From the Land of Scotch to the Land of Enchantment came Andy and Janice to pioneer and document the THC / Tres Hermanas Challenge.

AND IT’S A CLIFF HANGER!

by BigAddison

Our shuttle service collected Andy and Janice  late in the evening at the El Paso International airport in Texas, and delivered them about midnight to the official southern terminus for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route for Tourers. (Antelope Wells being the official terminus for the GDMBR RACE).

Or as I call it, My Bikers & Hikers Hole-Tel in Columbus, NM.

The great thing about this story is that comes full circle. Let me explain…

You see, Andy and Janice contacted me many months ago to secure a booking at my Hole-Tel so they could take the Section Six Tres Hermanas Route Westbound. And my reply? “I have no idea what you’re talking about Andy”. And that’s where it all began.

Andy shred a screenshot of the route and explained he had become aware of it through the RideWithGPS app. After doing some digging around I couldn’t locate it so I decided to contact the Adventure Cycling Association and got an immediate reply from Geoff McMillion (love that last name!), who guided me to the Section Six Route Map where I found all the Alt routes in New Mexico, including the West and Eastbound routes through the Tres Hermanas. Which in Spanish means “The Three Sisters”.

Waking up at my usual 2-3am timeslot, I recognized from the sound of the swamp cooler (aka evaporative cooler), that my guests had been delivered.

I turned on the coffee maker and got busy with my morning work. I figured the late night arrival meant a late morning sleep in so I kept quiet and made another pot of coffee for them at sunrise. When they came to and made their way to the kitchen, Andy’s first stop wasn’t the pot of coffee, it was my Italian Pasquini Espresso machine he was after. The machine stayed on the entire visit and they drank it like water!

Having given themselves the extra day to decompress from the long hours of traveling, they enjoyed a lingering cool morning on the porch with coffee and the sounds of the birds that have enjoyed a daily feeding for the last 15 years. Then they got busy breaking out their bikes from the shipping containers and starting the set-up process.

On a side note I think many here will enjoy, Andy drew (not Andrew), my attention to his unique “drive chain”. Turns out Andy had worn many hats in his life, one of them being a mechanic for Formula One Racing. He mentioned his favorite part of the job was how an idea launched while having a drink and drawing on a napkin could mean the whole team designing and producing something that in a few days was on the car for testing. Well, he applied those skills to his more recent challenge of taking on the GDMBR. He designed, and has custom made for his ride a belt-drive system. Says the first one is still on the bike. He carries a couple more just in case, because they hardly weigh anything compared to chains.

 

Now that the bikes are set-up and ready for action, Andy & Janice decided to take the opportunity to test their rigs by, you guessed it, going for a ride.

I suggested they ride down to the border today, and I would meet them down there to photo document their starting from our terminus boundary marker at our port of entry to Palomas, MX,

then ride from the border back up to town to not only complete that first leg, but to enjoy being tourists and seeing the sites of our small but hugely historical village. And that’s what we did. I shot back to the Hole-Tel while the kids enjoyed their in-town adventure.

On their way back up to the Hole-Tel they stopped by our Village Hall and received their Medallions and a quick picture for the village Facebook page.

They also found the local grocery store and Dollar General to buy fixings for dinner.

Janice somehow cooked up a Penne Pasta and Smoked Sausage dish in the Hole Kitchen that was absolutely restaurant quality. How do I know? Because they graciously invited me to join them.

Quick back story is Janice and Andy’s previous endeavor had been building a metal boat and then charting it for tours of the North Atlantic. Right through ice flows. And Janice, among her other duties as one of a three person crew, was the chef. And her guests expected gourmet on the high seas.

Here you can seen their Facebook entry of Day One in Columbus.

The next morning at daybreak they were ready to go, and hitting the Tres Hermanas challenge route was as simple as riding out the driveway at the Hole-Tel and turning left.

I enjoy escorting all my guests out to the course, but this is the first time I’ve escorted anyone out to the Tres Hermanas Challenge. I led them along for the first 4 or 5 miles before cutting them loose and watching them ride off and disappear in the distance. Before we parted company we took the time to record this quasi historical event, at least for me. Hah!

Here’s Andy and Janice riding off into the SUNRISE!

THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

Another talent this couple employs is that of photo documenting and vlogging their adventurous life together. And boy did they ever document their two-days over the Tres Hermanas Challenge down to every detail for those who will follow the trail they blazed.

I close with my gratitude to these two pioneers who simply and quietly take on the some the worlds harshest environments ON PURPOSE! God speed you two! -BigA

Read their story here: 

5 June 2026: GDMBR Days 1,2&3, 225km travelled
More snakes than cars!