FIELD NOTE 001 HQ → Piedras Negras → HQ. 50km. Thursday.

The store was closed. The sign was up. Three of us showed up.

It wasn’t planned. It was necessary. Two months behind a desk, behind a remodel, behind a launch — and one Wednesday I’d had enough. Posted a story. Went to bed. Woke up to two confirmations.

André had just come back from a 100km backpacking trip and was in better shape than either of us had any right to be. Sharon had never ridden this far. I hadn’t ridden in close to two months and had apparently forgotten how water works.

We rode out of San José toward Piedras Negras. André showed us a trail we didn’t know — short, unpaved, a good reason to leave the road for a few minutes. The kind of thing you only find if someone who knows takes you there.

The way back is where it got interesting.

My legs cramped somewhere on a climb. I knew it was coming. I stood on the pedals anyway. That was a mistake. Both legs locked simultaneously and I went down on my side, horizontal, fully clipped in, twitching on the asphalt.

André was already at the top. Sharon came around the bend, saw me on the floor, and had the decency to use it as a rest stop.

There are no pictures. You’ll have to take my word for it.

I recovered. We rode on. I did it again a few kilometers later.

A smoothie stop near HQ saved the day — watermelon and coconut water, the only combination that matters. From there, nothing worth reporting. We rolled back in, locked up, and agreed it had been a good ride.

It had been a good ride.

This is Field Note 001. The first ride. The one that started it. Be Boundless. — @bcc.bike