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The Junkyard Loop

I'm always changing my mind about what counts as "my favorite bike ride in Albuquerque," but I always return to the Junkyard Loop. Down in Albuquerque's South Valley, it takes you past the city's sewage treatment plant, a bit of infrastructure not to be missed if only for its pedestrian grandeur. It gives you a sense of the scale of our poop, a fact reinforced by the fact that it's the largest tributary on the Middle Rio Grande.

Around the back, the trail runs up behind the city's junkyard neighborhood, another reminder that a city this large has a load of crap to get rid of.

Treasure, for a moment, the old VW vans.

For a map: Inkstain's junkyard loop

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Comment by Jude on May 13, 2008 at 10:57pm: The VW junkyard is always an interesting sight. I have been avoiding the junkyard loop recently due to the wind. The bosque trail North of Central Avenue seems to offer more shielding from the wind. Here are some of my favorite photos of the dead VWs.

Comment by chantal on May 14, 2008 at 7:03am: Right on! I love the Junkyard Loop as well. Something about witnessing the city's underbelly or "scale of our poop" as you mention. Isn't there a pet cemetery on that trail as well? The lighting on Jude's photos of the graveyard is unparalleled, but here are a few others I've taken from the trail.

John, great Google map! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Comment by John Fleck on May 14, 2008 at 7:14am: Thanks for the pet cemetery pictures. I peeked in Sunday when I was down there. It's about a half mile north of Rio Bravo. But why use words? Map. (We are such geeks!)

Comment by John Fleck on May 14, 2008 at 7:17am: P.S. I remember a discussion a while back about embedding Google maps directly in Ning, Chantal. At the time, I recall, you couldn't. I'm guessing by your approach above that hasn't changed?

Comment by chantal on May 14, 2008 at 7:28am: Yeah, I think you're right. I didn't try embedding it, opting for the screenshot method instead, but I'll try the embed here:

View Larger Map

Comment by chantal on May 14, 2008 at 7:29am: Yep, still not working. Ning strips out the iframe tag.

Comment by andrew on May 14, 2008 at 7:35am: Those Volkswagens aren't dead. They're just resting.

Comment by Tricross on May 14, 2008 at 7:43am: That is a cooI loop, but I must confess I love junkyards period. There is a fantastic one outside of Socorro in Polvadera.

Comment by mombat on May 14, 2008 at 9:11am: I used to work in this part town. I found some great stuff that hadn't made it to the junk yards, the best being a 2 inch thick 2x4 marble slab that now is part of my parent's kitchen.

Comment by once banned twice shy on May 14, 2008 at 9:54am: I don't think many tourists see the junkyards. Not exactly on the tourist route, you know. Every city's got junkyards, too.

I know everyone calls this the junkyard loop, but it really is called the "Chris Chavez Loop" in memory of a fireman who was killed by a driver while riding his bicycle.