly.

I was very nervous about today. The uphill, narrow roads scared me, but the downhill narrow roads terrified me. Honestly I finished the day feeling fantastic! It was scary, but all in all proceeding with caution and respecting the space of the cars, trucks and even bigger trucks made it a pretty comfortable and exciting day. The second three miles we stopped a lot to catch our breath and let our legs rest, but the last twenty made it all worth it. I can’t tell you exactly how fast I was able to go but it was definitely very fast and a moment or two I believe it was slightly over 30 .
I am so glad we took the short ride the day before and took some time to acclimate to the altitude. Observations from today are I would never have done it comfortably without my mirror and my Ebike unquestionably was my friend. Although it didn’t take away the work it definitely made it bearable and almost enjoyable as I could somewhat enjoy the scenery.

My hubby is definitely my hero as he completed every mile of that uphill without any assistance and that is simply amazing. He is one tough man!!

We spent some time at three different churches in the area, explored downtown Taos, a little, ate lunch at Michael’s Kitchen and went to Walmart. We wanted to go out the the Rio Gorge bridge, but decided to keep that for another time (an additional 20+ miles wasn’t tempting enough today). After doing some laundry we ate calzones at the Italian restaurant across from our hotel (they were so good), grabbed some breakfast sandwiches for the morning and now we are prepping for tomorrow and heading to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a tough one, but the roads appear much more friendly.

Day 1 of the Enchanted Circle biking adventure is in the books. After traveling to Clayton, NM last night we stayed in a nice Airbnb. The hosts went and turned the lights on for us due to our late arrival which in my book is going above and beyond. We woke up this morning only 2 1/2 hours from Eagle Nest which was awesome!!
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Our travels to Eagle Nest included seeing lots of antelope in the fields, a few plateaus as we came to the edge of the mountains and then we reached Cimarron Canyon. The road brought us to an area that I found had similar characteristics to Zion national park, although on a much smaller and not as breathtaking scale. Unfortunately signs of forest fires, in the last few years, could be seen throughout the canyon. They area with buzzing with fishermen the creek below the road and based on the signage I believe their fish of choice was trout. There were multiple campgrounds in the area that would leave those who love to camp very pleased.

As we left the canyon we entered Eagle Nest State Park and soon came upon the Eagle Nest State Lake. We also noticed that the temperature had dropped about 8 degrees which was a welcome change. Soon we reached our destination Eagle Nest where we got ready for the ride. We dropped of the suburban at Saint Mel’s Catholic Church (I am going to have to look that one up and find out about him.) and set out. It was such a weird feeling that we would only have the clothes in our packs and no one to call if we had a need (Debbie Tomlinson where are you )
Eagle Nest has several cute restaurants and cafes along the main route. We may be able to explore those upon our return.

The prairie dogs were scattered along our travels today. Their chatter often sounded like an annoying bird. I also saw many yucca, Indian paintbrush and a purple bell like flower. I will have to look that one up as I think I have one similar at home.
Stopped at the Vietnam Memorial just outside of Angel Fire. The climb was horrible up but was lined with flags that made for a beautiful entrance. We spent about a half an hour here looking at the helicopter, various history markers, the amphitheater and the chapel. There is also a bookstore on site.

The Memorial is directly across from the Angel Fire airport with its runway just below the memorial. I was hoping to see a plane take off or landing but sadly did not.

We then headed to the Ski resort as our condo was close the the lifts as we had decided on eating at the Mexican restaurant/bar at the base of the mountain. The food was good and plentiful but very pricey. I made the error of purchasing a soda for $4.

Other than mountain biking and horse back riding the choices in Angel Fire are few for entertainment during the week. On the weekends things liven up a little more it appears, but summer is a slower time in this area. It could also be the effects of Covid closures. It is such a beautiful area. We chose to rest, go for a walk and let our bodies acclimate to the higher altitude. On our walk we came across more prairie dogs, a beaver and a chipmunk. The walk down to the village was fun. The walk up was exhausting and reminded me an early bedtime was needed. We chose to buy some food from the local market and made dinner home as there was less than a handful of restaurants open in the area and they were very busy.

We noticed that there is road construction ahead tomorrow so that should make our 800 foot climb even more interesting. I believe tomorrow is the stretch that I am the most nervous about so it will be nice to get it over….I think. You would think the climb would be my biggest worries but most my anxiety has been about windy roads and the 2500 foot descent. Luckily it has appeared the pullover areas have been numerous so far so slow and steady has been and will continue to be my strategy.

I spent the evening reviewing my new book, 50 Things to See and Do in Northern New Mexico's Enchanted Circle, for tomorrows ride.  I believe the information I have found on it has been even more helpful than that I have googled in preparation for the trip.  The book is more informative and not as scattered as that I found online.  It is even nicer that it fits nicely in my bike bags without taking up much space.