Sorry for taking so long to reply. I was away on a trip.
When I was there there was essentially no dedicated bike paths. You had to ride on the street, with not even a bike lane. It's a bit better now, with a bike path next to the RailRunner line.
There is a lot of gravel in town, with places where the gravel gets on the side of the road where people park, as when a dirt road or dirt driveway comes onto the road.
In my first few months of living in Santa Fe, I got driving off the road by someone cutting in front of me.
Checking now, it's gotten better. I lived around 601 28 W San Mateo Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA and worked 309 Johnson St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA (the apartments have gone condo, and the company I worked for has long since gone bust).
Nowdays I would be able to take the rail trail to the Railyard, but then either bike with traffic or on the sidewalk the rest of the way.
Or I could bike along some busy streets, like take a bike lane on Galisteo into the center of town.
Neither are that appealing.
I certainly know people did bike there, but that does not mean I felt comfortable doing so, even after 10 years of often using a bike for errands in Tallahassee, FL, Urbana/Champaign, IL, and Mountain View, CA.
The American West is generally very sprawled (the big-box stores with a sea of parking as GP puts it above), and because of that speed limits are relatively high (but never high enough to be efficient). Coupled with close to zero protected bike lanes, and often times not even a sidewalk, it's just not reasonable to try your luck against the lifestyl^H^Hwork trucks. Last time I was in Santa Fe I stepped out of my hotel to go for a run, realized that was not exactly what the city designers had in mind, and just headed back in for the treadmill. I've played that game and it's just not worth the hassle, sadly.
Not the person you responded to, but I have random thoughts derive from making a summer visit to a friend in Tucson back in the 90s. We tried riding bikes from Oracle to some place several miles away and my tires got so soft from the pavement heat that it split, the tube burst, and we aborted the trip. Now, this was way back in the 90s when both A) bike tire compounds were probably of much worse quality than today, and B) I was a lazy teen with no grit who didn't even try to change the tire, nor would I have wanted to, because it was hovering around 38C that day and all I wanted was to be in the pool.
These days, I love riding my bike everywhere. When I was living in southern Japan for a while, summers there were at least as hot as that summer in Tucson and just about maxed on the humidity. With more age and grit I still rode my bike everywhere, plus took weekend trips through the mountains of the island.
I think not everyone has the patience to build up this grit or, in some cases, might have medical conditions that prevent it. Heat stroke is a concern, as is just showing up places drenched in sweat. Also, looking at a bike lane map of Santa Fe, their infrastructure today is not great.
All this is to say, I think biking in Santa Fe would be an option, but for many it might not be convenient, safe, or desirable.
When I was there there was essentially no dedicated bike paths. You had to ride on the street, with not even a bike lane. It's a bit better now, with a bike path next to the RailRunner line.
There is a lot of gravel in town, with places where the gravel gets on the side of the road where people park, as when a dirt road or dirt driveway comes onto the road.
In my first few months of living in Santa Fe, I got driving off the road by someone cutting in front of me.
Checking now, it's gotten better. I lived around 601 28 W San Mateo Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA and worked 309 Johnson St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA (the apartments have gone condo, and the company I worked for has long since gone bust).
Nowdays I would be able to take the rail trail to the Railyard, but then either bike with traffic or on the sidewalk the rest of the way.
Or I could bike along some busy streets, like take a bike lane on Galisteo into the center of town.
Neither are that appealing.
I certainly know people did bike there, but that does not mean I felt comfortable doing so, even after 10 years of often using a bike for errands in Tallahassee, FL, Urbana/Champaign, IL, and Mountain View, CA.