Here’s how it all went down.
Although the Biology students left the Hachita Community Center after dinner for a little overnight camping trip they came back before midnight because of lightning (sans snakes). Soooo the last night alone was over. 😂
It was hot in the building and we weren’t used to that. Plus, Anne and John decided they’d push through and drive to Las Cruces so we could finish on Thursday which meant no zero in Hachita 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. We were a bit restless because of the heat and concerned about their safety driving so long… and it turns out it would be our last night. All this contributed to a restless night.
We got up at our usual time at 6am, packed up for the last time and got to the Food Mart by 7am when it opened and we coffeed up.
The plan was that Anne and John would leave Las Cruces and meet us along the way and it worked beautifully.
We savored every mile, even enjoyed a little tailwind at the beginning and kept pinching ourselves to ensure we weren’t dreaming… that we really did this… rode our bikes southbound, border to border, 2,594 miles and climbed 153,610 feet of elevation, averaging 52 miles a day.
Just as planned, they came cruising up behind us with about 15 miles to the Mexican Border!
We, hugged, chatted a bit and then cruised that last 15 stretch of road to the finish with smiles as big as Texas.
At the border we gave that security fence a righteous slap, snapped some pics at the Antelope Wells sign and loaded the bikes on the Sube, but not before giving each other and our Cuttys a big ole kiss. We all performed and got the job done.
As with recalling our Northern Tier ride, we’ll do a summary post after we reflect, run some numbers and try to get our civilization brains working again. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. What a grand ride! We. Are. Grateful.
Click on the image below to view the video.
Keep Calm and Pedal On 