2025 Event Summary
SCROLL DOWN FOR EVENT PHOTOS (special thanks to @jackieinthewild)
Over 150 people riders and volunteers joined us for Sunday’s Ride the Rift event. All ages (from 2-81) and all abilities come out to ride bikes and enjoy a beautiful day at the Taos Valley Overlook trails! The event ran smoothly thanks to 45 amazing volunteers and the support of Taos Search and Rescue and the BLM Taos Field Office. Congratulations to all of the riders and a huge THANK YOU the ENTIRE COMMUNITY!
New for 2025 was a “Fastest Lap Challenge” where riders who lined up at 10am could choose to ride the 12.2 mile course for time. 26 riders lined up for the 10am start and, unsurprisingly, the Taos Composite High School Team produced the fastest overall male and female times with Senior Keaton Verswijver cruising a 50:50 lap and Sophomore Bernice O’Reilly turning a 1:03:52 lap. We look forward to seeing this aspect of the event grow in the coming years.
Over the course of the 6 hour event, some riders chose to push their limits in the distance category.
Most Miles Adults
Male – Mark Johnson 52 miles
Female – Michelle Barowe 36.6 miles
Most Miles Juniors
Female
1st Lhotse Johnson 42.2 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
2nd (tie) Bernice O’Reilly (Taos Composite HIgh School Team) and Kalia Velarde 40 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
Male
1st Ryan Edmonds 42.8 miles (Taos Composite HIgh School Team)
2nd Olin O’Reilly 35.2 miles (Taos Composite HIgh School Team)
3rd Rowan Higdon 33.6 miles (Taos Composite HIgh School Team)
Most Taos Composite high school team athletes “only” rode about 30 miles due to preparations for the Colorado League State High School Mountain Bike Championship races this coming weekend in Glenwood Springs, CO. 14 of 17 high school team members qualified this year in our best showing at State Champs yet! The middle school team has 1 race left at Oak Flats to finish out the New Mexico League series.
FUNDRAISING
Taos Composite middle school and high school mountain bike team members are still raising funds for their team through November 2nd. Click HERE if you’d like to sponsor a rider or the team,
The Kids Unicorn Race was lots of fun, as always, with our friend, “Unicornelius,” riding laps on the kiddie loop with kids ages 2-9. It was also great to see many of the high school team riders joining the little ones for some laps.
With a goal of promoting community and providing an inclusive event for all ages and all abilities, we were happy to see who showed up…Of the riders, nearly all were local residents except 6 from ABQ and 3 from Colorado. There were 44 junior riders (20 of those were girls).
A huge thank you to all of our 2025 Ride the Rift sponsors! Please support these awesome local businesses that support Field Institute of Taos and getting kids outside.
Taos Net @taosnet
Humble Brands @humblebrands
Cid’s Food Market @cidsfoodmarket
Taos Sports Alliance @taossportsalliance
Taos Ski Valley @skitaos
Taos Community Foundation @taoscommunityfoundation
Taos Mountain Bike Association @taosmtb
Taos Search and Rescue @taossearchandrescue
Rift Cycles @rift.cycles
Goat Head Bicycle Shop @goatheadtaos
Taos Cow @taoscow
Michael “Red” Wagener Memorial Fund
RIDE THE RIFT 2025 PHOTOS
Be FIT Raffle Tickets!
We are currently selling tickets for the Be FIT raffle! This raffle raises funds across all programs of FITaos to help us provide more scholarships to get more kids outdoors! The drawing will happen on November 15th and you do not need to be present to win. Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased through our Venmo @FITaos or via PayPal (click the Donate button on our website) or in person from Susie or at FITaos Base Camp.
