BY DAVID NORTH
Former Chair
Los Alamos County Transportation Board

White Rock rates “Good” for biking, with aspects of excellence — as long as you don’t try to leave town.

The good parts are mostly due to the layout of the land and the town and the traffic flow.

Unlike the hill, there aren’t any finger mesas. Viewed from above, White Rock’s bean shape means there isn’t any need to go the long way around to just about anywhere. Rather you can more or less go straight to your destination.There are some steep hills, but it’s almost always possible to choose an alternate route that’s more gradual.

There is only one main through road and bicyclists don’t have to use it. And if they do, there’s a trail separated from the roadway and generous bike lanes on both sides that are usually clear of excessive snow or debris.

The other roads generally have light or no traffic most of the day, making for a pleasant ride. Sidewalks are usually present and easy to access if a traffic pinch happens. The worst snags I’ve hit are the hordes of parents jockeying to get to the schools twice a day, but it’s not hard to figure out the schedule and stay away (see alternate routes above). Sometimes the Meadow/Rover loop gets a bit trafficky and some of the drivers get a bit aggressive. Still, this is rare. And honestly, it’s pretty easy to stay off those two roads too.

But what about the excellence? That is due to a long string of great county decisions about trails. They’re all over the place, giving shortcuts between adjacent streets and even long stretches where roads can be avoided entirely. The finest is the Canada del Buey trail, running all the way from Rover at the Town Center to the entrance of Overlook Park. It has a fine crushed gravel surface that works for any bike except maybe the skinniest-tired road racer (and normal people generally don’t have one of those anyway). The surface is so good it’s rated accessible. Most of these trails and shortcuts will show up on the county Parcel Map but it’s not obvious what is a trail, what is paved, if it’s rideable or not. That’s a subject for a later episode.

Of course, there’s the usual catch: maintenance. The majority of these trails, especially the longer ones, are in such bad shape that it’s tricky riding them, and bumpy enough to be painful in places. The trail to the south side of Overlook Road was paved at one time, and it practically requires an archeologist to figure that out. The asphalt is still present on the trail between Piedra Loop and the Pajarito Acres horse lot, but it’s so broken that most folks won’t use it. The county did attempt a repair on the trail along SR4, but the contractor did such a horrible job that the improvement was only slight, and almost immediately deteriorated.

There’s a light at the end of that tunnel, though. For one thing, staff has looked at the idea of replacing the old asphalt trails with a surface more like that of Canada del Buey. I really like that idea, but of course that will require some maintenance also. The recent rains caused some rilling at Canada del Buey, but it looks fairly easy to fix if not neglected too long.

And it’s already in the planning to repair and extend the nasty trails from the Rocket Park area up to Pinon School, including a shorter and easier way for kids to get from Mirador to the school.

Putting it simply, White Rock is the best town I’ve lived in for biking, and it’s only getting better. In some ways it’s also the best for Lab commuters and badge holders because of the easy access to Pajarito Road, which I’m told is the best way to get up The Hill. I wouldn’t know; I never worked for the lab and was not here back when it was open to residents.

Dave North spent four years dealing with bicycling issues during his tenure on the Transportation Board and rides bikes almost daily — yes, even this time of year. This is first in an exclusive to The Reporter series of articles about how to get the most out of cycling in Los Alamos County.