Where should I cut west from the GDR?

Hi all,

My party of 2 are beginning the Great Divide northbound in early March. NM will be super cold, but we're ready for it... but we're not ready for the snows of CO, so we're looking to cut west/southwest at or around Grants, NM. Any recommendations for roads to do that on? I'm packing road tires for both of us, so we'd be happy to use some good roads (or better yet, doubletrack or 4x4 routes) to get over to the AZT.

I've ruled out the Grand Enchantment, as it looks too extreme for us (newbie bikepackers, a trailer... not really into climb-a-bike sections.) ACA's southern tier would be good too, but I think we'll be too far north and won't want to backtrack too much.

Any advice is appreciated. Also, holler if you want to join! We're thinking we'll make it to Grants around April 1. We're slow -- allotting 40mi/day.