8/8/2022
It was a long ride 220 miles to Santa Fe. I was caught in a downpour around 2pm leaving Durango (which Carter said happens everyday during this season). Then for the rest of the ride, I would be dodge little rain storms or being caught in some sprinkles here and there. I was rushing to Santa Fe so I could see my friend Matt before he left town for work the next day. He had arranged for me to stay in his apartment when I was originally planning to arrive after he left but I wanted to see him since he is absolutely one is of my favorite people in this world. I've known him since he was in his early 20s and worked as my teaching assistant up at the Maine Workshops over ten years ago. And now his career has taken off as a producer and I couldn't be more proud of him in his career and of how our friendship had growth over the past decade to where it is now. So it was worth the long ride into Santa Fe a day earlier to catch up with him.
Matt holding Lindsay's $20 for one of my photos to send her:
When I got into his apartment, he was out to greet me in the driveway and he had already ordered food to be delivered. So after I unloaded the bike, food arrived. And that's a hell of a way to end a long day. We ate and chatted into the night, catching up on my trip and what he's been up to. The next morning, we grabbed breakfast burritos and chatted for a bit more before he had to catch a plane.
8/9 - 8/10/22
My plan is to stay here for a few days and just rest up, catch up on my blog and ride up to Taos to ride the Enchanted Circle loop. I can't express how amazingly restful it is to just stay at one place for a while. I don't have to load or unload the bike, I know where I'm staying, I don't have to plan routes or worry about the weather. I can just sit on the couch and vegge for as long as I needed to.
Over the next couple days, I barely left the apartment except to get food and run a couple errands. My plan was to eat as much New Mexican food with green chiles as I could. And that I did:
8/11/22
After a couple days of doing nothing, I decided to fire up the bike to ride the Enchanted Circle.
https://goo.gl/maps/wPbdvid19mgTgnCj7
A 260 mile round trip ride, I was going to be out all day. It started out of Santa Fe to Taos on the High Road to Taos, a fantastic road that takes you up to the mountain towns of Chimayo and Trampas before the town of Taos. Great scenery of the New Mexico desert landscape, forests and some curvy roads as well.
Chimayo is a popular pilgrimage stop for its Santuario de Chimayo, a Catholic church built in 1816. It is an active church and it conducts daily mass and one can visit the chapel and the grounds. There are a few shops around the church selling local art and jewelry.
18 miles down the road is the town of Trampas. It contains an abandon church from the 18th century which is a historical landmark.
After I parked my bike, a trio of dogs appeared out of nowhere to greet me. They looked a little dirty and rough but it appeared that they were kept by someone living nearby.
The rest of the Enchanted Circle was a varied ride that took you up and down the Tao Ski Valley with some narrow twisty mountain roads, jagged mountain views to Questa, little vacations towns that I never knew existed in Red River, wide open vistas near Eagle Nest, and some more twisty roads near Angel Fire. The end of the Enchanted Circle takes you back to Taos and then I retraced my way on the High Road to Taos back to Santa Fe around 7pm.
The next day was another rest day. I can't emphasize how nice it is to have all this time to just chill at Matt's apartment. It's given me a second wind to get home. I've decided to leave the next day for Texas. Once I'm back on the road I'll be moving fast to get back to Raleigh.