Bicycle in late September in the mountains of New Mexico without the probability of snow closing the roads to traffic.

On 3 nights we stay at very different and unique lodges. The 4th night is spent in the town of Ruidoso. One of our lodges is Cloudcroft. This lodge is a very old hotel with beautiful grounds. Another night is spent in a modern resort called the Mescalero Inn, which is run by the Apache Indian Nation. The other night we stay in a lodge near the slopes of Ski Apache.

We will bike to Sunspot Observatory and take a walk-through tour of the observatory grounds. We will bike along beautiful country roads with only light traffic on most of the trip.

We will also bike into the mountains to the Ski Apache ski area passing magnificent views on every bend of the road. On the northern end of our trip we visit "Smokey The Bear State Park" near the Captan Mountains. Most of these scenic roads are located in one of the lesser-known tourist areas of New Mexico, hence, lighter traffic. We will have time to shop for souvenirs in the pm on one day.