We weren't sure what to expect as we rolled towards Taos other than that it was a "cool place." Lots of artists and skiing. Typically ski towns are outdoorsy and therefore biker-friendly. Typically.

We rode from Questa on the "Enchanted Circle" route through beautiful forest and hills. Things were going well, except for all the smashed bottles in the shoulder. Then we got to the edge of Taos. A woman immediately stopped to talk to us and told us about her bike tours through the southwest and all sorts of helpful information. It was awesome.

Then we got back on the road. It narrowed. There was lots of traffic. And the new pavement started. It looked like someone had randomly dumped asphalt into the travel lanes and driven over it with a bulldozer a bunch of times (i.e., it was not flat). The shoulder was a disaster, constantly forcing us into the road where we bounced and swerved and no doubt irritated everyone. And that's before we even got into the city. Downtown, we found cute, narrow streets totally packed with vehicles and lacking any shoulder. So we tried the sidewalk, but it included stairs... Even on the sidewalk leading up to the bike shop! Argh. We tried to cross the street and waited about 15 minutes since there were no traffic lights and nobody would stop. And the foul mixture of cedar smoke and exhaust really topped things off.

The next day, we visited Taos Pueblo, which was incredible and deserves its own blog entry. But when we arrived someone told us politely that we had ridden our bikes there illegally and we couldn't ride back out because there was no shoulder on the road, and there were dogs that would bite us. We would have to take public transit. Well that wasn't going to work so we just made a run for it while nobody was looking.

Finally, as we were leaving town and cursing the roads, another bike tourist stopped in his car to give us advice on routes, weather, and recommended hot springs. So the silver lining: there are a lot of nice bikers in Taos!

Later, in Pagosa Springs, we heard from some travelers that people either love or hate Taos: "Either the Taos Mountain smiles on you or it doesn't." It didn't smile on us. Maybe if we'd been in a car...