Local DJ, family, friends share their love of mountain biking

“Wanting to share the passion we have with mountain biking” is the reason Las Cruces native Jose Solis created MTB New Mexico in 2020.

MTB (mountain biking) has nearly 1,000 followers on Facebook and more than 850 subscribers to its YouTube channel, which includes almost 160 mountain-biking videos, along with information about local trails and the biking events regularly organized by MTB and others.

There is no cost to join MTB or to participate in any of its events, which, during hot summer weather include early-morning (starting as early as 5 a.m.), evening and even night-time trail rides.

“We love night riding,” Solis said. It includes lights on both helmets and bikes for safety.

A recent night ride on trails near Doña Ana began at 6:30 p.m. and continued until 9.

A Las Cruces High School graduate and local DJ, Solis has been mountain biking with older son, Isiah, 13, since the beginning. His daughter, Celeste, 9, and younger son, Jeremiah, 3, are now regular mountain bikers as well.

“I love it,” Celeste said.

And so does Jeremiah, who is learning to ride on a bike attachment that connects to a parent’s bike. Jeremiah also has his own balance bike, which does not have pedals; he propels himself forward with his feet while learning how to balance.

“He just loves his bike,” said Solis, whose wife, Selene, also joins the family for bike rides.

The entire Solis family and many of their friends “fell in love with what mountain biking does,” he said.

“It’s had a very positive impact,” said Solis, who has lost 40 pounds since he started riding. “We’ve become healthier people.”

Solis remembers his first mountain bike ride three years ago with his friend, Enrique.

After a quarter mile of pedaling, they stopped.

 “We were so exhausted,” Solis said.

Today, they typically bike for eight miles or more on a single ride and sometimes for 20 or more miles on a mountain trail or 30-40 miles on a gravel road.

“Now, every time we pass that quarter mile, we remember, ‘We stopped right there,’” Solis said.

Through MTB, Solis has connected with the nonprofit Velo Cruces, “the voice for the cycling community,” Danny Palma and Outdoor Adventures Bike Shop, a Las Cruces business that has helped MTB get mountain bikes for children and adults who want to ride but cannot afford a bike.

Through one partnership between MTB and Outdoor Adventures, a young Las Cruces teen who had recently lost his parents got a mountain bike and has found himself as a regular MTB rider.

It’s a case-by-case thing,” said Solis, whose first bike as a kid was “a Frankenstein,” he said, cobbled together with parts and pieces from other bikes because his family wasn’t wealthy enough to buy him a new one.

“If we see a family in need, we help out,” he said.

With help from Outdoor Adventures, MTB recently awarded new bikes to a family at Jardin de los Niños, a Las Cruces nonprofit that provides childcare and education for children who are struggling with homelessness.

Solis has also connected with Las Cruces Public Schools Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator Ashleigh Curry, and with Pablo Lopez and Matt Mason, who co-founded the Monumental Loop bike trail in the Organ Mountains and are long time mountain biking and bike packing enthusiasts.

“The friendships you develop, that’s pure gold,” Solis said.

And the trails are everywhere.

“There are trails north, south, east and west of here,” he said.

MTB welcomes everyone interested in mountain biking – all ages and experience levels, including beginners, even if you don’t have a bike. Just need to bring a safety helmet that fits you.

Solis and others will help kids and inexperienced riders learn how to negotiate hills, rolls, drops and all the other features of bike trails. And, because they always ride in groups, there are tools and experienced hands if a bike breaks down. And MTB bike rides often include stops for treats the participants bring.

Celeste, for example, often shares the cookies she bakes.

“It’s just a wonderful way to enjoy life,” Solis said. “It’s amazing to bring families together and see how the bonds grow stronger with every ride.”

Contact Solis at jsolis100@yahoo.com.

Visit www.facebook.com/mtbnewmexico and www.youtube.com/channel/UC27m65i1b1SAijgjDt1AWxg. Also visit www.velocruces.org and www.bikelc.com.