Day 10

First day off!
To-do list:
-put brakepads on
-blog
-get usb stick from REI for Garmin
-laundry
-repack
-avoid my bike and the outdoors

Things I accomplished:
-updated blog
-avoid my bike and the outdoors
-eat alot



I wasn't very impressed with the city of Tempe. The downtown area was a nice little college town,

but I was unimpressed with much else. This may be due to the 110' weather or possibly the fact that one of our guys also had his (locked) bike stolen from in front of the library. "Luckily" it was early enough in the day that he was able to purchase another bike, and his insurance will cover his loss. Cheers to him in continuing on the trip, and I can't even imagine having that happen.

Day 9

Our last day before our first day off! We had a 70 mile day, all downhill, and we all (naively) thought that it would be an easy day.

I left at 6:20, and I knew some of the boys left just before us. I figured they'd go slow, and we'd catch them and ride together for awhile, so I took off to catch them. The road was curvy, so I figured they'd be just around the next bend. After about 3 miles of racing to catch them, I now had dropped the girls, and the guys were still no where to be seen. So, I spent the next 26 miles averaging 22 mph, and I finally caught up with 2 of them in the city of Surprise.

As I caught them, we came across a guy that was walking from Virginia to California to keep his family together.

He looked about my age, and was carrying a big trailer with all of his things in it. He explained to me that he had been married 4 years and they had a 3 year old son. He said he had never been with his son on his birthday, and he was making the walk so he could be there on his birthday. I didn't want to push too much, but I didn't really understand why he needed to walk nearly 4,000 miles to do this. I understand plane tickets, buses, trains, etc. are expensive, but wouldn't it be less expensive to "gather" $400 for a plane ticket than to try to get the money for food for such a trek? Regardless, I hope he makes it for his son's birthday.

After another 10 miles, we made it to the bike shop (rumored to offer free labor to all cross country cyclists) by 9am. Unfortunately, it didn't open until 10, so we went to the McDonald's across the street. I did have a cinnamon roll, but it was far from the homemade type I've been craving. Day 6 with no cinnamon roll. The bike shop opened, but they told us the mechanic wouldn't be there until 11. One of the guys stayed, and they told him at about 11 that he wasn't going to come until 1 today. I was glad that I took off.

We still had 30 miles left, and by now it was about 100 degrees., but for the first time since San Diego, there were some clouds!

I was feeling good, but I just wanted to be done. It took me about 3 more hours to get through Phoenix, and I found a bike shop along the way for my new brake pads. I got a little lost towards the end, but got to camp (Motel 6, truly luxurious given my new standards) at about 1:30. It was 110'.

After cooling off and cleaning up, we went to a sports bar for dinner and for Melina's birthday.
We had some drinks stayed out late (by late I mean 10:00) before heading back.

Day 8

Another hot day in the desert. We had 2 800+ foot climbs today, so naturally we left at about 5:50am as to get the first one in before the heat.

I have a new goal of beating "young Mark" to camp once on this trip. I knew I didn't stand a chance today, but the weather was cool and I felt good so I decided to try to keep him off for as long as possible. With about a 10 minute handicap, I managed to keep him off for a new record of 12.4 miles. It was another beautiful sunrise, but I wanted to see how long I could keep him off, so I didn't want to stop to take another picture.

After the boys caught us, we rode with them in a nice paceline for most of the day. It is amazing what a difference that makes, even if we're only going 10 mph. We stopped in the first town after 30 or so miles for breakfast #2 at Cactus Flats. Still no cinnamon rolls.

We stayed at "Horsepitality", and I still get a kick out of the name.

Despite the bad reviews young Mark reported to us from his "blackbox", it was a really nice place. I spent a lot of time updating my blog, and then ran back into town for a milkshake just before dinner. Props to Rick for the best dinner yet!!!

Day 7

Once again, we got off to an early start at about 6:20 am.

You could already feel the heat, and we knew it would not be a comfortable day. We stopped at Kofi Cafe for our breakfast #2, and our waitress didn't seem to like us very much. The Aussie ordered a banana split, and she didn't seem like she wanted to make it (perhaps because it was 9am?).

