Update 7/18 - Abilene, Texas

Socorro to Carrizozo, NM
Although Socorro was fun, we were excited to move further towards Texas, which has become the unofficial half-way point of the trip. The beginning of the ride was hilly and tiring, but manageable. However, around mile 55, one of the crew members (nicknamed ‘farva’) told us that we were going to get “racked” at one of the next two crew stops because we were behind on time. Upon arriving at the second crew stop, we realized that he made this up and we would continue about 25 more miles on the hilly terrain. With a sore knee hanging in the balance, this miscommunication was awful for morale. Especially considering we had been flying to that crew stop, even pedaling going down a steep incline to arrive on time. It wasn’t just the distance and hills that were a problem on this day, it was the constant incorrect information that made riding hard. We finally made it to the stage up for arrival after an exhausting ride. Our lead for the pace line was a firetruck, who began by driving around 22 miles per hour causing us to come close to passing out after the long ride. We arrived at the New Horizons facility for lunch. New Horizons provides long-term care for people with disabilities: many of the members had been there over 20 years and were older than 60. We then traveled to the local Episcopal church for dinner, which was amazing, probably the best so far. The highlight of dinner was introductions where a married couple introduced themselves as ‘skunk daddy’ and ‘skunk momma’ because they rescue “abandoned” skunks. Well, this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We asked them to bring some of their skunks to show us (they have 16 living in their house) and they obliged. I plan to upload some pictures quite soon. They even sleep with a few of their skunks at night. There are some parts of this trip that are hard to remember a few days later and there are those that I will never forget my whole life: this was the later.


Carrizozo to Roswell, NM
The trip from Carrizozo to Roswell was one of those days that could vary greatly in difficulty based upon the wind. Luckily, it was in our favor. The mileage went by remarkably quickly and we even ended up waiting about an hour at ‘stage-up’ before we assembled the double pace line for arrival. We would have waited longer, but a large storm loomed on the horizon. We arrived at the local Arc and met a few members and enjoyed some fresh fruit and drinks. Then the storm began. We were trapped under a little structure in the middle of their park waiting for the rain to cease. It did not. It came time to leave and we ran through the rain and already formed small rivers to the vans. Most of the team had taken their bikes off of the cars to avoid getting them wet. So, they had to stand in the torrential downpour to re-rack them. Fortunately I had left my bike, the Iron-Horse, on and spared myself from most of the rain. After getting in the car, we were informed that instead of staying in the high-school we would be lodging at the local Ramada for two days. This was fantastic news: we would have internet, our own bathrooms, TV, and more room. After showering, we departed for dinner with the local Arc. This was a fantastic Mexican meal that was followed by a two hour game of volleyball on the front lawn. After leaving around dusk, we had the rest of the night to explore Roswell. The under 21 crowd walked down to the local Sonic where we hung out for a while before calling it a night.

Roswell (Day off)
We began our day off in Roswell with a continental breakfast at the hotel. Since they are used to probably a total of 30 guests maximum at any one time, 30 hungry fraternity members absolutely destroyed the buffet. After leaving, there was no more cereal, no bread or bagels, no drinks, and no waffle mix. We then departed for a local farm and stables that caters to recuperative horse riding therapy for those in wheelchairs. There, we watched a few of the individuals we had seen the day before demonstrate their riding skills. Their abilities were especially impressive because both of the individuals we watched have no feeling below their waist, making it incredibly difficult to balance (they even rode with no hands!). For lunch, we returned to the same house we had had dinner at and again played some volleyball. Next, we went to the UFO museum, which unfortunately was a disappointment. The highlight was the tour guide who was a believer himself and quite the character. After the museum, we completed some errands and left for dinner with the Arc. We ate in a park and even played Frisbee with some of the friends there who were quite good. After hanging out for a while, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the day ahead.

Roswell to Portales
As I look back a few days on the ride from Roswell to Portales, I definitely think it was one of the best. Although it was a 95 mile ride, I felt no discomfort after the ride; a first for rides over 80 miles! Maybe I am finally getting in my top shape. The roads were nice, the scenery was variable, and the wildlife was interesting. Yes, I did say wildlife. Along the way, we saw numerous tarantulas (it’s their migration season, go figure!) and galloping semi-wild horses. The horses were fantastic to see: A group of about 15 came out of a field galloping to match our pace line’s speed and rode with us (on the other side of the fence) for a good 3 miles. This was an awesome experience (I even managed to get a video while riding of it). We arrived in Portales at the courthouse, where we met some friends and some local children who had come out to watch the KOB puppet show. Upon conclusion, we rode to lodging at Eastern New Mexico University where we all had our own dorm rooms for the night. We had a sponsored dinner at Pizza Hut and got the rest of the night to do whatever: most slept. Everyone is excited to cross into Texas because when we finally leave the mass of a state, there will only be 20 days left of the trip!

Portales to Muleshoe
Portales to Muleshoe was a short ride, but certainly not an easy one. We only rode 50 miles, but were faced with a headwind for the entire ride. About half way to our destination, we made the annual stop at Joe’s Boot Shop, one of the largest Cowboy Hat, Boot, and belt dealers. I ended up buying a belt and belt buckle because of the high costs of the hats. However, I will most likely end up buying one before we leave Texas. Upon leaving the Boot Shop, we picked up a ride along who has been riding with JOH teams for the past ten years to Muleshoe. After an exhausting ride, we arrived for lunch with the Jenny Slippers of Muleshoe (the female equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce). Next, we had some free time which as usual most of the team members used to nap. I took advantage of ping pong table and played for about 2 hours that afternoon. Dinner was again with the Jenny Slippers. On the first day of the trip we had heard we would be having an all you can eat steak dinner in Muleshoe, and boy did it live up to its billing. After three or so 8 ounce steaks, plenty of baked potatoes, and beans I was as full as I have been on this trip. We finished the day watching Dodgeball and laughing at Creed music videos.