Indeed I am a bit of a geezer.
Do you want to ride mountains, desert, or mx?
How much time do you have?
There are some good trails up in the Jemez mountains. But, there is also a new fire in the Fenton lake area so I wouldn't be suprised if things get shut down. For now, I think Jemez is still open. You would need a guide to find the good stuff.
There are also some fairly good mountain trails in the Manzanos. These are off of South 14. Lot's of Mt Bikers use these trails so you gotta keep an eye out on blind corners. Some are very technical, in a steep rocky and narrow sort of way. You could get by on your own on these trails. Stop by a bicycle shop and get a map of Otero Canyon and Cedro peak (Two Wheel Drive has them for sure but you might not want to mention dirt bikes ;) ) I've never ridden a dirt bike out there, just mt bike.
Desert can be found all around Albuquerque. But you mostly would want to go out to Rio Rancho at the end of Southern Blvd. That's because you will find a bunch of guys out there on Sundays, and even Saturdays, and you could hook up with someone who will show you the lay out. Lots of whoops and deep sand. You can't really ride to the north of Albuquerque (towards Santa Fe) because it's mostly all Indian land. And to the East is ABQ open space and the Sandia Mt Wilderness. In the 60s and early 70s you could ride a dirt bike to the top of the Sandia Crest (if you were good on an Alpina :) ) , the Crest is just a shade over 10,000 ft above sea level. If you go south of ABQ you'll find the Big Dig and then more Indian Land.
MX can be found in Rio Rancho too. Some fellers have built some pretty good tracks out there. Well one of them is gone but I know one at the end of Northern Blvd is still there. That's where BEEF706 schooled me on the fine art of flying. Well I didn't really fly that high, but he wouldn't let me quit until I did this little baby double. I was sorta proud of my self. Maybe BEEF will fill you in on the RR MX track situation. Of course they have a real track in Moriarty. That's where the Johnson's, Tedesco's, and Buckelew learned their craft. You might have to be a memeber of the club. Check
www.moriartymx.com
Then there is always the Big Dig. It's out south of the airport. I sort of learned what little I know about riding at the Dig. The movie "Sidewinder One" was filmed there. It was a pretty cool place back in the 70s. I don't think I would recomend it today though.
I would take you out riding but the sad fact of the matter is, I haven't slung a leg over a DB since May 19th! And it don't look like I will until the first week of OCTOBER :scream:
Check out
http://www.rickramsey.net/ for better information than I can give you. :thumb: