Barbaria Trail Loop - Santa Fe

I tried to parlay our crumby snow conditions into good biking conditions on Saturday.  I figured the trails I wanted to link up would be somewhat free of snow or would at least be hardpack.  I figured wrong, and it didn't help that I left the house a bit late (after 11am) and had to deal with mud as well.  Life can be a struggle sometimes. Didn't see anyone else on the trails until I was near St Johns, maybe because of the football games later in the day.

The backroads of Arroyo Hondo

Technical section - the Willows Gauntlet

The ride heads south on the RailTrail to Arroyo Hondo, looping east to Old Santa Fe Trail and Barbaria Rd, then back through the drainage behind Sun and Moon mountains to St. John's College, returning home along the Arroyo Chamiso.  A great loop with all types of terrain. I don't have a name for this link-up but Barbaria Loop seems to be an ok fit.

Steep section of the climb up Barbaria Hill

Gate to the Atalaya drainage and big-time bike wreckage

Bike and Nowhere Gate

I ran this out a few times last year when training for a spring marathon. It can be tough on foot especially in winter conditions, but by bike I took a thrashing. Went down hard a few times on the ice, broke my seat post, smashed my arm, started bonking a bit towards the end.  Recovered with grape Shasta and a car ride to Chama for some skiing where the snow is a bit nicer. Who's laughing now Barbaria?  I'll be back when the bike is repaired for a bit of unsettled business.

Distance: approx. 18-19mi
Time:  Took me 2+ hrs by bike in difficult conditions. Free of snow it's about 2hr10min. Might be more of an April-Dec type ride, but you never know if you never try. 

Arroyo singletrack

New crossing behind St Johns

View Barbaria Loop - 18 Miler in a larger map


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