Anthony Gap-Transmountain

The Anthony Gap-Transmountain ride is the mainstay of serious cyclists in El Paso. Depending on the route, it's about 44 miles with a great combination of climbing and flat riding. I always feel like I've put in a good ride when I'm finished.
On this particular day (July 11), the El Paso Bicycle Club's official ride was to the top of Anthony Gap and back, but five of us decided to keep going and do the full AG-TM loop.
From the West Side, you have the option of doing the Gap or Transmountain first. To be honest, doing TM first is the best way to go, particularly in summer. Get the hardest part out of the way before the temperatures rise. Also, the eastbound ascent of TM and the westbound grade on AG are both easier on the legs.
We started in the parking lot on Resler across from Franklin High School. This is a good place to begin and end a ride because there is a bike shop (Power Shots) and good places to eat (The Bagel Shop is a favorite). You head north on Resler, and can take your choice of 1) staying on Resler all the way to Transmountain, then turn west and get on the frontage road; or 2) cut over via Helen of Troy/Northwestern/Paso del Norte (Artcraft), which is a bit easier.
The frontage roads along I-10 are often referred to as "The Rollers" because there they keep going up and down. Stay on the northbound frontage road (also known as Desert Blvd North) until you get to Anthony (I-10 exit 0). You can't go any further or else you will enter the freeway. Turn left and go past the I-10 off/on ramps on the other side of the freeway then turn right on Sandia Road, which is a 2-way road that takes you to O'Hara Road. There is a gas station/convenience store at Sandia and Anthony Road that is a popular rest stop for cyclists.
Once you're on O'Hara road, it's an 8-mile ride east across Anthony Gap (see details below). O'Hara (NM 404) dead-ends at War Road; turn right and go south. War Road becomes Martin Luther King once you hit the state line and enter El Paso. At MLK and U.S. 54, look for the Shell station on your left if you need a rest and water bottle refill. From there, turn right onto the U.S. 54 frontage road and continue south to Transmountain, then get ready to climb (see details below).
Just past the top of TM coming from the east, you can cross the road to get to the overlook picnic areas.
As you approach the bottom of the descent on TM, look for the left turn to get onto Resler, which will take you back to the starting point. (Resler is exactly one mile uphill from I-10).
For folks who are not familiar with Anthony Gap or Transmountian, here's what you need to know.
"Anthony Gap" refers to the pass between the Franklin and Organ Mountains. NM 404 (also known as O'Hara road or sometimes Anthony Gap road) goes through the pass, connecting I-10 on the west side to Martin Luther King (also known as War Road) on the east. It's about 8 miles long, with a maximum elevation of nearly 4400 feet in the middle. The west end (I-10) is about 3,900 feet; the eastern end (War Road) is about 4,100 feet high. So the west to east route involves much more climbing.
Some warning/advice: the shoulders on O'Hara road are nice and wide but full of debris. Make sure you're prepared for flats!
Transmountain Road (Loop 375) spans I-10 on west and U.S. 54 (Patriot Freeway) on the east. It's about 10.7 miles. Elevation begins at about 3880 on the west side and 4,000 on the east, rising to 5,280 at the summit. It's about a 6-mile climb from the west and 4.5 miles from the east. East to west is a much tougher climb, but the descent to the west side is longer and in my opinion, safer. The eastbound descent involves more severe curves and, at times, unpredictable crosswinds.