This adventure is for BOTH BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE riders

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: $100 off through September 7, 2026
USE CODE: SAVE100

$500 deposit to save your spot! Only 12 spots available

Join us for our 2nd annual Desert Winds, Sacred Paths: e-Mountain Biking the Mesas of New Mexico program! e-mountain bike (beginner* OR intermediate trails) through stunning fall scenery atop New Mexican Mesas alongside Professional local Mountain Bike Guide Mehedi van Hattum (@chamapedal) and his trailblazing father, Sidi Benyamin. Stops along the trails will include Qasidas honoring our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu alayhi wasallam), spiritual reflections from Facilitator Mohamad Chakaki, and the best New Mexican halal food you've ever had, prepared by Chef Rehana Archuleta-Hadid.

We'll be staying at the historic Dar al Islam—North America's most distinguished Islamic architectural project—co-founded and hand-constructed by Sidi Benyamin, his wife Hajja Rabia, and others in the 1980s.

Praying and staying at Dar al Islam is an experience all by itself. But this program really piles on the possibilities. We'll also be melting halal marshmallows under the desert stars, hiking in Plaza Blanca, and treated to a live performance by the Zevk Ensemble.

*Beginner rider means

• you don't have previous mountain biking experience, but are comfortable riding a bicycle

• you consider yourself athletic

• you're excited to learn how to e-mountain bike from our Professional Mountain Bike Guide Mehedi van Hattum
  

Both Beginner and Intermediate Riders Are Welcome:
We will be providing mountain biking trail opportunities for both beginner and intermediate mountain bikers. We will split into two groups, with beginner and intermediate e-mountain bikers guided on terrain that's suited for each skill level. Both groups will meet up at various points during planned breaks for prayers, snacks, meals, and spiritual reflections.

*Scroll all the way down to the "Photo Gallery" to view shots of the Abiquiú landscape/trails, Dar al Islam accommodations, and program guides.

If you have questions about the e-mountain biking requirements, what it means to "be a beginner," or any other trip information, please reach out to our team at info@fitrahoutdoors.com and we will respond within one business day, in'shaAllah.

Thursday, October 15, 2026

• On Thursday, Oct 15, arrive at Albuquerque Airport (ABQ) BEFORE 3:30 PM OR Santa Fe Airport (SAF) airport BEFORE 5 PM

• On Sunday, Oct 18, depart from Albuquerque Airport Airport (ABQ) AFTER 3:30 PM OR Santa Fe Airport (SAF) AFTER 2:30 PM

• Private transfer from both airports to Dar al Islam in Abiquiú

• Dinner at Dar al Islam

Friday, October 16, 2026

• Plaza Blanca Hike & Orientation

• Lunch

• Jum'uah

• Afternoon e-Mountain biking

• Dinner at Dar al Islam

• Live Performance by Zevk Ensemble

Saturday, October 17, 2026

• All-Day e-Mountain Biking Trip

• Lunch out on the trail

• Dinner at Dar al Islam

• S'mores Under the Stars

Sunday, October 18, 2026

• Morning e-Mountain Biking Ride

• Lunch / Closing

• Transfer to Santa Fe Airport (SAF) / Albuquerque Airport (ABQ)

What Type of e-Mountain Biking is This? Each participant will be outfitted with an e-mountain bike and helmet that will assist riders to more easily climb the hills and rugged terrain of the New Mexican Mesas. Most of the riding will be cross-country, with continuous, variable segments of climbing and exhilarating downhills. Our e-mountain biking adventures will included a variety of trails with differing terrain and stunning views. Our guides will tailor the trails we take based upon the fitness and skill level of the two groups—Beginner Riders and Intermediate Riders. No one will be left in the dust!

What will the guides offer? Local Mountain Biking Guides Mehedi and Sidi Benyamin van Hattum have been riding these trails for decades. They'll provide technical e-mountain biking tips, history of the area, and Qasidas. Facilitator Mohamad Chakaki will offer up our group intentional spiritual reflections, a poem or two, and provide important perspectives on our shared experience on the Mesas.

