We all met at Paseo and I-25 on this glorious fall morning and caravaned the 70 or so miles to the Cities of Gold Casino at Pojauque NM for the start of our 40 or so mile bike trip in the hills of northern Santa Fe. We had a great, albeit inadvertent 6 mile warm -up ride by taking a wrong turn out of the casino...luckily for us, the road dead ended...or we might never have known to turn around and we might STILL be wandering the hills north of Santa Fe! We were a happy group despite this precarious detour!
Finally, we got ourselves on the right track and started along the High Road to Taos..passing through Nambe, enjoying fall foliage, rock formations and mountain vistas along the way and then turning west to Chimayo....meeting some rollers into and out of Chimayo, and then a wonderful long downhill to Espanola. We passed through "the scenic metropolis" of Espanola and then into Los Alamos Highway past the Santa Clara Pueblo and then into a fierce headwind that kept this little group that I was in down to speeds under 10 mph! This part of the ride was reminiscent of the TNT training rides that Cece and I endured from the endless spring winds (Spring? 32 degrees with 20 mph winds? you call that spring Diane? You are an optimist! LOL ...cece here....with her 2 cents...maybe 4!).....only these winds were much warmer and easier to endure! We rode past San Ildefonso Pueblo and then onto State Road 502 again and then the homestretch back to the casino. 
After a quick change of clothes, the group met up at Gabriel's New Mexico Restaurant near the Sante Fe Opera for a late lunch, including fresh guacamole made table side that was the best I have EVER tasted! After a wonderful meal, we headed back on 1-25 to return to Albuquerque. To me, there is nothing better than spending a beautiful day on a bicycle! It was truly a fall frolic , with lots of beautiful scenery, fellowship and fun! Diane
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