Desert Reunion: Bikepacking the north Monumental Loop in NM with my son
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- čas přidán 26. 06. 2024
- December 9-11, 2023. Craving an adventure, I planned a trip to New Mexico to bikepack the Monumental Loop. When I mentioned my planned trip to my son, he said, "I'll join you." I was thrilled! It would be his first-ever bikepacking trip. But more importantly, I'd be able to spend three uninterrupted days riding with my son, Ian @minnesotansender6682
[ NOTE: Day 2 shows us camping near a cattle tank. It's recently come to my attention that "camping at or near cattle tanks, corrals, etc is discouraged. Despite being on public land, it is best practice to regard any ranching structure as private property." Moving forward, I will respect this practice and encourage anyone watching this video to do so as well. ]
The Monumental Loop traverses the relatively new (10 yrs old) Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. The monument was established to protect significant prehistoric, historic, geologic, and biologic resources of scientific interest, and includes four areas: the Organ Mountains, Desert Peaks, Potrillo Mountains, and Doña Ana Mountains.
This route traverses the traditional lands of the Piro/Manso/Tiwa, Chiricahua Apache and Mescalero Apache peoples. It was created by Matt Mason and has the following additional stewards: Pablo Lopez, Angelica Rubio, and Collette Marie.
bikepackingroots.org/project/...
We decided to ride the north (Green Chile) loop of this figure-8 shaped route as an introduction to bikepacking for my son and due to limited time.
Ian's passion for bikes led my husband and I to get into the sport of mountain biking, and soon it became a shared family hobby that led us to all kinds of adventures. Riding with my son is one of my favorite things to do, because he's so playful, curious, and encouraging on the bike.
So when he moved to the East Coast to live with his fiancé, I missed him-and riding with him-terribly. That's why this time to meet up in New Mexico is so special to me.
This trip will also be a way to test out flying with a bike-something I've never done before. I'd learn to take my bike apart, piece it into a box, then put it back together at the destination. If I could get comfortable with the process, I could start to plan trips much further away!
For this trip, I'm riding a full suspension mountain bike with 130/130 travel. It's a carbon fiber Canyon Neuron with carbon rims and 2.35" Vittoria Mezcal tubeless tires. It was a great choice for the terrain. I'm also testing out a new front rack from Old Man Mountain. I'm using it to carry extra water and to take the weight off my handlebars. I navigated using the GPX file on Ride with GPS and with my Wahoo Elemnt Roam V2 bike computer.
Special thanks to Helen and Kent Foster for hosting Ian and me, including being our transportation to and from the airport! You guys are the best!
Connect with me on Instagram: @birdsnbikenballet
Please keep in mind that this video is for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be instructional. Always do your own research when planning a ride.
Thanks for watching! - Sport
Awesome adventure! So cool that your son joined. :)
Thanks! It was a great route, made better by having Ian there 😊
This is quite special. There’s a lot of love in this video. Ian is awesome and he knows his mom is badass on a bike.
Thank you ❤️
It is always a pleasure to watch your videos. You know how to inspire us with beautiful locations, With this you got my full support!
Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate you watching 😊
Wowwww! Pretty pictures and well documented. I appreciated hearing a little about gear/prep.
Thanks for the feedback, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video 😀
I know your boy Ian knows how fortunate he is. ❤
Aww, thank you!
I can tell how much you love your son! I hope to one day be able to do similar adventures with my kids.
Thank you, and I hope so too!
What a wonderful adventure!
Thanks, I absolutely loved it. Would be fun to ride the lower loop someday too.
Awesome job and great adventure
Thank you! I appreciate you taking a moment to comment 😊
Love it.😊
Thank you! 😊
So proud of you guys! Thanks for sharing your adventures.
So glad you enjoyed it 😊
Great video as always! 👍
Pecan trees needs 2" of water a week and they're grown in the desert?? wth, no wonder the Rio Grande is going dry...
Thank you! And also I kinda wondered about that…
What a wonderful adventure with your son! Love the video. That was a pretty rugged route in places but beautiful scenery.
Haha, yeah…it got a bit rowdy!
Good trip . Any flats . I ride so Arizona. And i have to flat proof the bike .🎉.
It’s a great route! No flats, but we put fresh sealant in before we headed out.
What a great idea! Well done😊
Thanks, Bret!
Great trip. I did a x-country ride on my road bike (from Manhattan Beach, CA to Boston) in 2013, including a great ride through New Mexico, stopping to visit friends in Santa Fe. What great memories.
Wow! What an epic trip you did! I bet you saw a lot of beautiful country.
A beautiful video. Your comment about “being exactly where you want to be” brought tears to my eyes,as that’s the reason I ride. Happy Trails …to both of you.😊 edit: this time next week I’ll be heading to Molesworth Station in New Zealand 😁
Tim, so glad you can relate! New Zealand sounds amazing, have an awesome trip!
Awwww 💕
Love your CZcams handle 😊
@@katrinahase thank you it's true lol. It's changing next week to my channel name lol
🚴♀️⭐️🚴♀️⭐️🚴♀️⭐️🚴♀️⭐️
My sister lives in Las Cruces. I'll definitely have to ride at least some of those routes. We always eat at Molcajete's in Hatch. My sister avoids Sparkys Thanks for the video. Although, I may avoid some of those climbs.
Oh cool! I highly recommend the Doña Anas singletrack section. So fun and scenic. And all of the acequias…no hills there! I’m sad we didn’t check out Molcajete’s…sounds more like my kind of food!
Ian looks so much like Tony when he is wearing his helmet and sunglasses. He sounds a lot like Tony too. 10:17 That's interesting about the extra weight on the front of the bike, sounds like a great idea. 11:36 Your graphics showing the trails you will be taking along the map are very cool. Very nice video. It was great to see you both. Thanks for sharing Katrina this and say hi to Tony for me.
Thank you! CZcams doesn’t tell me who you are…I want to convey your message to Tony. Let me know!
@@katrinahase Haha, just tell him Robo said hi. That was my nickname in the Marine Corps and he might remember that name. I do not tend to use my real name on CZcams, only opensage, or Robo. I also have never used Instagram, TikTok, or most other social media, so I can't leave you messages there. I am so happy you and Ian were able to have such a great adventure together. A true life long memory. Have a great night.
I gotcha. I’ll tell him!
Great video, did you have to download the trail to your phone?, I’d love to try that trail, thx
You should, it’s a beautiful route!
I made my own version of the route that started from my Aunt’s house on RidewithGPS, then loaded that route onto my Wahoo ELEMNT bike computer. If you rely on your phone, make sure to download the route for offline, we didn’t have a cell signal for much of the route!
I have garmin 1030 that I think I can loaded it to. I’m gonna watch more of your videos, thanks for all the information, ride safe .
That should work! Thanks for watching.
Are you using your HR in this video? Are you following your given HR range or just ignoring it because of riding with Ian? :)
Do you mean a heart rate monitor? Yes-I ride with one…though you can probably tell by my panting I get into the threshold zone from time to time!
Great work ! Any flats with the tubeless setup?
No, we saw thorns pierce the tires but they sealed up right away!