El Paso, Texas

I found a little piece of heaven in El Paso, Texas. After 3 weeks of traveling across the country sleeping wrapped up in a sleeping bag on the ground of tents, school gyms, churches, synagogues and people’s homes we got to check in to the Holiday Inn!  A real bed, our own showers and ESPN for 2 whole days; all thanks to the good people of the Texas Tech school of Medicine.  We rode the 45 miles into the El Paso from Las Cruces rather quickly and actually finished as a group of about 20 which was a lot of fun.  We had a big presentation at the med school over lunch which was well attended by a lot of prominent faculty and then had the rest of the day to “prepare” for our off day in El Paso.  We hit the pool, gym and went out for dinner as a group. The group ended the night with a room party back at the Holiday Inn until hotel security shut us down around 2 am; it was a lot of fun for everyone to unwind a little bit before crashing into our glorious soft comfy beds!  Our off day started off with a real Mexican breakfast including my first taste of horchata, my new favorite drink, it’s a milky looking concoction of rice, almonds, cinnamon, lime zest and sugar (since this original encounter I have searched out and successfully found more horchata every day…im drinking it right now....I may be an addict) . After our big breakfast, we got some errands done before hitting the road for 2 hours to drive to White Sands national park where we played the rest of day. We pulled back into our hotel around 11 pm as the lights of Juarez, Mexico (one the most dangerous cities in the world) lit up the night sky just across the interstate from our hotel, El Paso is truly a border town. We never seem to “rest” that much on our off days but I know this will be the last time I get to experience anything remotely like this so I figure I can just get caught up with sleep when I finish residency in 3 years.  El Paso wasn’t my favorite city of the trip but it was a great break before the next push across the country.  No Chain!

The road to Texas

State #4!

Sweet pic Heidi took.

Texas Tech's beautiful new medical school

Ping Pong, How we prepare for big lectures.

A well attended talk.

Preparing for our off day with a hotel room day.

Dance party at the hotel bar.

Horchata.

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!

M riding partner in crime for the day. Katie.

How our riding day ended. A flat tire with nothing left to pump it up. 

Sitting on the corner waiting for the sweep van.

Yoga anyone?

Joe.

Deming, New Mexico

Another day, another few miles east. Luckily after the adventures (or misadventures) of yesterday we had nothing but flat nicely paved roads with little of no wind for the ride.  Southern New Mexico is so sparse that the next 3 night stops we make are the only cities listed on the mileage signs along the interstate so it's good to keep some other riders around you for entertainment.  I can't get enough of the views down here though, so it's hard to complain about the daily ride.  We crossed over the continental divide about halfway through today, just another milestone along the way! My support team (the group of 24 riders is broken into 6 groups of 4 people each) is in charge of dinner this evening, were making stir fry, so we've already hit up the local Wal-mart for supplies. We all take turns with cooking, groceries, laundry, marking the route, etc. so that the leadership team doesn't have to do everything. It's kind of scary cooking for that many people but there has definitely been a competition for who can make the best meal (Current leader is team strawberry with burritos in Dateland) so we all have fun with it. Heading to Las Cruces tomorrow hopefully the smooth roads continue, No Chain!

Chris going fast.

Team tango cookin it up!

One of the chefs has sweet tan lines.

Lordsburg, New Mexico

We all had a pretty long day yesterday! It was planned as another 75 mile shot down Interstate 10 but nothing usually goes as planned with the roads in the desolate southwest.  About 15 miles in the shoulder just stopped so some major detours had to be constructed on the fly.  What we ended up on was described by the signs along the way as a "primitive road", which is usually not a good combination with expensive road bikes, we ended up being on it for about 8 long bumpy miles before being able to get back on the shoulder of the interstate. Due to the last second changes in the route we ended up going nearly 40 miles without a water stop which got pretty interesting in the middle of the desert, I ended up having to share with one of the other riders just to make it to the lunch stop. We hit the border of New Mexico shortly after our lunch break, as I predicted there wasn't much change in the scenery but I do really enjoy all the mountains on the horizon, its so beautiful especially early in the morning.  We also had the return of the flat tires yesterday, we had 8 in the lead group of seven riders, you can pick up just about anything along the shoulder of the interstate that will blow a tube and yesterday our tires must have had magnets.  Our group finally rolled into Lordsburg around 2pm, after the flat tires, bumpy roads and head wind that we fought all day all we wanted was a cold drink and someplace to watch some of the final round of the Masters golf tournament.  We quickly found the only place in town that was open and got to watch the last few groups play the back nine, I'm pretty sure we were the first people ever to watch golf in the fine establishment that we ended up at but after the day we had on the road everyone was happy. Today we are heading for Deming, New Mexico, a shorter and flatter ride so hopefully everyone will get the chance to get their legs back, no chain!

