2008 New Mexico Endurance Series

July 5th, 2008

Jens Nielsen
is the ride coordinator/owner for this event.
He will handle any proposed route changes,
pre-rides, event day sign-in/sign-out, etc.
Thanks Jens!!!

No more than 74 people allowed for this event! 

Please register here by leaving a comment at the bottom of this page.  Use your real name so we can actually have a record of who is signed up.  Serious entrys only - please plan on being there if you sign up, because if this fills up you could steal a spot from someone who actually planned on finishing this.This ride is for experienced endurance riders only.  As people found out at the 2007 Cochiti 100, these rides are definately not for the faint of heart.   Sign up only if you think you have a realistic chance of finishing.

Please make sure to read all rules for this.  This is fully unsupported and you will need to be self-sufficient in order to complete this.  The rules are located HERE. 

When:  Saturday July 5th, 2008, 6:30-AM  - BE READY TO RIDE AT 6:30AM!! If you are late then do your best to catch up. 

Where: Meet at 2nd Street Brewery on San Mateo & the RR Tracks.  Cloud Cliff Bakery is close by for early morning coffee.

PARKING:  Please do not park at 2nd Street Brewery and respect their business.  Use public parking area where available and be prepared to ride to the start. 

An option for parking is at the NM State Employees Credit Union and it is located on the corner of Lorca & St. Michaels Dr. & San Mateo.  They are not open on Sat. Should/could be easy parking and only half a block from the brewery. You ride right past it on the way to Atalya on San Mateo. 

Also, big parking area at NM State Offices also on San Mateo next to Mandrell’s Gym (on San Mateo, around the corner from C.U.)

Beer at 2nd Street Brewery end of the ride for survivors.

The crown jewel of the NMES -

 a 70+-mile, 14k of climbing adventure!

Larger image located here.***********************************************************************************************

Detailed Route Description

Starting from 2nd Street Brewery.

1. Turn R on San Mateo and follow this for several miles, crossing Old Pecos and following signs to St. John’s College.  Once at St. John’s College head to parking lot and look for Atalaya Mountain Trailhead.

2.  Follow the Atalaya Trail all the way up to the top of Atalaya Mountain.  Nothing like a steep 1700-ft climb in 3 miles to start the morning out just right. 

3.  Drop off the backside of Atalaya Mountain on the new trail and head over to Dale Ball - look for cairns on your right.  Once connecting on the Dale Ball Trail Network - starting at intersection #41 follow the DB network through these intersections 41-36-35-40-32-31-30-29.  Head to Dale Ball Center and connect 27-26-25-23-22-16-15-17-14-13 and head out on Hyde Park Road (R).

Remember to follow the exact route.  If you miss a turn, go back and do the route properly.  At the bottom of Dale Ball South, you can turn right and head up the gravel road to refill water at the Audobon Center.  This is less than .5 miles out of the way.

While on Hyde Park Road you may be able to beg for water at Thousand Waves Spa.  I’ve never tried it, but they do have water there.

4.   Follow Hyde Park Road into the Santa National Forest and look for Chamisa Trail Tr. 183 parking area on your left.  When in the parking area, take the right hand trail (both go to the same place, but the right hand one is the better trail).  The climb up Chamisa is STEEP.  One you climb Chamisa Trail, you will come to an intersection - turn right and ride down to Winsor Tr. 254 and turn Right to climb the mountain.  Now begin the 4000-ft climb up Tesuque! :-) 

You can filter water out of Winsor Creek - OR - go off course and take Borrego/Bear Wallow to Hyde Park State Park to re-fill here.  This is quite a few miles out of your way though.

5.  Take Winsor Tr. 254 to Big Tesuque Tr. 152 and climb some more and cross Hyde Park Road at Big Tesuque Campground.  There is a creek here to filter water out of.  Continue climbing until you hit Aspen Vista Road and turn right to climb to the top of Tesuque Peak. 

6.  Once you crest the ski area, continue on up to the cell phone towers and take in the view - you are at 12,045-ft elevation!! 

* Note - you MUST crest the mountain by going up to the cell towers for a quick out and back.  No cheating and rolling through the ski area.

