New Mexico welcomed us with the strongest winds we have felt on this trip yet! We only rode 64 miles which still felt harder than the 100 miles we did the day before. Our legs had to work extra hard to even pedal at a 8-10 mph pace against S-SW winds between 25-35 mph all day.

We left Clovis around 8 am and arrived at the next town 26 miles away in Melrose, New Mexico 4 hours later. There was only one restaurant to choose from so that made our choice easy. We spent about 2 hours eating and talking with the nice people there in hopes that the wind would calm down. A man who was based at the Air Force base in Melrose overhead our conversation about the ride and he came to chat with us.

Roy sat with us at our table and to our amazement we found out he was from Crossville, the small TN town that we passed through weeks ago. He knew all about the world’s largest tree house and our buddy Big John because his relative was Horace who built the treehouse. We called Big John on speaker phone and then said our goodbyes.

The second half of the day was even harder. We rode another 38 miles to the next town through winds that would make your bike stand up on its back wheel if you pushed hard enough. The 1 % chance of rain found us a couple times but blew past in a hurry. Several times today the thought of quitting passed through my mind.

What kept me riding was the thought that my friends back home and in other Street Soccer USA cities are fighting their own battles to achieve their goals off the field. This day has put our bodies and minds to the test more than any other day. If you have ever been in difficult situation and felt like just giving up but overcame it in then I encourage you to read and share this New York Times article that was just published about Street Soccer USA.

The only thing that kept me moving was the hope that if we complete our goal and just keep riding more people will follow our journey and share it. It would give me so much mental strength if anyone reading this would share the hard work Street Soccer USA players, coaches and volunteers put in each and every day. Here is a link to the NYT article and an AOL short video.

We ended the day on an uplifting note at the Coronado motel in Fort Sumner. Mr. Gonzalez answered the door and told us that our friend and hotel Sales Rep from Mt. Pleasant gave him a call explaining our ride. He gave us a room for free and the only way we could we repay him is if we pay it forward. Thanks to people like Roxanna and Mr. Gonzalez and all of you following our journey for keeping us moving!

Today is going to be another windy and difficult day headed towards Vaughan and then Albuquerque. Got
to keep moving to reach our goal of San Francisco by Oct 31!