From first pedal to open trails

They wobble at first. A foot searching for the pedal. Hands gripping the handlebars just a little too tight. A glance down, then forward again.

Then something clicks.

The bike steadies. The line straightens. The hesitation fades. Suddenly, they’re riding.

For many of the students who take part in programs led by the Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, that moment is about more than just learning how to ride. It’s about learning where they can go.

On a typical day, that might look like a group of students gathered in a schoolyard or parking lot, moving through drills — learning how to brake, how to turn and how to control the bike beneath them.

Some students arrive with bikes of their own. Others don’t.

That’s part of the point. For many of these kids, access is the first barrier.

Izabella Ortiz is a cross country runner and a member of the Centennial High School track team.

“I never did like mountain biking before this program, but I just wanted to try something new, get some new experience, get a new hobby,” Ortiz said. “It's super fun, nothing too hard. I think anybody can pick it up.”

Through programs like Moving Montañas and community bike clinics, the organization introduces young people to public lands through outdoor recreation — especially biking.

The approach is simple: teach the basics, build confidence, and then take that next step out onto the trail.

Delia Torres, a teacher at Centennial and adviser to the program, is one of its key leaders and has helped secure grant funding.

“I think it was 2017 we started the student success program,” Torres said. “We wanted a space for after school where kids could come together, break bread, have snacks after school, and really talk about community needs and some of the things that we could get involved in and then that evolved into teaching kids how to change and work on bikes.”

That effort grew over time, eventually allowing Torres to secure funding to purchase bikes for students. State support has helped expand that kind of work.

This year, New Mexico lawmakers approved $3.5 million for the Outdoor Equity Fund, which connects young people, especially those from underserved communities, to outdoor experiences. Since its creation, the fund has reached more than 100,000 youth statewide.

“What we want to do is help students find their own passions in life,” Torres said. “I grew up here … I really want our students to see how beautiful Las Cruces is and how accessible it is.”

For groups like Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, that investment helps turn ideas into opportunities.

“Our goal is to get them really comfortable with being outside,” said Sarah Renteria with Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. “In middle school, we do after school bike clubs and then in high school we just support their dreams and adventures. I think it's really important that the state funds programs like this because there actually are a lot of things for them to do if they can get outside and if they feel confident and comfortable outside.”

State Rep. Nathan Small is involved in oversight of the fund.

“It's really safeguarding and fighting for more overall investment,” Small said. “You really allow the opportunities for young people to connect with our outdoors … to become stewards of the outdoors.”

Patrick Nolan, executive director of Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, sees that connection as essential.

“Access to the outdoors is not a luxury—it is essential to youth well-being, workforce development, and community health,” Nolan said.

The riding is only part of it. The bigger goal is what comes next.

Once students learn how to ride safely and confidently, they’re given the opportunity to explore the landscapes that surround them — the Organ Mountains, the desert trails, the open space many have seen but never experienced up close.

For some, it’s their first time out there. Not just on a bike, but at all.

“Riding bikes makes you overcome things that you're not necessarily feeling comfortable with,” Renteria said. “If you can overcome something like riding a bike … then it can be applied to your life.”

“Before I joined this club, I had no idea there were so many nice areas in New Mexico,” Ortiz said. “I didn't even know we were so rich in our nature. Now I know there's places just right outside our houses.”

The program is designed to remove more than just physical barriers. It addresses confidence, access and familiarity.

Students learn how to maintain a bike, how to ride safely and how to navigate terrain, but they’re also learning something less tangible: That these spaces belong to them.

That connection is part of a broader vision behind the Outdoor Equity Fund — one that links outdoor access with long-term opportunity.

In that sense, a first bike ride can become something more — a starting point.

Back on the pavement, the group circles back in. Some riders are still cautious. Others are already racing ahead, more comfortable, more confident.

The difference is visible. What started as uncertainty has turned into movement, direction, possibility.

Because once a student learns how to ride, the question isn’t whether they can.

It’s where they’ll go next.