OR.. How I put nearly 2000 miles on my car in 7 days.
The Road calls
When our former landlord Mike Miller, of Basil Doc's Pizzeria, asked me to come participate in his new venture, a gravel bike race called Borderlands Gravel on the border of Arizona and Mexico, I knew there was no way I was not going. Roadtrip, check, unknown adventure, check, my home state, check, an interesting location and back story, check. I practically had the car packed before I hung up and that was 8 months before the race.
It is a tough time of year for me to be gallivanting around so it was a well oiled plan that got me down to the border and back in 6 days time while the boys stayed back in the kitchen making sure wholesale orders were flowing out to all the retailers preparing for the holidays. I dropped my roadie (the one and only Roden C. Oyote) off at moms in New Mexico and beelined south through Hatch New Mexico, Pueblo Colorado's chile rival, where I witnessed literal hills of red chilies drying in the sun. It's so interesting to observe these growing regions who have so expertly branded themselves as THE place for THAT thing. Hatch NM & Palisade CO have put such a stake in the ground for chilies and peaches. Paonia forever for this gal. Post Hatch the drive turned into quieter and slower with two lane roads and absolutely stunning landscape that I hit at the golden hour. Perfect timing.
Arriving in Douglas at sunset the night before the race was so beautiful (Arizona sunset, duh) but also a cutting reminder of borderland politics that we here in Colorado only understand theoretically. It's one thing to hear rhetoric about "The Wall", it’s another thing all together to stand next to a 20 foot tall rusted iron and metal barrier covered in razor wire and watch it disappear into the distance, slicing the landscape in half as rolls over hills and mountains. It's truly surreal. Sobering. Shaken but still hungry I grabbed dinner, possibly the best burrito Ive ever eaten, at a local burrito spot called Asadero El Güero next to the wall while I busted out a newsletter. Road weary I checked into my motel, showered in a portal and sunk into bed.
Race Day
I didn’t have a bicycle with me so I skipped the 6am International leg of the race, instead I checked out of the room, had breakfast at a lively local joint, Blueberry Cafe and proceeded to set up for the Mercado in the lobby of the historic Gadsden Hotel. The Mercado was at the same time as the race so i missed the starts and finish and awards ceremony and most of the afterparty. So sadly if you are looking for a rundown on the race, well, it's not here. What I did see after the after party was a personal tour, given to by caretaker Hunter Mann, of the very fun Art Car World Museum. I highly recommend. After the tour I tied up the day at the Gadsden Hotel bar, The Saddle and Spur Tavern with tasty dinner and a VERY DELICIOUS Smoked Old Fashioned (featuring our cherries thanks to a crafty waiter/bartender I met earlier at the Mercado). While I hadn't pedaled a single mile that day not a gaggle of ghosts would have been able to rouse me that night in the Gadsden Hotel.
I didn’t have a bicycle with me so I skipped the 6am International leg of the race, instead I checked out of the room, had breakfast at a lively local joint, Blueberry Cafe and proceeded to set up for the Mercado in the lobby of the historic Gadsden Hotel. The Mercado was at the same time as the race so i missed the starts and finish and awards ceremony and most of the afterparty. So sadly if you are looking for a rundown on the race, well, it's not here. I can tell you the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel is stunning, legend is Pancho Villa's horse chipped the marble staircase and the bathroom is haunted. I heard stories from the locals who were so welcoming and friendly. I met makers who make delicious salsa, tamales, gorgeous soap, hand sewed pouches and a wonderful woman who works at The Local Co-Op, where I got the most incredible fresh organic dates I've ever tasted in my life. Thank you Beatriz's Dates in Yuma. She has no online presence, that I can find but the Co-op sells her magic. I also meet the Mayor of Douglas, a legally blind man that is beloved by the locals. A pleasure to meet Jose Grijalva! It was so fun and great to meet so many people in the food community in Southern Arizona. I hope to come back soon.
While I missed the race and the after party I did get a personal tour, after the after party, given to me by caretaker Hunter Mann, of the very fun Art Car World Museum. Incredible collection of crazy cars. I highly recommend. After the tour I tied up the day at the Gadsden Hotel bar, The Saddle and Spur Tavern with tasty dinner and a VERY DELICIOUS Smoked Old Fashioned (featuring our cherries thanks to a crafty waiter/bartender I met earlier at the Mercado). While I hadn't pedaled a single mile that day not a gaggle of ghosts would have been able to rouse me that night in the Gadsden Hotel.
exploring douglas
The next morning I helped break down the race headquarters, quickly peeked the worlds largest collection of TLS artwork at The Last Supper Museum (going to have to go back and spend more time there but when you are around Mike you are on a tight schedule) and then drove the entire 65 mile course with race founder Mike Miller, Charlie 2 the dog, and MaryAnn, Mikes partner.