Turn back for a few hundred yards and follow the ski trail called Sunset to Lower Burro (follow the faint truck trail) and follow that to the bottom of the ski area.  Do not climb up to Raven’s Ridge at the big elbow near Deception Peak (the best downhill option here should be quite obvious).  You can filter water out of several places here.

7.  At the bottom of the ski area, in the paved parking lot look for the FS OutHouse and connect again to Winsor Tr 254, take this a short ways to Rio en Medio Tr. 163 and descend all the way to Aspen Ranch.  Creeks and water are quite abundant, and so is giardia, so bring a filter.   At Aspen Ranch turn right on the gravel road, and then look to your left for the trailhead of the Borrego Tr. 150,  Ride Tr. 150 all the way over to Rio Nambe Tr 160.  After crossing a creek, continue on straight through a trail intersection (it should be marked).  Do NOT turn left and follow Rio-en-Medio downhill.  Once past this intersection you will immediately begin a short steep climb on some switchbacks.  This will lead up to a dirt road - follow that straight on through to the Trailhead for Rio Name Tr. 160. 

8.  Descend the beautiful and primitive Rio Nambe Tr. 160 to Tr. 179 - the cutover back to Rio en Medio.  This will be hard to see - look to your left for a sign high up in a tree - and then cross the high water creek to get to Tr. 179.  This trail has some steep switchbacks and you will see some hike-a-bike here.  These two trails are classic Santa Fe back country riding at it’s best!

*expect downfall and overgrown trails here - this is remote back country.  Crossing Nambe Creek might also have high water levels.

** Do NOT miss the turn (on your left) to Tr. 179.  this is where you have to cross Nambe Creek again for the final time and the turn can be missed.  The sign is high up in a tree on your left and you will quite possibly be descending with a high rate of speed.  Be careful here.

9.  Turn R on Rio en Medio and Decend to the little village of En Medio after crossing the creek a few times.  Continue on the dirt roads until they turn to pavement, which eventually become SR 592.  Look for the Recreation Center on your left for a potable rewater point (from hose spigot) once in town.  Continue on 592 until you reach Pacheco Canyon Road.

10.  Climb Pacheco Canyon Road (turn left) all the way back up to the Winsor Trail.  This will be a long, gradual climb on a dirt road.  This is not the last climb of the day, but it is that last long one.  From the Rec. Center in En Medio to the Winsor Trail it is a 10-mile climb covering 3100-ft of elevation gain!

11.  Sweet Descent!  Turn R on Winsor and descend Tr. 254 all the way back down to the Chamisa Trail.

12.  Turn L on Chamisa and climb back up to the saddle with the map and 5 way trail. 

13.  At the top of saddle at Chamisa, turn R and climb, climb some more on sweet singletrack on Sidewinder Tr. 232.  Continue Sidewinder Tr. 232 to Tr. 399, but turn left at the fence line and descend toward Hyde Park Road.  At the bottom of Tr. 399 there will be another trail intersection.

14.  Turn R  follow Little Tesuque Trail to Bishop’s Lodge Road.  Connect Bishops Lodge Road back into downtown Santa Fe and follow streets (your choice) in town back over to 2nd Street Brewery.

12.  Congrats, you just finished the hardest mountain bike ride in Santa Fe, NM!

Maps;

Excellent maps exists from the following;

1.  Santa Fe County for Dale Ball Network (not needed however because all intersections of the trail netwrok are marked with a map.) 

2.  Sky Terrain Trail Maps has the entire course mapped out - including Dale Ball.  This is an excellent Map and will cover you entirely.

3.  Drake Mountain Maps are also available all around Santa Fe and cover most of the netwrok but not all of Dall Ball. 

General Notes;
1. Rewater point is in the village of En Medio at the Rec. Center. If packing a water filter there will be plenty of place to replenish your water supply.  Food sources will not be obtainable along the route, although the route does pass through some small vilages. 

2. Bail-out points. They are numerous and easily accessible. The most common is at En Medio, where a lot of people have skipped the Pacheco Cyn. Road climb and went to Tesuque for food at the Village Store and then wheeled it back into town.

3. The final rally point is at 2nd Street Brewery. IPA….das good!

4.  Remember  - no cheating!  Follow the exact route posted here and be prepared to support yourself in order to recieve credit for finishing.  Read the rules, bring all maps, a gps, water filter, and enough food in order for you to not only complete the trip, but also for you to survive.