This was my first independent bike tour longer than 2-day weekend trips to Lake Mineral Wells State Park. I was living in Fort Worth at the time.

I flew Southwest Airlines from Dallas Love Field to Albuquerque. The airline ticket, bike fee, and parking were cheap compared to American Airlines from D/FW airport.   The boxed bike and I rode the "Airporter" bus from the Albuquerque airport baggage claim to downtown Santa Fe.

8 days, 358 miles (573 km).

The bike was a 1 year old Trek 520. Tires were only 28mm wide. I used wider tires on all future tours.

One of the most memorable things about this tour was pedaling over 9820 foot Bobcat Pass east of Red River. It was by far the highest I had ever been on a bicycle. I didn't go higher until 10 years later.

Sanctuario de Chimayo and Taos Pueblo also made strong impressions on me. I had never seen anything like that before.

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I enjoyed the contrast between the high forested Sangre de Cristo mountains and the lower desert canyon of the Rio Grande river.

I had 7 warm and sunny days and one very rainy day. Camped 5 nights, 1 night at a hostel, 1 night at a motel after the rain.