The Watermelon Beat Down is part of the New Mexico Endurance Series — a scrappy, grassroots ultra-endurance operation that is about as no-frills as it gets. Free to enter, no prizes, no hand-holding. You get a start time and a route; everything else is on you. Finish times get tracked informally (your cooperation appreciated), and you self-report your mileage to prove you actually rode the thing. Call it a race if you want, but really it's a personal sufferfest that happens to have other people at the start line.
This is backcountry New Mexico — rugged, remote, and unforgiving. The NMES makes no bones about it: this one's for experienced riders who are comfortable navigating and self-supporting in serious terrain. If you're second-guessing whether you're ready, the organizers will tell you the same thing we will: maybe sit this one out and work up to it.
The NMES is a long-running series run by director Rich Capener, with individual coordinators handling each event's route and logistics. The vibe is loose by design — you might roll out solo, link up with a friend, or find yourself riding alongside a stranger you met through the series email list. That's kind of the whole charm of it.