[eokerholm]

Heading up there next week. 7/15-7/20 but it looks like Rain in the forecast 40% each and every day.

Is this something to be concerned with?

Does the place drain and ride well afterwards?

going thru a few books and some posts to figure out where we're going, but thougth I'd ask the locals what's up for weather.

feel free to chime in on this thread with recommendations on rides and locals. places to camp, eat, etc.

Thanks in advance!
Erik

 

[Mtn. Biker123]

You will probably want to steer clear of Abq until the forest reopens. We are very limited without access to the East Mtns.

Good news is Santa Fe has no restrictions and the riding is just as good. Weather is hit or miss, but things tend to dry out overnight or even the same day.

 

[cdaddy]

Best to start/finish early. If practical I'd try to be off the trails by 3pm. The 40% chance of rain refers to the afternoon thunderstorms that roll thru literally every day from July thru September. Pretty random in regard to where you'll encounter them but higher elevations are more prone to getting drenched.

 

[glenzx]

Heading up there next week. 7/15-7/20 but it looks like Rain in the forecast 40% each and every day.

Is this something to be concerned with?

Nope. As CDaddy noted, it's our regular Monsoon Season pattern. Clear mornings, by lunchtime the thunderheads try and build up, and by mid/late afternoon they get serious, if they're going to develop into anything. Adjust your schedule to start as early as possible, and be off the bike - and certainly WAY off any high terrain / ridges when the going gets rough.

The lightning is ferocious at elevation! I've had (1) bad day / close call - which is more than enough. You could taste the electricity.

What's awesome is how it cools everything off for usually calm evenings. Sort of the ay weather 'should be'!

Does the place drain and ride well afterwards?

Yes.

Santa Fe drains extremely well - lot's of decomposed rock trails tread, not so much clay except on the lower trails.

 

[Rotmilky]

As several others have said before, the afternoon shower season is here. To give you an idea, it's rained here in Los Alamos every day for the past two weeks. Clouds start to come in around noon. Rains start sometime in the afternoon (generally 2-4 although today they moved in hard around noon). Rain lasts for an hour or two and then it clears up and there's a few hours of sun before dark. The rain isn't the problem, it's the ungodly amounts of lightning that come along with it. Even if it doesn't rain, you'll get a huge number of strikes as the clouds pass over. Oh yea...and sometimes it hails which hurts to ride through.

I'd suggest having a plan that includes being able to bail and get off of ridges as early as noon-1pm. If the weather is still holding, you can proceed as long as you have a rapid egress. Keep an eye on the sky. If it begins to cloud up...make for the car. Better to ride the next morning than become a human popcorn kernel.

 

[greg de taos]

Same for up here in Taos, just got soaked coming home.

 

[NuMexJoe]

With beer in hand and an intent to pontificate, I'm gonna temporarily derail this thread and publicly thank cdaddy and Rotmilky for not perpetuating the misuse of the term "monsoon." This malapropism had it's genesis with the blond airheads who read the weather in the PHX television market, and in recent years has spread to NM, where we should know better. Cripes, even the LANL meteorologist, whose education & training should presumably serve him better, misuses the term. Look it up. Monsoon is a seasonal wind that comes off the Indian Ocean, and can also refer to the rains associated with such winds. It has absolutely no relation, nor similarity (other than seasonality), to the summer thunderstorms we get in the SW US.
- Joe (who clearly needs a long bike ride in the worst way, and who thanks Glen for indulging this rant, which isn't intended to be at his expense)

 

[cdaddy]

"Monsoon" just sounds so severe. I didn't want to scare the guy off.

For that same reason I generally refrain from using terms like "Tsunami" and "Cyclone" when describing NM riding conditions to out-of-staters.

 

[makachut]

no kidding,man, I've been in Hurricane speed winds in this high altitude desert. roll in the arroyos and do a dust bath,abnormal style.