Just a quick post to say I’ve made some decent progress on my New Mexico mountain bike trails spreadsheet.  Covered several of the major trails in the immediate Albuquerque area, including Cedro and Otero canyon.  Still need to make it up to Faulty, which I hear is one of the best.

Doing my best to link each trail to my GPS data stored in Everytrail (pretty good app, has worked well for me).  One major feature I like with Everytrail is that you can scroll down on the right-hand side for downloadable GPS files.  GPX is a pretty generic and well-supported format, and the KMZ files can be opened in Google Earth (including for iOS).  One thing I like about storing my rides in Google Earth is that you can toggle multiple rides to be displayed simultaneously.  This helps me decide whether or not it’s feasible to link different rides together.  For example, a friend and I recently started up at the Tram and rode all the way South to I-40.  It was a blast, and I was able to link up most of my favorite sections of 3 different loops to give my buddy a memorable first ride in Albuquerque.

While I try to list approximate distances from central Albuquerque, it’s hard with some of them.  The Foothills trails, for example, are pretty much in ABQ.  On the other hand, taking the Elena Gallegos area from the Tram, while connected to the same trail system and still more or less in ABQ, can still take 20 minutes to get to the trailhead.

I hope you find the GPS files helpful.  Having my iPhone’s GPS to guide me a long has gone a long way in giving me the confidence to scout out some of these trails for the first time.  Any of my friends and family could tell you that I’d probably be lost somewhere in the mountains without it!  One of the neat things I didn’t realize before is that true GPS (like on the newer iPhones) doesn’t rely on a data / internet connection to function.  For example, with my Everytrail app, I can download the map for an entire area to my phone while I’m at home over WiFi.  Then, when I’m out in an area with poor service, I already have my map — and the GPS almost always continues working without a hitch, so I can track my progress and location.  I’ve even turned the data connection (WiFi / 3G / EDGE) completely off — still works great!

If you’re in the area and want to meet up for a ride, let me know (see the “contact me” button above).  I’m still pretty new to the sport, but I’m learning.  Speaking of which, time to head out for a ride with the ladyfriend. :)