This blog post sounds rather grand in name, but really we just pushed our bikes, rode beautiful dirt roads, nattered, set up camp, pulled down camp, chit chatted some more, looked at the map, went in circles, looked at the map again, stopped, started, stopped, kept going, ate snacks, and eventually found the car.

Fine food was certainly a theme for this micro tour. I forget now which meals were what, as they’ve simply blended into one fancy food festival… tamales warmed in the pan, tacos with cashew nut cream and refried beans, chargrilled poblano peppers, homemade crackers infused with goji berries, delicious chocolate truffles and so much more.

But that’s not all! We also discussed heady topics like ‘wasting time’, the very notion of time itself (Tim built a neat little sundial in the sand with a twig), and the western notion of time in relation to success.

In short, we enjoyed a rolling buffet of delightful dirt roads, bantering bike pushes, fireside thoughts, and primo snacks!

It’s always good to be back on the mesa top.

Exploratouring at its finest.

Taking a power line break.

Yep, this really is a road that’s marked on the map. Ah… New Mexico!

Windmill shadows.

Open your eyes.

I think our kitchen could use a better extractor fan.

Tim’s new Caldera Cone is perfect for building micro fires with twigs, creating the trifecta of warmth, cooking, and ‘something to do whilst camping’.

It’s great for roasting poblano peppers too.

Behold, the silicon pot scraper, a marvel of modern camping cleaning ware. Even better than pine needles.

It’s Taco Time with Tim.

Tim’s Vegan Tacos:

• cashew cream
• sundried tomatoes
• miso
• avocado
• TJ’s lemon/garlic sprinkle
• poblano pepper

Fast forward to the morning and it’s Tamale Time with Tim.

Then, Teacher Tim proffers a lesson in layers.

And between all this, he grappled with rocks and stones to makesome serious home improvements to the camping zone.

While I just looked up into the sky. I see the moon, the moon sees me.

Someone make it all go away. I can’t take these roads anymore.

Sunset and sunrise, my favourite bookends of the day. From our spot, we could see the Ordiz, Manzanos, and Sandia mountains.

I may not have the best pictures of it, but I’m VERY happy with my current bike setup.

Gear Interlude/ Some Favourite Things:

• Austere Straps, unmatched in both style and function
• Tailfin Aeropack Cargo, just love those marsupial side pouches
• Jones SWB with 29 x 3.25s up front and 29 x 2.8s at the back for NM ATB’ing (Duro Crux and Maxxis Rekon Plus)
• Buckhorn framebag as repaired by Nathan at Tribulus in Santa Fe, so happy to have it back in action
• 1L Nalgene bottle with new stickers + Klean Kanteen bottle with old stickers + Hydroflask with more new stickers

I Heart Emoji Stickers.

Did I mention my mobile nutter butter setup?

Tim encouraged us to carry Rocky Talkie radios. I was a skeptic as to their necessity at first but I have to say, they proved very handy on our off route, exploratory side meanders!

Action shots of the man of action.

Tim is very proud of his double-bar-end-handlebar setup. Should you ask him about it, be prepared for half an hour of your life to mysteriously evaporate.

Darn it, I forgot to tell you about the goji berry infused homemade gluten free crackers…

Tim’s Cracking Crispy Crackers:

• flax
• sesame seeds
• goji berries
• pumpkin seeds
• garbanzo flower

Or the morning chewy bar with a 74mg hit of caffeine…

Or the truffles…

Or the pistachios.

Or the double serving of Yogi Perfect Energy, with accompanying back pats.

Tim is a man with a dubious joke for every occasion. I should mention too his impeccable colour coordination.

Right down to his sleeping gear.

Talking of gear, Tim forever seeks the perfect setup, aka Bikepacking Nirvana. Only then will he be able to reach enlightenment and truly ‘Be The Bikepacking’.

Further evidence of his journey to a higher bikepacking realm.

I hope you enjoy your flight into the Astral Camping Plane, Tim.

Follow the red dirt road.

Finally we found the car, which Tim had hidden in a grove of junipers.

Thanks for another good one, mi amigo!

The Route

I will load this map in shortly, so you can truly appreciate the tiny distance we covered and the circles we rode in.

Basically, the trip was a chance to get out and camp, seek out new doubletrack on the mesa top (and scratch a few potentials off the list), and play with Tim’s twig fire Caldera Cone.

If you want to explore this area further, I suggest taking a look at the first segment of the New Mexico Off Road Runner route, as it goes right across Rowe and Fangio Mesas. It’s a fun ride, even if I say so myself!

Thanks as ever for reading. Any questions, please leave them in the comments!