No Chain: Las Cruces & Giving

Las Cruces. The city at the bottom of the hill.

What truly allows our organization to be successful is the generosity of others. As graduating medical students 100’s of thousands of dollars in debt we can’t really afford the luxuries of most travelers every night on the road. Hotels and restaurants in every city we visit along the way would be nice but to keep overhead costs down and have the ability to donate more money to our beneficiaries we rely a lot on the communities we are passing through for assistance. We truly appreciate it all; whether the shower is hot or cold, whether the place we sleep is a gym floor or a stranger’s couch, or the dinner is another night of pasta, no contribution is too small. After cruising 65 miles into Las Cruces yesterday afternoon we had some of our most generous hosts yet and it really made all of our days. From the scheduled afternoon yoga session to relax and stretch our riders, to the dinner of pizza and ice cream, to the members of the synagogue who took us into their homes for the night it was all amazing! The group of seven riders I stayed with were hosted by a 70 year old man named Joe. Joe recently lost his wife and we were the first ones to stay in his house since her passing. He was at the synagogue at 4pm when the scheduled pickup time was 6 and after hearing about how long he had been looking forward to our stay and being told numerous times how much he enjoyed our company whether we needed Joe more for then night or he needed us is debatable. We shared stories, smoothies and one of Joe’s favorite movies before calling it a night. He choked up a little as we were taking pictures together before we pulled away in the morning and I think it reminded all of us once again what a privilege it is to be a part of something as powerful as this ride. I hope Joe knows how much his generosity was appreciated and how it will be remembered. When I look back at the this ride years from now I probably won’t recall the exact towns we rode through but it will be the people’s paths we had the opportunity to cross along the way, like Joe, that I will remember forever. No chain Joe!