Desert Reunion: Bikepacking the north Monumental Loop in NM with my son

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. #1681414824125-cf0ccd77-5960 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 “ 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!