Bicycling ABQ

For my first solo mid-week training ride, I decided to hit the Bosque bike path for an hour. It seemed the best place to get used to my new bike without worrying about getting hit by a car. I started at Central, setting my timer for 30 minutes, and found myself at Paseo del Norte, 7 miles to the north, when the timer went off. Sharing the path were plenty of bikes of various forms including recumbents, firemen doing PT, rollerbladers, dog walkers, runners, fishermen and a skateboarder. And this was the middle of the day on a Tuesday in February.

 

A statue on the trail near Central (from a previous winter after a heavy snow).

Albuquerque has been rated one of the best bicycling cities. Whether or not you agree, this trail along with others are probably a big part of why it's rated so high. The city claims 400 miles of paths and bike lanes. Check out the map here. Also, the weather is rather friendly toward bikes with so much sunshine. Even if it snows at night, it may be warm enough during the day for a nice ride. Then in the summer, it's nice and cool early in the morning before the heat cranks up.

I'm not terribly comfortable riding many places from my house. I'd need a better way to cross the river, bike lanes that aren't full of trash, paths that fully connect and the biggest problem is the loose dogs. But I'm going to try a few rides from home since loading the bike on the car gets a bit tiring.