I like this ride, stop at the mine shaft tavern in madrid for lunch and walk around the small town,ol lady likes the shops! lol then off to Santa fe. I come back the same way its nicer than hitting the interstate and i take route 66 back to albuquerque.
cruzer48An undulating rural road with a decent road surface. North 14 beats the heck out of taking the Interstate from Albuquerque to Santa Fe any day. Lots of long turns. Few hidden obstacles.
ClonerFrom Interstate 40, take NM14 north through Cedar Crest that rises up the gently sloped back side of the Sandia Mountains above Albuquerque. To add icing to your biking cake, be sure to digress onto the Sandia Crest Road, also listed in BBR. There are some nice flats where you can let it rip, but once i a while youll come around a bend and find the once-a-week patrol car with his radar on. Proceed north through the San Pedro mountains towards Golden, NM. Continue north to the artsy-hippie former-ghost-town of Madrid. It was featured in the recent American movie, Wild Hogs, but the green grass in the film was sod rolled out for the filming. Then continue north through the interesting tilted rock formations and finally open grasslands to Santa Fe. Youll pass the famous NM State Penitentiary that was used to film the Longest Yard. You can either cross I-25 and continue on the Bypass Route that drops you at the north end of Santa Fe, or you can go north in I-25 to St. Francis Dr or Old Pecos Trail and drive west into Santa Fe. Stay far away from Cerrillos Drive unless you want three lanes of stupid Walmart shoppers and a zillion traffic lights.
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