La Llorona Park

One of our favorite forms of exercise here in New Mexico is bicycle riding. The best bicycling in Las Cruces is along the Rio Grande.  For us the ride begins at La Llorona Park next to the bridge on Picacho.

This is the bridge that crosses the Rio Grande from the east side, or Las Cruces side.

The sign that greets you as you turn into La Llorona park is more proof that this is the Rio Grande.

This is the parking area where we load and unload our bikes.  You can see ours in our pickup truck.  Notice the lack of Rio (or water) in the background beyond the truck.  We had a visit with one of Margaret's sister who wanted to see the Rio Grande.  She was amazed at the lack of water.  The water is held behind the Elephant Butte and Caballo Dams for irrigation purposes.  When the farmers begin irrigating, there will be water in the Rio.

Here is the view of the bridge from the parking area.  There is a path for foot traffic and bicycles to go "upstream" from the parking area.

Looking south you see the bike and walking path.  It is marked off with marker posts every quarter of a mile.  We are frequently greeted by friendly fellow bicyclers and walkers.

There is water in the Rio Grande bed.  This water comes from the sewage treatment plant in the town of Mesilla located to the east of this location. Notice the Organ Mountains in the distance.

The bridge on the bike path crosses over the drainage ditch.  You can see how the water enters the dry river bed.  From this point on it could be called Rio Pequeno (Small River), or Riachuelo (Creek or Stream).

The stream and bike path cross under Interstate 10 which goes all the way across the country from San Diego, California to Florida.

Several species of ducks can be found along the river basin.  These are mostly mallards.  We have seen crows, hawks, Pyrrhuloxia (a cardinal species), and of course roadrunners.

As we approached from the north another couple were walking towards us from the south.  They had two honey colored standard poodles on leashes. This roadrunner was caught in between in an area where there was little ground cover.  He took refuge in the tree.  He did not fly up into the tree, but jumped up into the tree.

I wondered if they can even fly so I checked the internet.  Here is what wikipedia reports: 
Roadrunners and other members of the cuckoo family have zygodactyl feet. The roadrunner can run at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) and generally prefer sprinting to flying, though it will fly to escape predators. During flight, the short, rounded wings reveal a white crescent in the primary feathers.

I captured several photos of this roadrunner as he ran across the path.  I selected this one for the blog because he stopped and posed for me.

Here is a view of the end of the trail.  It is 3.3 miles from La Llorona Park.

A long ride deserves a rest break along the way.  We take pillows to soften the seats on the park benches.

Riding alone one day it took me 38 minutes to make the round trip of 6.6 miles.

Looking towards the east you see the beautiful jagged peaks of the Organ Mountains.

Back at the start, looking towards the west, one can see this mountain.  I do not know if it has a name, but it reminds me of R Mountain near Rexburg, Idaho.  I think I found out the name of this mountain.  It is Pichacho Peak.  At least there is a Pichacho Peak Brewery near here.