What is the weather expected to be like? Historically, during the daytime we'll be in the mid-50s to mid 60s, with nighttime temperatures dropping into the upper 40s. It's normally dry, arid, and a mixture of clouds and sun. Rain isn't common in mid-October.

Sidi Benyamin van Hattum
Sidi Benyamin is a traditionally trained master craftsman, storyteller, and musician. An original member of the Dar al Islam community (circa 1982), Sidi Benyamin hand carved every wood piece inside the spectacular Dar al Islam complex. He has led epic bikepacking adventures through the Salt Flats of Bolivia, the Swiss Alps, and desert landscapes of the American West. With over seven decades of experience, he continues to lead biking and hiking groups with ease, at the front, often assisting his younger companions with their gear and offering them water and snacks as they catch their breath on the trails. Originally from Hilversum, Netherlands, Sidi Benyamin and his wife, Hajja Rabia, split their time playing music as the Zevk Ensemble, growing gardens, and sharing stories at their homes in Abiquiú, New Mexico and Órgiva, Spain.


Mehedi van Hattum
Born and raised in northern New Mexico, Mehedi has been an outdoor adventure and mountain bike guide for years between Guatemala and New Mexico. Mehedi and his wife Erin spent two years from 2016–18 bikepacking dirt roads from Mexico to Patagonia. Since then they've toured all over the U.S. and Spain. Mehedi grew up apprenticing with his father as a woodworker and continues the family business.
~ @chamapedal
~ @andaluzwoodwork

Mohamad Chakaki
Mohamad's teaching, coaching and facilitation focus on strengthening our internal capacity to meet the complexity and uncertainty of our current social and ecological challenges with a clear-eyed, creative and compassionate response that connects mind and heart. Mohamad is a lecturer at the University of Vermont, a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program, and an affiliated trainer and mentor with Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation.

Sulayman Christopher
Sulayman's love for the outdoors began through skating on frozen ponds, sledding down park hills, and playing in his childhood backyard in Madison, Wisconsin (or Teejop—"Four Lakes"—the ancestral area of the Ho-Chunk Nation). His passions include backcountry skiing, bikepacking, and gathering diverse people together in the outdoors to remember the Divine. Sulayman is the Founder of Fitrah Outdoors, Co-Founder of Muslim-Indigenous Circle, and Principal of Sea to Sea Consulting. He currently resides in Berkeley, CA with his wife.

Digital Disconnect & Fitrah Reconnect Policy:

From the time we gather as a group on the first night for dinner (Thursday) until the afternoon of our departure (Sunday), Fitrah Outdoors staff will store all electronic devices in a secure and weather-proof bag. Fitrah Outdoors program staff will have access to mobile phones at all times and at least one staff member will be reachable in the event of an emergency, in'shaAllah. We provide participants with wrist watch alarms should they choose to wear them during the program.

*Please note that accommodations can be made for extenuating circumstances such as medical emergencies and other requirements (e.g. blood sugar monitoring, etc).

What's the Purpose?

Fitrah Outdoors' Digital Disconnect & Fitrah Reconnect Policy applies to all programs, and is offered as a unique opportunity to build connection, both inwardly and outwardly, with other people, other creations, and to regenerate one's own fitrah. Throughout the trip, Fitrah Outdoors program staff will be taking a plethora of high quality individual, group, and scenery photos (and a few short videos), and will share with the group. This allows participants to center their attention on each moment.

We understand that this can seem strange or even scary for participants. In our experience, it is often those who are initially the most skeptical of the Digital Disconnect & Fitrah Reconnect policy who end up being the most appreciative for their experience at the end of the program.

Nisa, a participant from the Fitrah Farm Stay Program in Pescadero, California, recently commented: "Fitrah Outdoors' carefully curated experience allowed us to unplug from the noise of daily life and truly connect to our primordial self. We were fueled by nutrient dense meals, mindful practices, and the reset to my system was felt for months afterwards."