31 days. 4 states. 200+ miles.

In July I did the 30 day ride challenge hosted by Trailforks and Anthill Films. The challenge was simple: ride each day, including at least one full trail as mapped on Trailforks.

Tijeras, New Mexico trails

My month started off with lots of rides close to home. Luckily, I live close to some of the best mountain biking trails in New Mexico.

I tried to ride some different trails and extend my reach a bit, but there were also a lot of days when I just rode my favorite loop.

While I still can’t ride one difficult section of my fave trail, by the end of the month, I did get to where I could ride the entirety of the rest of the trail which felt like a huge accomplishment.

One thing I’ve noted before about New Mexico is that our roads and our waterways tend to be one and the same. This means it’s a really good thing it doesn’t rain that often.

Out in the desert, we just drive in the arroyos which are normally dry and our towns and cities generally lack good flood planning so when it rains, the streets just flood. Now, I have come to realize that this might also apply to bike trails.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

I also made a trip to visit an old friend and some family. So I took my bike along and made some people babysit B for me each day so I could go ride. Priorities, right?

Farmington, New Mexico

Farmington is my other hometown. My mom lives there and I went to college there. But I didn’t mountain bike when I lived there, so the excellent mountain bike trails were something of a surprise. A pleasant one.

I was out to ride early on the two days I went on these trails and the sunrises were amazing. Also, sweeping views and bushes that smell like home. And crazy fun bike trails. Not the gnarly, rocky, hardcore trails I’m used to. Smooth, flowy, trails with little bitty hills that are just big enough to be a ton of fun but not a ton of work to pedal up.

One of the joys of this challenge was biking in places I wouldn’t have otherwise tried. Most of the time when I travel, I leave my bike at home, but I may rethink that.

Aztec, New Mexico

I also went for one ride outside of Aztec, New Mexico: The Alien Run. It was a blast. I’m totally riding it again next time I’m in the area.

After my trip, I returned home for a few days and then it was off on another adventure. This time for work, but with a bicycle stop thrown in on the journey.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas

My last ride of the 30 day challenge was at Palo Duro Canyon, which has more pictures than it’s fair share for only one ride.

I have a thing for State Parks with cabins because I wish I lived in an RV and traveled everywhere, but I don’t actually have an RV right now so I need alternative accommodations.

I’m all for tents under some circumstances, but July in Texas is not a circumstance where I’m all for living without an AC and a shower. Also, business trips and tents don’t really go that well together.

Anyway, on this trip, I was staying at the Lighthouse cabin on the rim of the canyon which made me feel a sort of obligation to make it out to my cabin’s namesake and the park icon: The Lighthouse Formation.

I was at the trailhead for this ride before the sun was up. But it was still by far the hottest ride of the month. By nine in the morning, I was totally miserable. Still, my ride through the canyon was worth it for the cool views and the neat rocks.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

So after doing the 30 day challenge, I figured I was only 1 day away from riding every day in July. So I went out for the 31st day in Tulsa.

I loved discovering the Turkey Mountain wilderness area because it is a great pocket of nature in the city. But I felt sad I hadn’t discovered it sooner since I’ve been traveling to Tulsa for work for the past 12 or so years.

The only downside was that it was just so humid. I am not at all used to the humidity and I suffered from it, feeling all wet and sweaty and gross and also missing the cooling effect that happens when sweat can actually evaporate.

Miscellaneous

First off, a few real selfies:

Fitting in a ride every day was tough. Sometimes I rode at sunrise, other times at sunset. A lot of my rides ended up being mid-day because afternoon thunderstorms ruled out the afternoons and left the trails too wet in the morning. Riding during the hottest part of the day was not my idea of ideal. But it happened and I’m so proud I rode every day.

This challenge was amazing. My strength and endurance improved. I lost weight. I saw some amazing places. I pushed through the days that it was tough. And I’m super pleased with myself.

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We made it out on a short trip last week that included two nights camping in the National Forest and a night at the lodge at Mesa Verde National Park.

The first night camping was in the Jemez Mountains near a spot that I went camping at last year and just fell in love with.  Unfortunately this year somebody else was already at my favorite little camping spot by the creek.  The spot we ended up at instead was still surrounded by lots of gorgeous tall trees, it just didn’t have the creek.  It was the perfect place to stop for a night on the way up to Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde National Park is less than 45 minutes from Durango where I grew up.  It’s one of the places people visit when they visit Durango.  It’s the sort of place one doesn’t go at all when living in Durango.  My mom says she took me there once when I was a baby, but I have no memory of it at all.  I’ve always felt a little like I got jipped since I never got to go.  But that has now been remedied.

I know that verde means green in Spanish, but for whatever strange reason when I would hear Mesa Verde, I always thought ‘red’.  Having visited there has helped a bit to get that misconception out of my head.

There is a lodge in the park named Far View Lodge and it did live up to it’s name with sweeping views.  The views were definitely the highlight of staying at the lodge and breakfast out on the patio was super pleasant.  I have to admit I felt super spoiled staying there because as a kid my impression of National Parks were of places where one found a patch of dirt for a tent.  Staying in a lodge room feels so plush.

Mesa Verde is known as one of the best archeological sites with many cliff-dwellings and other ruins.  I have to admit that ruins of old places are kind of something I don’t really get that excited about.  They just look like dilapidated buildings to me and most of the stuff they say about the people that lived there seems like guesses at best.  Mostly I was there because I liked the idea of staying at the lodge in the middle of nowhere.  But since I was there, it seemed like we should check out the ruins.

Most of the cliff-dwellings require going on a paid tour to see them.  After seeing the crowds and some annoyingly loud kids at the museum where tickets can be purchased, we decided that we didn’t really want to go on a tour and would stick to the cliff-dwelling that is open to just walk around.  Unfortunately the trail to it was closed due to a rock slide and we had to make do with a view from across the way.

We ended up taking another trail 1.25 miles out to some petroglyphs.  It would have been a bit more enjoyable had we planned for a hike.  The way out to the petroglyphs I felt fine, but by the way back I was sorely wishing for a drink and a snack.  I also fail to get very excited about ancient graffiti, but it was a very neat hike along the side of the canyon with rock staircases and a few narrow passages.

After the hike we had a much-deserved lunch and then left the park for another night of camping in the National Forest in Colorado.  I know there are a bunch more ruins and things that we didn’t get the chance to see, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out.  It’s a pretty area and I wouldn’t mind going back if the opportunity presented itself.  I also don’t feel a pressing need to go back.

Clearly it’s the type of thing that some people are very into.  There were license plates there from dozens of different states and people at the restaurant there speaking languages I didn’t recognize.  If one is into archeological-type things then it’s clearly a must-see destination.  For me, I’m glad to have seen it but would probably be happier going to a new place next time.

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