Thread: 4 Days in the 505 (pic intensive)

So my good buddy came to NM to visit from Bama. We were old mountain bike buddies and he needed to get a good fix. I decided to put together a sweet itinerary and show him the goods in the 505.
We were fortunate enough to hook up with many good fellas who shared the stoke and added to the delightfulness of our experiences. I came away from these 4 days of riding realizing how much I take for granted and how lucky I am to live in beautiful northern New Mexico.
We did everything… Big shuttle XC rides, Multi-shuttle downhills, All day XC epic, and Lift-served downhill/freeride.
I’ll let the pics do the rest of the talking…

Day 1- Santa Fe - Friday Sept 4: trails - Aspen Vista > Raven’s Ridge > Windsor > Serpent > Dale Ball
Riders: Dave (Crash), Trent, TJ

My awesome sister was kind enough to shuttle us to Aspen Vista trailhead. Climbed Aspen Vista into a raging hail storm. Had to hang out in the ski patrol shack for an hour and wait for the storm to pass. Once the rain/hail cleared enough we dove into a wet, rocky, rooty Raven’s Ridge. That trail is pretty f-in’ intense when it’s wet…

Trent, being from the southeast, was pretty comfy on the wet roots & rocks…. He was, however, a little worried about the barbed-wire fence…

That’s all the pics I have of that, but pics of us on Raven’s Ridge are all over the internet anyway at this point.

Day 2- Santa Fe - Saturday Sept 5: trail – 2 shuttles on the world class Rio en Medio.
Riders: Dave(Crash), Trent, another Dave, Steve, Bruce, TJ

It was time to show my Bama buddy what real downhilling in the 505 is all about. Once again, my sweet sister shuttled us up for the first run.
Bruce on the log ride:

Bama, representin’:

Me hitting the rock wall drop:

Trent diving in:

Dave:

Bruce:

Bama Boy!:

Flyin’ Dave enjoying the last ride on his Trek…

Bruce is NOT-A-KNOB

Bama Trent launchin’ it!


Cerveza time. It was a good day…


Day 3 - Taos: Sunday September 6: trail- Trail 1 (Elliott Barker) to South Boundary.
Riders: Dave (Crash), Trent, Bryan, Greg, TJ

There ain’t nothin’ like catchin’ up with a good ol’ Taoseno for good times at the house and on the trail. Greg offered his home to us for the evening, poured up some awesome home brew and even cooked us breakfast! That guy can hammer too! This was about a 7 hour ride.
We waited out the rain at Greg’s casa in Arroyo Seco then hit the trail when the weather cleared.
Trail 1 is STEEP. Greg showing us his climbing legs:

Getting higher:

Some tired dudes…


The Taoseno with the custom salad dressing bottle flask… only in New Mexico


Day 4 – Angel Fire: Monday September 7: trail- Lift-Served at Angel Fire Ski Area
Riders: Dave (Crash), Trent, Bryan, another Dave, TJ

Labor Day was the last day of lift-served mountain biking at Angel Fire for 2009. I haven’t been there this year, but realized I should have gotten off of my a$$ and hit it more this year. I forgot how sweet the Angel Fire downhill trails are. They are totally different than Pajarito and just as good in their own way.
We assembled our crew after camping out and hit Angel Fire with a bunch of free lift tickets that Bryan scored for us. Since Crash had already destroyed one bike this week, he rented a sweet DH bike from the shop at the ski area. It didn’t take him long to lose his security deposit on it, but hey, that’s Crash – that’s what he does best. The good news is he rented a SECOND DH bike, fell in love with it and made a purchase that will have him sleeping on the couch for a while, once his wife finds out.

Bryan wastes no time getting’ down to business:

Neither does Crash – He’s got a security deposit he needs to lose:

Me hitting one of the stunts. This drop eventually claims a victim later…

Crash rollin’ in…

And… He’s down!


Bryan and Crash on a log skinny:


Then we saw this sweet drop from the lift that we had to hit (Me, Dave):


The long log skinny with an arc at the end:




The day ended with Crash taking a huge swipe on the credit card to pay for some damage and a new big hit bike!!!! Congrats, Crash!


The views on the way home were not bad either…


This was a good 4 days in the 505. My Bama buddy is ready to sell everything he owns and move. I have a renewed perspective on how fortunate I am to live in this beautiful region. I know that I will never be able to leave the mountain biking lifestyle, as it has touched my heart more than I could ever imagine. The places mountain biking allows me to go and the people it allows me to spend time with are rewards that cannot be measured.
It was a damn good 4 days, for sure.

should have gone to Pajarito too... that place is fkn sweet.

Nice TR. I always think New Mexico and picture cactus, sandstone and coyote. Clearly I'm dead wrong there.

Those Commie Supremes are sweet. Nice score.

Awesome TR. That's beautiful country down there, and remote.

[ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=164145"]But I heard the place is full of Psychos and Morans???[/ame]

Originally Posted by SPARTICUS

should have gone to Pajarito too... that place is fkn sweet.

Pajarito wasn't open during that time. The NM lift-served areas are only open on designated weekends - check their websites. Angel Fire was a nice change, though.
Pajarito will be open both days this weekend (Sept 12-13). For all of those who haven't hit Pajarito yet and you want more real-deal freeride than any CO or other NM lift-served, get it now. It's their last two days until Oct for Ullerfest. Ullerfest will be their last day for the MTB season.
Also, lift lines are pretty much non-existant there.
You have to ride there to understand.

575 represent!

i'll be hitting up pajarito this weekend. stoked on some stuff I've seen there. been trying to ride the lifts there for 3 years, but the times i've been in LA have been on off weekends for the area every time!

Originally Posted by brettf

i'll be hitting up pajarito this weekend. stoked on some stuff I've seen there. been trying to ride the lifts there for 3 years, but the times i've been in LA have been on off weekends for the area every time!

Be sure to pm your details. I'll look for you and we can take a few laps together.