2024 Adventure Goals

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Destination Mountain Biking! Yes, we love Austin but sometimes you gotta mountain bike in the actual mountains. Every year Jason and I get a large dry erase calendar with a year view and start to sketch out our adventure goals.

We calculate projected costs to make sure it fits in with our travel budget, and start to get excited about all the cool stuff. Having a plan up front helps make these trips a priority when life comes up throughout the year - puts them front and center.

These are the trips on our list for 2024: 

Angel Fire, New Mexico

Skiing in Angel Fire - This is the only ski trip on our list. Skiing and biking go together, right? Jason has caught the ski bug! I'm roughly an intermediate skiier, Jason had not skiied, but he tried it on a work trip to Utah and is now hooked! So we are starting the year off with a weekend in Angel Fire (low key and family friendly). I used to prefer Taos, which is nearby, down US Hwy 64 by about 40 mins. As far as skiing goes It is steeper and more "no nonsense." I learned my limits by tearing my ACL in 2009 and spending the day in the medical tent. These days, I am totally happy to coast around Angel Fire. Ironically, Angel Fire's bike park is the no nonsense one. Someone we met on the lift in Taos called Angel Fire “the Jetsons,” which I loved as a description of the pure chaos that descends there (skis, snowboards going every direction, those ski bike things, etc etc). The apres-ski Taos is still magical. I love the hippie vibe and there are some amazing restaurants there. We tend to cook our own when in Angel Fire.

Womble Trail, Oauchita National Forest, Arkansas

We’ve had this one on our list for a couple of years. It’s an epic mountain bike trail near Ouachita National Forest. After a lot more cross country riding last year we thought we could be ready for it now. 

Las Vegas

Jason turns 50 in May and has not been to Vegas, so we are going to live it up in the way that we do – riding trails, playing craps (Margaret) and eating buffet food. I've been scouring YouTube and Trailforks to figure out the best riding for us.

Trestle / Winter Park

We got engaged at this bike park, so it is romantic and also really fun and beautiful. This year will be our first time back since July 2022. While I do prefer cross country riding, bike parks are really a sweet spot for us, a bike-centered couple with different skill levels. I like greens and blues, and Jason rides more advanced trails. In a park, especially if we can stay nearby, we get to do what we want, meet back up for lunch and get back to it at our own paces.To make coordination even easier we bring our Rockie Talkies. We have been able to communicate at large distances to give status or coordinate a meet up.

The Whole Enchilada, Moab Utah

Another bucket list item. We are doing it this year! What else to say, the premier Moab experience. Quoted from MTB Project: “7,000 ft of descent from the high alpine zone to red rock desert.”

Little Sugar and Rattler - Two Leadville race series races.

These are kind of "destinations" even though one of them is 1 hour away from us.

We have checked off the 20 and 40 mile distances of Rattler, an Austin based cross country mountain bike race. We love Bentonville and last year became interested in doing the Little Sugar race that occurs in October. With enough training, I think we will be ready to hit and hit Rattler in early November. Read more about this very cool race series here