From jump trails to cloud jerseys it was an exciting year for SFFTS and the Santa Fe mountain bike community is as vibrant as ever. Before I dive into the many things that made 2024 a notable year of growth for the club, I’d like to thank all the riders and volunteers who make this such a special place to call home.
It was a busy year for our trail crews, with ongoing trail maintenance and multiple new trail builds that have helped make Santa Fe an even better place to ride. Volunteers logged over 3000 hours of their time over the year, a testament to the passion behind our efforts (that’s 125 twenty-four hour days!).
We kicked off the season with the grand opening of Red Dog, a new progressive jump trail at La Tierra. Thanks to a generous donation from one of our members, our friends at Rocket Ramps were able to work their trail magic to create a fun and sustainable jump trail that’s suitable for all skill levels.
Continuing our work at La Tierra, treasurer Carey Harper led an effort this past fall to reroute the segment between junctions 1 and 7, which had been a badly eroding fall line trail. There are still a few tweaks to be made but look for this new segment to be open in the spring, along with a custom made bench to take a breather and enjoy the mountain view. This reroute involved an Early Neighborhood Notification meeting and extensive work with the City of Santa Fe, strengthening our relationship with the city and our local community. Be on the lookout for more improvements at La Tierra this year, we’ve got a couple exciting projects in the works.
And have you been out to Galisteo Basin Preserve lately? Thanks to the tireless leadership of Brent Bonwell, a new 3.5 mile trail called Rocky’s Road (though yet to be officially named) was built over the course of 32 work days and 764 hours of volunteer effort. It’s a fun and dynamic trail that will have you in and out of your saddle, focusing on the engaging terrain. We’ll be going out in the coming months to create a handful of “A lines” to fully utilize the frequent rock features, making it one of the more technical trails at Galisteo.
Although new trails are a blast, it’s critical to maintain the many amazing trails we already have. Volunteers officially cleared 101 trees from local trails, many of which required biking in with a chainsaw on the sawyer’s back. Carl Gable led a Forest Stewards Guild crew to create 40+ drains on the Winsor between Norski and Pacheco, working to improve drainage on a fast and fun section of trail. More recently, Brent continued his bridge building efforts by installing a new bridge over the Santa Fe river on Conservation Trust land near the Dale Ball trails. None of this trail work would be possible without our crew leaders, 10 of whom were certified in Wilderness First Aid in March, a requirement for all our leaders.
The club continues to work towards building Phase 2 of the Arroyo Hondo trails so stay tuned for more details on this in the year ahead. The project, led by Carl Gable and Helene Minot, is currently going through a community engagement process guided by the USFS to ensure all parties involved are satisfied with how we utilize our cherished public lands.
Events are another core element of SFFTS and we continued to work towards bringing our community together to have fun on bikes. Following the spring kick off at La Tierra, Media Officer Lauren Kahn initiated a series of social events at Violet Crown that proved to be a great addition to our gatherings. Vice President Liz Zeiler organized an informative visit from our equestrian friends at Northern NM Horsemen’s Association, part of our ongoing efforts to improve all users’ experience out on the trail.
SFFTS wrote a letter of support in favor of Santa Fe County acquiring Bobcat Crossing Ranch, which would be a notable addition to recreation and conservation in the area. We also had the opportunity to help celebrate National Forest Week in July with the National Forest Foundation, which included a trail work day on the popular Atalaya trail. You might have also seen our awesome new club schwag, including water bottles and a unique cloud ride jersey designed by Cari Carmean of The Radavist.
Our rides program continues to grow as we refine our approach to hosting fun and inclusive group rides that bring fellow riders together and showcase our amazing trails. The women’s rides, led by Lauren Kahn, have been leading the charge with a consistently strong turnout and special events throughout the year like celebrating International Women’s Mountain Bike Day out at Galisteo. Thanks to the dedication of two of our members, Kim Massey and Teague Douglas, SFFTS sponsored two 5-part teen girls ride series, which focused on helping get more young women out on the trails.
2024 was a big year for the board of directors itself, we refined our board committee structure and created a number of new policies to increase efficiency and help guide our efforts in the community. After the most recent election in December, the board members remain unchanged heading into the new year other than the addition of Peter Stocker, who will be a valuable contributor to our team. But we’re always looking for more help, so please reach out to me at president@santafefattiresociety.org if you have an idea or would like to get involved.
On the financial side of things, the club put your dollars to work in the community, spending $111,982, primarily on trail projects and events. It was yet another great year for donations to the club, we received $71,898 from generous donors. Thank you to all of you who made contributions to support our efforts. Treasurer Carey Harper continues to keep our club finances running smoothly, reporting that we ended the year with over $60k in general funds and approximately $180k in reserve for upcoming trail projects.
We’re excited to carry this momentum into the new year, with a number of initiatives to help the Santa Fe mountain bike community grow to its full potential. SFFTS will be joining forces with Core Crew to host the 6 Hours in the Basin race, which will likely occur the first week of May. The USFS has lifted the closure order on the area that contains REM so we’re hoping to bring that trail back to life in the year(s) ahead. We also had the opportunity to be the sponsor of an upcoming independent film that honors one of our community members and highlights the amazing riding we have here. Be on the lookout for a premiere in the spring!
I can’t thank you all enough for your involvement in the Santa Fe mountain bike community and I hope everyone is enjoying their winter. Arroyo Hondo and Glorieta are riding great right now!
I look forward to seeing you out on the trail in 2025.
Alex Gibson
SFFTS President
