This "Great Eskape" gets its own blog, as opposed to its own blog post, to give it the space on the page it really deserves. If you are reading this it's possible it's because you are considering doing this trip yourself. If so, we definitely recommend it. We have all been daydreaming about this trip with regularity in the weeks and months since we came back from the desert. We took a bunch of extra precautions - extra water, repair kits equipped to do everything from secure a seat post to sew up a slashed tire - none of which we needed but all of which we would suggest taking. The route will test you, and wind is a factor, but importantly it was really fun and really beautiful. The terrain is rugged and can be really remote, so be prepared for a long series of what-ifs. People were friendly, and the land of enchantment held up to its nick-name. It's also possible you are reading this because you are just curious about the trip - either because you know us, a friend or family member - or because you stumbled upon this site and are generally interested in two-wheeled adventure travel. In that case we hope this will inspire you to take advantage of whatever scant opportunities for adventure you have, in whatever form you prefer them. All three of us have jobs, and bills, and limited vacation time, and other obligations etc... it isn't easy to find the time to do something like this, but if you can, do.

Mostly though, this recounting of the New Mexico Off-road runner is for us - Tony, Kevin, and I (Andy) - because with time memories fade, and we all acknowledge that opportunities for something as grand as this are rare and worth remembering. I took a small notebook with me on the trip and kept a straight forward diary of the days' events and happenings in an effort to keep the days straight, which I have used to piece back together a recounting of the experiences of the trip, day-by-day. This recounting of the trip is presented in plain text but really only captures an element of the experiences. The pictures added come from all three of our cameras and phones (I brought an Olympus OMD- Mark-II, if you care) and included in all of these posts are each our thoughts and reflections, in italicized text in an attempt to capture a more complete perspective of the experience for us.

About logistics - this route was design by Cass Gilbert for Bikepacking.com and can be viewed here.
but if you are planning to do this route please feel free to contact us, we would be happy to chat with you about what we did and how we did it. Happy to share any advice we have...

You can read our day-by-day from the main blog page for the NM Off-road Runner, and remember, no step on snek.

Airport heroes.