Sam.

The group learning about the detour.

The warning sign for us and our bikes.

A primitive road.

New state (#3)

Attack of the flats.

New Mexico is beautiful.

Our golf headquarters.

4 Cyclists, 1 Cowboy, Tv from 1997, wood paneling, pleather. 

Perfect place to watch the Masters

The Magnificent Seven

One of the riders, Andy, wrote about our front pack of riders today, thought it was pretty funny so Ill share it:

"BUM BU BUMBUMBUM…

…Never before have seven physicians, public health professionals and IT specialists given up so much for those who have so little… Never before has adventure taken on such an important purpose… Never before has there been……The Magnificent Seven…!

These seven riders set the pace for the pack, moving as a coordinated, fluid unit, and giving Floyd Landis his greatest challenge.  These seven will come from out of nowhere and be on your tail in a moment’s notice.  They will pass you at unprecedented speeds, and be a dot on the horizon faster than you can imagine.  …At least until one of them blows a tire.

The Magnificent Seven are: Sam Hartman, Justin Hepker, Chris D’Ardenne, Jeff Fujii, Tim Mitchell, Pete Croft, and Adam Koon.

These guys will kick your butt, educate you about global health disparities, and then press you for a donation to the Ride for World Health.  Simply stated: they’re deadly."

Willcox, AZ

Willcox Arizona is hot. Very hot. We got a late start on our day because of the ride with the University of Arizona med students this morning so by the time we hit town around 4 pm we got the opportunity to ride directly through the heat of the day.  We didn't have the greatest turn out for the morning ride but we hammered (cyclist talk for fast) pretty hard and got to see all of Tucson, which I really liked as a city. It has a great mix of college town and artsy/urban area, or at least the part we spend the most time in so I think we all felt comfortable hanging out there.  We then rejoined the group on the road to Willcox along Interstate 10. Interstate bike riding is interesting because it's not even legal in the states I've ever lived in., own here though there just aren't any options for back roads sometimes so the D.O.T allows it. Riding on the shoulder means you have to be locked in the entire time because there isn't a ton of room to bail out to and there is all kinds of  various debris to dodge, at least when semis pass 6 feet from you at 70 miles you get a little breeze!  We got back into some hills around the 50 mile mark something we hadn't had to deal with for a few days so it took our legs a few just to readjust.  Between the hills, heat and pizza that I thought would be a good idea for lunch (mistake) I found myself just holding on for all I had not to get dropped by the group I was riding with.  Luckily (or not) the high school we are staying at doesn't have the hot water heater on so we all got ice cold showers to rejuvenate us.  Today is our last day in Arizona before hitting New Mexico tomorrow, new states are fun even though I'm pretty sure the desert will look the same even after we cross the border. No Chain!

U of A group ride

Cool overpass from the group ride, it made you feel fast.

Along the last climb to Willcox, AZ

I say cactuses, you say cacti.

If I told you what was behind this door I would probably have to kill you.

 Still not sure if it was worth the dollar.

Lenore is way too good at the lunch lady thing.

Who knew there could be so many uses for bagels?

I "saw the light" at the Jewish synagogue in Tucson.

We go to bed at different times so we turn the lights down in waves, somehow the only spotlight in the entire room ended up on my sleeping bag in the middle of the room. I miss my bed.

Tucson Off Day

Inspiration for the day from the dashboard of our 15 passenger van.

