Not really a fan of folks having more money or house than they need, but a certain symbiosis exists between cheapskate cyclists (me) and rich people who buy big houses away from the riff-raff in town. Enclaves such as Las Campanas outside of Santa Fe combine very low-density housing with nearly untraveled paved roads. Thus, me and plenty of other cyclists were out there Saturday before the weather went all to hell.

Starting off in town just off the River Trail, I got to see the Spring Trail Maintenance volunteers on the Trail (thanks, volunteers!) before escaping primary civilization up some hills that got the blood moving and crossed NM-599. From then on it was rolling hills, smooth pavement (generally) and the occasional driver (usually courteous). The route looked something like this:

One rich people enclave followed another through Campanas, Los Sueños, La Mirada, and Aldea before catching the NM-599 frontage road back to town. Along the way, I spied a “Road Closed” sign in front of a brand-newly paved road off the main loop (see little loop inside bigger loop in route above). As any cyclist will tell you, the only thing better than “Private Road” in these enclaves is a “Road Closed” sign. I, of course, went through the sign and saw a bunch of this:

The biggest challenge in exploring these rich people enclaves is that many of these folks so want to not have anything to do with riff-raff that they communally agree to gate the place, even though these McMansions are at least 10 miles from town. E.g.,

The 25-mile loop took Mr. Slow Cyclist (Me) about 2.5 hours to complete, interspersed with quite a few greetings to fellow cyclists and frequent “on your left” calls from faster cyclists (i.e., all of them). Definitely a ride worth checking out, if you haven’t already, and one very reminiscent of our closer ABQ neighbors up in Placitas. Nothing like somebody’s too much money and house to make for a good bike ride for somebody else, I guess.