Tom the Mt. Biker Dude

It’s finally Friday! HoooRaaaaaay!!! To celebrate I decided to go exploring on the old Pinarello. I really should name it. Some pretty Italian name would fit nicely. Any suggestions please shoot them my way. The bike is a little heavy but super snappy. It accelerates like a rocket and pretty much climbs mountains all by itself. A name like Isabella or Alessandra sounds pretty sexy. Anyway I’m getting away from the point. Back to the ride. Instead of going to the out and back part of my ride I took a turn into a housing development. I was expecting a dead end but the road took a glorious turn directly towards the Organ Mountains. After a brutal week my mind and body was free at last.

On and on the road continued through the desert. Each mile the road got progressively steeper as it approached the base of the Organs. Around Las Cruces there is a definite lack of serious hills but this sucker was punishing. The last mile was probably around 5 or 6%, not super steep but enough to work those quads and turn me into a rain cloud. At the top I took a nice pause to enjoy the beautiful evening before the big decent back into Las Cruces.

At the bottom of the decent I passed a Mt. biker parked on the side of the road. Looked like a flat tire. Slowing to a stop I asked if he had everything he needed. Nope, he was stranded, and his wife was not answering the phone. Haha, that sucks. Not to worry old biker dude, I am your savior, which was until I checked my front tire. OH COME ON! Now I have a flat too. Damn those Goat heads. I hoped I had 2 CO2 cartrages but I didn’t. Tom, the Mt. biker dude, said that was okay and wished me luck as he started walking into the sunset like they do in old western movies. For the next 15 minutes I fought and cursed with my tire but finally got it fixed.

Continuing on down I found Tom again, still walking. I said I wished there was something I could do to help but I was out of ideas. Slowly I rode on, still thinking hard. Oh yeah, there was still a little air left in my cartrage. I quickly turned around and offered the last of my air to Tom. He accepted and it worked! Well sort of. Tom’s tire was still pretty squishy but it was ride able. He thanked me as we shook hands and then we parted ways.

The rest of ride back I was just glowing. All week long people and things had proceeded to dump their shit on me. I was tired of screwing up and feeling worthless. Giving Tom the hand he needed to get home was just what I needed after one of the worst weeks. Thank you Tom.