The tour started with us departing Douglas and heading east into the desert with mid point being the boundary of Arizona and New Mexico and circled back through cattle lands ending at the starting point, yards from the Mexico / Arizona port of entry. This starting point of the race is probably not so coincidentally the very spot Mike years earlier witnessed two people breach the border and escape border patrol as he was riding his bicycle down the road.
The birthplace of his new raison d'être perhaps.
If you haven’t been through Southern Arizona I can only begin to describe the remarkable beauty and varied landscapes this terrain includes. Sahara like tundras to craggy mountains to dry arid vastness with mirages of water shimmering in the distance and then actual water oasis's with cottonwood trees and cattails. It is rugged and raw and staggeringly beautiful. The newly built fortress of a wall that divides this land that jaguars and coyotes and wild horses have traveled across for thousands of years is startling and frankly heartbreaking. This existence of imposed boundaries to land feels so limiting, insular. As we rode along that border wall on a dirt road catching glimpses of semi trucks moving smoothly down paved roads just a few miles south of us conducting commerce on the other side I very deeply felt, trapped in and sorrowful for those trapped out of their migratory paths of millennia. Mike stopped the truck on occasion to show us old border markers, and sections with hinges on locked doors that must be opened during monsoons or the rush of water and debris will push this seeming inpenatratable iron wall right over. This reckoned with my ideas that this multimillion dollar effort was one of false "security".
Later that evening rain soaked the desert and a rainbow stretched across the expanse I had traversed earlier in the day. Nature just keeps going despite mans silly ideas of control. It smelled fresh and full of life.
Back on the road
Now to get back home on this epic roadtrip I had plotted a family loop that might has well been an Arizona version of the Grand Prix, very speedy. Departing Douglas I hit up Bisbee which is an incredibly charming town that feels a bit like San Francisco meets Italy meets the desert. An old mining town, Bisbee is now an epicenter of historic western tourism. The gaping wound of a vast mine sits on the eastern edge of town that a is situated comfortably in the folds of a rising mountain. Streets are steep, walkways narrow, buildings historic and vibes are very artistic and entrepreneurial. It feels a bit like the quest for freedom from the chains of "norm" and the enchantment of "what can be" while logistically changed from mining days, are very much alive in this little slice of Arizona. I liked it. A lot. Filled with vintage shops, clothing designers like Classic Rock Couture whose shop I have visited in Tucson, artist galleries, breweries, a James Beard nominee bakery that sadly was a closed, I'll have to come back Patisserie Jacqui.
This building here in the middle is for sale. SOO CUTE. Shop on the bottom and apartment on the 2nd story. 😍 Next stop Bisbee??
From Bisbee I dropped in on my beloved Tucson. Spent the night in a strawbale Airbnb right next to the Bodhisattva Institute, woke up and spotted Buddha (always comforting), left some Colorado gifts of Deliciousness for the host checked out and went and worked from my favorite coffee shop, Exo Coffee in Barrio Viego till 1:00. I then picked up my favorite tortillas from La Estrella and hit the road to Chandler to visit my brother and sister in law for a couple hours, not nearly long enough, but back in the car and straight up to Flagstaff I went where I slept like a baby waking up to that rain I had left behind in Southern Arizona. A drizzling fall day in my hometown in Northern Arizona was just what I needed. After a few hours with family, dad, neice, nephew, I headed back east on I-70 along with all those truckers and checked into Hotel Mom in New Mexico where my sweet pup Roden greeted me with restrained enthusiasm but forgiveness. He wasn't too pleased I took such an adventure without him.
Next time friend.
And so it's like that.
Sometimes you have to say yes, no matter how illogical it may be. This trip was one of easiest and drama free trips I've had in awhile. Was it because I had somewhat of a schedule I had to stick to? Was it because I was in exactly the right place at the right time for something I don't even know the presence of? Or was this whole thing actually just dreamed up and I didn't actually put a single mile on my road stallion? Not sure. I can still smell that rain soaked desert though and the view of golden hour on red rocks will never get old to me.
Wish you were there.
