When I decided to ride my bike to the southeast this time, it wasn’t to perpetuate this narrative, but to instead hopefully drive home the idea that it’s not so black and white.

New Mexico is not only diverse in its people, but it is diverse in our land, our towns, and industries—and so much of the spirit that lives within us, our resilience, our scrappiness, and pride exists along the route I’ve ridden so far.

But in this polarizing state of politics we’re in—where both parties eat it all up, urban vs rural has become so much about us vs them, and yet we’re really not that different.

And those differences that do exist, we should be living into them as a basis to figure out our own way.

A New Mexican Way.

I’m riding my bike because I straddle both worlds in my legislative and organizing work. When in Santa Fe, I’m not only looking at the Las Cruces Public Schools budget, but I’m also glancing at the Lake Arthur Public Schools budget right below it.

Because if Lake Arthur isn’t doing well, neither is district 35.

I’m riding my bike because I don’t have the best answers to solve all the problems. And maybe Rep. Greg Nibert—who planned my whole day today in Roswell, and is one of the nicest colleagues in the legislator, he too doesn’t either.

But because we’ve spent the last three years getting to know each other, despite not always agreeing philosophically on issues that mean so much to each of us, we both want to just figure something out, from one corner of the state to the other—because we love our communities deeply.

My bike ride is making me realize so much more about how lucky I am to have grown up in small town New Mexico. How lucky I am to have a community like Las Cruces, who gives this small town girl with big ideas a chance to not only fight for them…but trusting me also to fight for all of us.

Tomorrow—Vaughn! 🚴🏻‍♀️💨