What a weird feeling waking up and not automatically hopping on the bike this morning. Our first day after one straight week of riding was a nice change of pace although we still ran around like crazy the entire day. We started off with a group breakfast at Einstein bagels, they are one of our main sponsors so we get hooked up whenever we are in a city with one, I'm sure I've ate more than 100 bagels in the past ten days and will probably go into bagel withdrawals once this trip is over.  Then we had an event at noon at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, we had a great turnout from the med students for the lecture and some really good Thai food so it was a success all the way around.  This afternoon we broke into groups to hit up some of the touristy things in Tucson, I went with the van headed to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Mueseum, it was a great chance to see some of the wildlife we had heard about in the desert but hadn't been luck enough to spot yet.  Afterwards we all hit a mexican restaurant once again, I'm definitely getting my fill of chips & salsa during my time along the border.  Today was also mail day! I seriously have some amazing family/friends as both mail drops so far along the way I have gotten some pretty sweet packages, it was a great little bonus at the end of a great day. Tomorrow we start off the morning with a 20 mile loop ride with some of the med students from U of A then we hit the road for Wilcox, Arizona an 86 mile jaunt, it promises to be another hot day in the desert.  No Chain!

U of A Campus

Afternoon fun.

Straw hats and bandanas are now standard group attire

The view from the park.

My new mountain lion tat.

Normal shenanigans for our group.

Again, normal.

These hats wont be as cool once we hit the midwest.

Group Shot

It was Tim's "birthday" at the mexican restaurant

No bake cookies, Diet Pepsi, head lamps, photo of Nick Cage, gum, chapstick, sugar cookies with frosting. What more could a guy ask for in mail drop?

Tim enjoying the frosting that got smooshed to the tin foil. They were amazing Laur!

Ride for World Health Blog Bonus

I was in charge of blogging for the main Ride for World Health Blog yesterday about the ride from Picacho Peak to Tucson, each of us are assigned 2-3 days along the ride to blog for the group.  I know some of this is redundant from the blog I posted earlier but I wanted to share this here as well because the quote at the end by Bourdain is one of my favorites of all time, I hope you enjoy it as much I do:

Tuscon was just a short 45 mile ride from Picacho Peak. After some of the riders who didn’t get the opportunity to make the climb up the peak the night before made the 5 am trek to the top we hit the road to battle the heat and a headwind in to town.  I think most of us agreed that the 45 miles felt a lot longer than the stated distance but we all made it town by the 1:30 pm time cutoff for showers at the local JCC even with a few added stops along the way (see Katie and Maggie’s new helmets above).  Tonight were staying at a Jewish synagogue near the campus of the University of Arizona where we have an event tomorrow during our day off from riding.  We all just finished an amazing brinner (breakfast for dinner) prepared by today’s support team and are now preparing to hit the town for the evening/have a movie night at the synagogue.

I think all the riders had a great time at Picacho Peak state park yesterday, sharing stories, a few drinks and smores around the campfire under the night sky full of billions and billions of stars. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in a circle around the flames made me realize just how close I had become to these random strangers in just a weeks time.  For many of them I now know about their families, their passions and their goals for the futures. Hearing their tales of trips to places all over the globe continually amaze me and inspire me to extend my own reach when this journey across the nation ends.  One of my favorite television shows is No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, sitting there last night I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from the show:

“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.”

A walk of inspriation...

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."                                                                                
We meet a lot of people along the road, when we tell them what we are doing the usual response is something along the lines of "that's crazy".  Yesterday on the way to Picacho Peak I met a man who made me say the same thing.  George Throop was a succesful High rise investor when he quit his job this past summer and started walking across America beginning in Vancouver, Washington.  George's mom passed away from bone cancer 2 days before her 34th birthday, so 2 days before his 34th birthday he began his walk of inspiration. He planned on the trip to D.C. taking 9 months, he's currently somehwere in the middle of Arizona at 6.5 months so you can do the math.  He averages about 15 miles a day and sleeps along the side of the road when gets tired.  So far he's gone through four pairs of tennis shoes and too many power bars to count.  He's walking across America to inspire people to live a healither lifestyle by taking positive steps to personal growth in their own lives. If you have the time stop by his website: www.enjoythewalk.org and read more about his story and mission. I couldn't stop thinking about his journey the rest my ride yesterday, what an inspiration. I hope he finds everything he's been looking for out on the road and gets that final walk with President Obama.  No chain George!