I had the best intentions today on the bike. I was gonna take it easy. But when the people I was riding with suggested riding to the Rio Puerco (scroll down, you can see the old Rio Puerco bridge). How could I say no?

It’s one of the most beautiful rides in town, climbing out of the Rio Grande Valley up old Route 66 west out of Albuquerque then along a freeway frontage road that rolls along the west mesa before dropping down to the Rio Puerco – the River of Pigs. From the top of the hill, looking down onto the Rio Puerco, you get this classic New Mexico, Georgia O’Keeffe vista, a layer of sandstones marking the far horizon, a dry desert riverbed threading the foreground, the tan slopes in front of you dotted with scraggly piñon.

It was a fun group today, folk I’ve not ridden with before. They go every Sunday. I think I’ll tag along with them again.