2026 Ride the Rift Event Summary

By susie fiore | October 21, 2026 |

ALL AGES AND ABILITIES!

Watch 2 short 1-minute videos from the 2026 event here: Kids Unicorn Fun Race and Event Vibes

On October 18, 2026 over 150 people riders and volunteers joined us for Sunday’s Ride the Rift event. With a history building since the first Ride the Rift in 2015, a wide range of ages (from 11 months – 76 years old) and abilities come out to ride bikes and enjoy a beautiful day at the Taos Valley Overlook trails this year. 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 residents of the greater Taos Area 14 from Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Dixon, Ouray, CO, Grand Junction, CO, Wisconsin, and one from Spain! Scroll down for PHOTOS!

The event ran smoothly thanks to 40 amazing volunteers and the support of Taos Search and Rescue and the Bureau of Land Management Taos Field Office. Congratulations to all of the riders and a huge THANK YOU the ENTIRE COMMUNITY!

The Little Kids Unicorn Fun Race was the biggest yet with 19 riders age 2-9 participating in the cutest ride of the day as they followed “Unicornelius” around a .3 mile path. 32 additional riders under 18 rode the medium and long course options and 36 riders were age 60+, highlighting the range of ages that show up for this inclusive day of riding. It was also great to see middle school team riders joining the little ones for some laps.

The day began with the “Fastest Lap Challenge” where riders who lined up at 10am could choose to ride the 12.2 mile course for time. The rest of the day, riders are not timed but mileage completed is tracked. As expected, the Taos Composite High School Team produced the fastest overall male and female times with Sophomore Jaden Rand cruising a 55:51 lap finishing with Sophomore Olin O’Reilly (55:59) and Junior Bernice O’Reilly (56:03). We look forward to seeing this aspect of the event grow in the coming years.

Overall Fastest Lap Challenge Times
Male
1^st Jaden Rand 55:51 (Taos Composite High School Team)
2^nd Olin O’Reilly 55:59 (Taos Composite High School Team)
3^rd Soren Julinski 58:49 (Taos Composite High School Team)

Female
1^st Bernice O’Reilly 56:03 (Taos Composite High School Team)
2^nd Abby Thornton 59:40 (Taos Composite High School Team)
3^rd Tricia Daniel 1:09:36

Over the course of the 6-hour event, some riders push their limits in the distance category. All riders decide how much or how little they want to ride with 3 courses to choose from (12.2 miles. 4.6 miles, and 1.6 miles). With course marshals and two aid stations offering yummy snacks along the way, riders are encouraged to “Ride Your Ride.”

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. The middle school team has 1 race left this weekend at Pajarito to finish out the New Mexico League series. Riders from both teams spent much of the day supporting and riding with younger kids and meeting riders in the broader community.

Most Miles: Overall
1^st Place Male – Ken P 53.4 miles
1^st Place Female – Kalia Velarde 50 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)

Most Miles: Juniors
Female
1^st Kalia Velarde 50 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
2^nd June Thornton 26 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
3^RD Bernice O’Reilly 23.8 (Taos Composite High School Team)
4^th Autumn Brody 22.6 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
5^th Samara Dean 21.8 (Taos Composite Middle School Team)

Male
1^st Malcolm Breier 36.8 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
2^nd Jonah Gilroy 36.6 miles (Taos Composite HIgh School Team)
3^rd Bridger Smith 30.0 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)
4^th Rio Johnson 29.0 miles (Taos Composite HIgh School Team)
5^th Declan MacDavitt 21.8 miles (Taos Composite Middle School Team)

FUNDRAISING
Taos Composite middle school and high school mountain bike team members are still raising funds for their team through November 7^th. Click HERE if you’d like to sponsor a rider or the team as it’s not too late! Among other ways this team ensures access and inclusivity, loaner race bikes are provided to riders who don’t own bikes and travel to high school races in Colorado is free (transportation, camping, food, coaching). Sponsors and donors make this possible.

SPONSORS
A huge thank you to all of our 2026 Ride the Rift sponsors! Please support these awesome local businesses that support Field Institute of Taos and getting kids outside. Without generous sponsors, we could not continue offering this totally free community event with so much on course support, snacks, prizes, and much more!

EVENT SPONSORS:
Taos Net
Taos Ski Valley
Humble Brands
Cid’s Food Market
Taos Sports Alliance
Taos Community Foundation
Taos Mountain Bike Association
Taos Search and Rescue
Rift Cycles
Goat Head Bicycle Shop
Taos Cow
Annex Life Coaching
Remembering Red: Michael “Red” Wagener Memorial Fund