Southern Colo - N. New Mex - in November

I'm trying to put together a ride in late November - Thanksgiving week. I'm starting in the DFW area and making a beeline to Albuquerque.

From there I would like to spend about 3 days putting about in Northern NM and Southern Colo.

The first thing I need to ask is weather and road conditions. I know - guessing weather is hard and a total crapshoot. But, generally, am I living in a fool's paradise?

My vague plan, with Google maps showing me the way, is north on 84 to Pagoda Springs, 160 to Alamosa, 285 and 64 south to Taos and Angelfire. Out of the mountains and south to Las Cruces, and then to El Paso where I'll be staying for Thanksgiving with a friend for a couple of days.

The second question, if the answer to #1 is NO (I'm not living in a fool's paradise) and, YES the roads are going to be somewhere between perfect to "just be careful and you'll be ok" - can I get some suggestions on what to do, what to see, where to eat, where to stay?

I'll be interested in the answer. I would think any ride in November, even in the flatlands, would be dicey and dependent on the short term weather patterns.

Dress warm. Check out . Highs and lows for Taos in Nov.

As wheaton suggested, precip wil be a crapshoot.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/taos-nm/87571/november-weather/334572?monyr=11/1/2013

Around here they say "ride the mountains in the summer and the deserts in the winter."

Holy cow...It's a crap shoot. The weather here in the winter can be phenominal. Sometimes, highs in the low 70s, but the mornings are colder than a witch's tit...especially the northern area you're planning on coming from.

Don't forget that Albuquerque is at 5000ft, and Taos is almost 9k. The chances for snow on the road are about 50-50 these days. Used to be I'd warn you that there is going to be 4ft of snow on the ground, but lately that has just not been the case. It could be nice and dry, or the state could be locked down with -20 to -40 lows at night.

Colorado is the exact same way, just sometimes more brutal. You'll have to check your road conditions to ensure the roads you want to ride are even open. AND if they are open, they will probably be covered with sand. The good roads from Taos to Albuquerque will have sand and maybe snow on them...If it is wet at all, there will be ice in the shade. You just gotta be careful.

The good thing is this: NM weather changes about every 6 hours, so if it sucks...Just grab a hotel and wait it out. Also, if the weather gets bad, you can always grab a freeway or main road and skip the smaller twisty roads. The bigger roads are better maintained and have more traffic, so ice and snow are less of a concern.

As far as where to stay and eat; that is dependent on you. If you come to Albuquerque, I can take you to great local food, steaks, whatever...My brother is up in Red River and Taos, so he can hook you up there...

Just gotta figure out what you wanna do and be sort of flexible on your leave date so you can get a good idea of what the weather is doing.

Las Cruces will be warmer, and the ride from Albuquerque to LC will suck, but the farther south you get, the more the snow gets left behind.

Thanks for the input, all.

I lived in ABQ for 3 years (94-97) with a used Suzuki GS850 shaftie, with full dress Vetter bags & trunk. I know what the weather is in the big city. (I missed 3 days of work in the 2 years of that stay where my ONLY transpo was that GS850. Two wheels and snow really don't work well together...)

But I never rode north from there.

I wish I could remember the name of that Mexican Restaurant off Rio Rancho Blvd the the flat enchiladas...

Anyway, I have a backup plan. I'm not too worried about the DFW-ABQ trip. After spending a day visiting folks I knew in ABQ, I'll check the weather. If north doesn't work, I'll go for Arizona and West NM, down towards Mogollon, NM. Hope at least one of those routed (N to Colo or S to Mogollon) will be clear.

I've got good warm gloves, wind protection for hands and electic heat. My record for cold riding in DFW is 17F. I got to work sweating... Aerostich heating works purty good...

Woe is me. The weather has just been great...until now. And, in fact, it looks as if, in about a week, it will be pretty good.

This weekend, as I was making my plans, packing, testing out all my new accessories... My plans are shot. Instead of leaving tomorrow at noon to go west, I'll be waiting until Monday, no northern New Mexico on the card. DFW to El Paso. I might at least get to do a ride along Southern NM.

Poo. (Pardon the foul language)

Uh, good call. The "Nortenos" are catching winter hard this weekend. Expecting about a foot of snow north of Albuquerque in the next two days, and thats with it snowing sideways. Not good scooter riding weather.

birkdale10 said:

Woe is me. The weather has just been great...until now. And, in fact, it looks as if, in about a week, it will be pretty good.
This weekend, as I was making my plans, packing, testing out all my new accessories... My plans are shot. Instead of leaving tomorrow at noon to go west, I'll be waiting until Monday, no northern New Mexico on the card. DFW to El Paso. I might at least get to do a ride along Southern NM.

Poo. (Pardon the foul language)

Click to expand...

Ride down to Mexico...Beemerdons knows the way...

Jeebus, the difference 7 days can make. Last week, it was pretty nice out. The weekend before that, it was jeans and t-shirt weather. We went back to the mountains last week and got another load of wood. The days were nice, but nights were cold. Today it is freezing balls and the wind is going.

I was supposed to go to my mom's tomorrow morning and split 5 cords of wood while I block and then split the 4.5 we got last week. Right now it is raining what can only be described as slush...it's cold enough to be ice, but it's moving too fast and too heavy to be snow. Tomorrow has an 80% chance of snow with temps in the 20s and Sunday is 100% chance of snow, also in the 20s. The wind is not going to stop, so I'm not splitting crap until this cold snap calms down.

That being said, I'm also not riding my bike anywhere...It's gonna stay in the garage where it is dry and warm. I'm ok with cold, and I'm ok with wet...cold and wet is an entirely different issue...Especially here.

Birkdale, you may want to take very close looks at what the weather is doing...It may stay crappy for a few days and then be 70 outside...