Always do what you are afraid to do.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. ~ Bill Cosby~
July 22nd-06, I had an opportunity, along with a riding buddy (Kevin Pugh), to ride the Iron Butt SaddleSore 1000. This is the first required ride before a rider can move on to other longer, or more difficult rides. The SaddleSore consists of 1000 miles, ridden on a motorcycle, in 24 hours or less. The ride requires a starting and ending witness and each turn in the route must be documented with gas or other receipts that include time, date and address. http://www.ironbutt.com/ridecerts/getdocument.cfm?DocID=1
Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.
~H. Jackson Browne~
Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.
~Albert Einstein~
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. ~Henry Ford~
Not one shread of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. ~Author Unknown~
Pressed for time, Joe and I reluctantly left Mike Alewine in Salida, CO. Mike traveled north and west into Utah, while Joe and I set out homeward, southeast across southern Colorado.
The beautiful Beckwith Ranch in southeast Colorado. 
A monstrous thunderstorm chased Joe and I across southeast CO and northeast NM. At one point near Clayton, NM, we stopped to take a picture of an old barn directly in the path of the approaching thunderstorm. Little did we know that I would capture a developing tornado directly behind it. Trust me when I tell you we did not linger!
Just west of Sayre, OK we crossed into OK on two lanes, but soon jumped on I-40 and "slabbed" it east to Oklahoma City. There Joe and I parted, as Joe headed south to Dallas, and I continued eastward, on through AR, MO, TN and home.What does not kill me makes me stronger.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe~
"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with."
~Samuel Clemens a.k.a Mark Twain~
Taking a break alongside a beautiful mountain lake.
Got Dust?
Pie Town, New Mexico
Civilization! 
New Mexico Cliffs - near Grants, NM 
We stayed in small town mom and pop, drive-up motels mostly.
North West New Mexico, near Chama (state road).
Joe Freeland and Mike Alewine waiting for the signal to start sliding!In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. ~Albert Einstein~
You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. ~Samuel Clemens a.k.a ~Mark Twain~
The bikes parked at breakfast cafe (Silver City, NM) before the first day on the Divide Trail.
The first break on the Divide trail. - Jim Ervin , Mike Alewine and Mike Blevins
This picture doesn't do it justice. The trail is extremely steep with plenty of serious rough boulders and deep sand.
Joe Freeland after his fall. Left side bike scrape and a seriously bruised left foot and ankle. Joe had one of the worst bruises I've ever seen. Fortunately his ankle recovered well and the injury did not hinder his ride. 
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. ~Sir Winston Churchhill~
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all. ~Hellen Keller~
