Birthday, Crashes, and Wind

Sometimes, the weeks start off with a bang!! So it was for our two intrepid, want to be, Tour Divide riders this week. First of note is that Mr. Johnson turned the big 50 this week! Happy birthday Ray!!! So how did he celebrate? By deciding to inadvertently hitting a nasty speed bump, on a pot holed, rough, and nasty section of road a couple of miles into his 50 on 50 ride. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot of damage done and he was back on the bike in a day or two. How did Shane honor his friend; by crashing on his mountain bike for the first time in years!! (NEVER chase your badass wife on a downhill!!). Shane’s wreck was not near as bad as Ray’s, and was also back on the bike and training soon.

Saturday we got to experience all that Southern NM has to offer a long distance gravel racer in training mode. Lots of empty miles, sand, and wind!! Starting early in the morining, hoping to miss out on what are always windy spring days, we set off before sunrise. The Mesilla Valley was cool, calm, and peaceful. Definetly not what we got to experience for the remainder of the day, as winds picked up around 10 AM and really got cooking in the mid day sun. All and all a good day as we prepare for…..whatever the future holds.

Thanks to Dave R. and Anthony S. for joining us, albeit at a distance (social that is)!