Valles Caldera National Preserve, New Mexico. A hidden paradise for gravel.

Wow. Looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing....will have to check this out....up in Taos.

Yeah Laeljon, if you're up in Taos you should DEFINITELY check out the Caldera.  It's just a hop skip and a jump away.  The usage rules are still a little fuzzy around bikes, so you can pretty much just find a safe place to park and hop the fence with your bike.  No entrance fee or permit needed.  As long as you aren't doing something stupid like building fires or running from the law enforcement rangers when they wanna talk to you everything's cool and nobody will get upset.  As a courtesy you might wanna park away from the main elk viewing area, but I say that only to discourage that from becoming a parking lot for cyclists and pissing off the NPS.  I don't think it's technically illegal, but why make waves?

Anyway.... c'mon down and have a look!  If you wanna come down in about a month when all the snow is out of the shady areas I'll show you my "secret" back entrance to the Caldera from Canada Bonita.  A little rough for a gravel bike, but a lot of fun!

     

Still durability testing the full carbon gravel bike prototype at Valles Caldera.  I never get tired of this place...

Looks nice. May I know where can I find it ? I want  to find a carbon bike. Thank you.

Nice pictures, thanks for sharing.   I love Northern New Mexico and visit every chance I get.

Nice! Thanks a ton for sharing!

Living in southern Colorado I've been through there years ago and even did a road tour north of there (SantaFe, Abiquiu, up the Chama to the monastary, back out to Ghost Ranch, through El Rito, over to Ojo, and then back to SF)  - but never explored the dirt roads in the Caldera... I will certainly be down to check it out in the spring! It looks to a great place for a gravel bikepacking tour as well.

Another area in northern NM that I'd like to check out is the Valle Vidal... It seems like it'd be a good place to explore some gravel roads. I've only done a bit of fly fishing there years ago. Ever been in that area?

Thanks again for the beautiful pics and sharing the info!

Nice bike by the way!

Can you share what hubs you're testing?

Never been to Valle Vidal.  Might have to look into that.  Life has been keeping me stuck on pavement lately.  I need to get in a long stretch of gravel somewhere.  As for the hubs I was testing, they were our GravityWorx straight pull hubs.  My boss has a thing for continuous development and testing, so there's always a new SOMETHING that needs to be ridden to hell and back.  It's one of the many reasons why I love my job. When I was a bikeshop mechanic test rides were a quick trip around the block.  These days, test riding is at least a 500 mile process.  Gives me an excuse to take long lunches and occasionally call in "testing" when the weather is just too good to be in the office or shop

RunsWithScissors wrote:Never been to Valle Vidal.  Might have to look into that.  Life has been keeping me stuck on pavement lately.  I need to get in a long stretch of gravel somewhere.  As for the hubs I was testing, they were our GravityWorx straight pull hubs.  My boss has a thing for continuous development and testing, so there's always a new SOMETHING that needs to be ridden to hell and back.  It's one of the many reasons why I love my job. When I was a bikeshop mechanic test rides were a quick trip around the block.  These days, test riding is at least a 500 mile process.  Gives me an excuse to take long lunches and occasionally call in "testing" when the weather is just too good to be in the office or shop

I didn't read above where that your work for GravityWorx. I only found out that after checking your profile out. I want to put in a resume and work for your boss. I promise to run a free set of hub/wheels to hell and back for at least 500 miles here on the East Coast which is a whole kind of different riding that you have out there and why you should consider me. hehe

Enjoy those long extended lunch breaks when it is too nice outside to be stuck behind a cubicle at work.

Zman

I just checked out those hubs... very nice!

I guess you were just fulfilling the "real world" bit described on the website:
"They are tested first in the lab, then in real world conditions for ultimate durability."

I'll likely try to get down there this spring as it looks like a great place.
Thanks again for posting!

Thanks sharing looks like a fantastic place to ride.