Some new wheels.

Well we didn't make it far but tonight we are on the far side of El
Paso. Last night we were put up by chris and sylvia, who are friends
of friends. It is simply amazing how kind folks can be to two smelly
hairy strangers. Their kids warren and paloma were kind enough to give
up their beds for the night and we had an amazing pizza dinner and an
even more amazing dessert. Thanks again to the Palmer family. We hope
to see you in Santa cruz soon.

Today we headed across town and got a few errands done. The biggest of
which was getting new tires. Talking to other folks we've met, we came
to realize we were getting more flats than one should and it boiled
down to not having tires that were designed with puncture protection.
So thanks to the wonderful folks at Crazy Cat. We both have new
armadillo tires. We both, also have new shades, plenty of treats, I
got a new flourescent yellow shirt to wear while riding, and some more
sunblock. The ride across town brought us views of Mexico and juarez
city. I hope at some point come back to visit but as the situation in
Juarez is not the best right now and us without passports we couldn't
go across this trip.

Tomorrow is supposed to be winds of up to 45 and the visibility might
be low. We might only make it to a movie theatre. Who knows?

joe

Texas anyone?

No big welcome sign when we got to Texas but we are here! And I guess
we are going to bike the whole darn thing.

Wind is our friend. Wind is our friend.

Have I mentioned that a lot about the last few days have reminded me
of Wyoming? The part of new Mexico we have been in has seemed a lot
like the area around Laramie, wy where I got my bachelors from. The
biggest reminder has been the wind. Wow has the wind been blowing and
you can tell from the locals that it is the norm, just like in
Laramie. Brian asked in a store if it was always this windy and she
said "oh, is it windy today?" and while I grew up with the wind biking
in it is a whole different ball game. Today our first 20ish miles was
mostly head wind or really strong from the side and we thought about
calling it a day at lunch but after lunch to over 30, we had a good
tail wind or small side wind and even a few moments of no wind. The 30
was so much faster and nicer than the 20. If you are interested go to
weather.com and check out the weather for las cruces nm. It's windy
and hot. Good times. We will be heading into big ol Texas tommorow and
staying with friends of friends and look forward to some downtime.
Need to thank a former RA of mine for being our sponsor for the day!
MAGAT you rock. Hope you are doing well and whenever you are ready to
join us you let me know.
Ps - in case you know the area we did have our fair share of hatch
chile concoctions.

joe

Hillsboro for lunch

I need to clean my iphone camera but here is where we had our amazing
lunch today.

Her name is Rio...

Because of our dinner with john and Elizabeth it has gotten late but I
wanted to thank Ang and Alissa for being our sponsors the last couple
days. You two rock and I hope you are doing well and I want my next
trip to be a cruise with you. Night from the rio grande.

joe

Sorry John, the mountains didn't win this time

Well despite flat tires, the flu, some pesky wind and oh yeah, our highest climb of the trip, I am happy to report that these bears have seen the other side of the mountain. What did we find? Well, after 17 downhill miles (the payoff!), we found a gem of a cafe for lunch where we felt like old friends with most everyone inside. (We actually did "know" two people who we'd run into at the top of the pass. We have met just the friendliest folks in NM!) We enjoyed some great food and chatted with amateur rock hounds, then busted out another 17 downhill miles (yeah, we were up there!) before running into a couple fellow travelers at just the right time. John and Elizabeth shared a welcome beer with us, and we all toasted our collective adventurism before deciding to have dinner together and share a campsite. Although somehow Joe and I both ended the day with front flats, we also ended with a big accomplishment in our distant wake, and some new friends. We crawl into our bags tonight 3500 feet lower but with much higher spirits thanks to good food and conversation. And as I sleep off the remnants of my flu, I'm confident that tomorrow when I look back at the mountains on the horizon behind me they will look more beautiful than ever.
A big thank you to our Sunday sponsor Sam Foster, belated but no less sincere. Sam has inspired both me and Nicole to wanna get our doctorates, follow our dreams, change the world and raise amazing children like her and her husband Patrick's daughter Zoe. Despite her incredible accomplishments she still likes to hang out and watch crappy TV (occasionally) with like-minded friends. I look forward to plopping on the couch with y'all when this thing is over, Sam, thanks for being there for Nicole and everyone else who knows you.
Gnight from the land of enchantment.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

We miss Leif

After two of the most ridiculous of days, I wish our little buddy Leif
was here to keep us company. Windy windy windy today. Sorry Sam but
your day sucked. Sam foster was todays sponsor. Sam sponsored us in honor of her step-dads birthday, which was yesterday. Happy birthday to him a day late. Sam is one of the
fabulos women at Crown college I got to work with. She has a great
family, fantastic mind and all though she doesnt often show it, she
can be funny and even goofy when she wants to be. I think Sam has more
days coming up and let's hope they are better than today. We are
staying the night at the Silver city rv park. Right in the middle of
Silver City. We had hoped to get here in time to explore but the wind
and flat tires had other ideas. It took us 7 hours to go 37 miles.
That's right kids our lowest mileage yet. Did I mention Brian is sick and I got chased by a dog.
Yeah what a day. On a positive not, I am neither solid or liquid and
I'll take it. What we have to look forward to tomorrow is our highest
elevation on the whole trip. Which means another climb. Please no wind
over Emory pass. Night all