She did, and by the end she started to warm  up to us enough to give us some more water. Unfortunately, day 3 of no cinnamon rolls.

We got to camp (thankfully a motel because of the heat) at about 11, and the owners were out for church. We took a dip in the pool, that didn't seem to have been cleaned for a long time, and went to the bar across the street. It was rumored to have excellent milkshakes, and we had been looking forward to them all day. We soon found out the bar was under new management, and the cafe next door with the milkshakes was closed.

We had a couple of beer and talked to the locals. One of the older men (on an oxygen tank, wearing an old cowboy hat and drinking a beer) there told me Route 60 used to be the only highway, and the bar and cafe were packed in those days. Now the cafe was closed, and the bar was very run down. He told me how Interstate 10 marked the end of Salome.

One of the guys at the bar invited Melina and I to his place for dinner. We declined, finished our beers and headed back to the motel.

Day 6

Day 6

We made the trip from Palo Verde to Quartzsite today. The temperature is supposed to reach somewhere around 110' so we left the 'brothel' at 6:20 am.

It was a beautiful ride until about 11am. Luckily, we had less than 5 miles left when it got really hot. We got 20 miles done at a pretty good pace and saw a beautiful sunrise at about mile 5. The weather was still cool, and it was flat as a pancake. We chatted a lot more today, and the mood seemed more relaxed now that we were through with "El Diablo". We stopped in Blithe for breakfast #2. Some people at the bar last night recommended this coffee shop to us, so we all stopped there.

I found it sad, ironic? that there was a Starbucks directly across the street competing with the locally run and owned coffee shop. I drank some coffee and ate a sweet roll. I was a little disappointed they didn't have any cinnamon rolls, that's the second time a cafe has had them on the menu and they haven't had any!

We got back on the road, and I was (finally) feeling good. The first 20 miles seem to be rough for me, but I usually feel better after breakfast #2. Soon after the diner, we reached Arizona!

We had a pretty good climb for the next 10 or 15 miles. It's never a good feeling when there is a mountain range in front of you. We were on the interstate again (not my favorite thing), so it had a nice grade of probably 4-6%. We made it to camp at about 11am. They are letting us sleep in the air conditioned (probably about 80', and it feel great!) rec room tonight. We were hoping they had a swimming pool. Turns out they do, and it looks like it was a really nice pool about 20 years ago. Unfortunately, it hasn't been filled for probably 10 or more years, so no swimming today. Now when I step outside again, I feel like my skin is going to melt. Luckily, I remembered I had this cooling thing for my neck that my parents' neighbor gave me just before I left. THANK YOU MRS. UHLIG!

Day 5

Day 5

Hardest day yet. Since day 1, everyday I have said something like "I thought I was in the desert yesterday, but now I am really in the desert." I just didn't think it got much more remote, which is quite naive on my part. We had a 70 mile day, and since the first day we had been warned about this day. Usually, there are 20+ mile an hour head winds on top of the 100'+ heat, daunting climbs, and the lack of shade and services.

It was my day to cook breakfast and lunch (and clean up after), but we still managed to get out by 6:50am. Right as we were finishing up, I made my lunch and snacks, and turned my back for a minute to clean some dishes. On the table, I left my sandwich, pop-tarts, banana, and a bag of pretzels and nuts neatly stacked. I turned back, and someone took my banana and bag of pretzels and nuts! I WILL FIND OUT WHO TOOK THEM!

As we left I remember thinking how warm it was, and the sun was just rising. I knew it would be a long day. We rode 30 miles to Glamis, the only services stop on the entire route. The first 10 miles were on "chip-seal" which provides rolling resistance like a 10 mph headwind. Since we were staying below sea-level in Brawley,

the only was to go was up. After about 10 miles, we hit a steep climb, and it was getting hot. I tried to ignore the heat and panic that was setting in because the dunes really are beautiful. I heard somewhere that because of the winds the move west(I believe) at 1 foot per year. We stopped and climbed a hill to an observation spot and took some pictures before we continued to Glamis.

Glamis has 1 store that is only open from now through March. They charge outrageous prices because they can. It was $2 to use the bathroom (rumored to be a porta-potty) and apparently they had showers for $10. Of course there was no tap water (though some tap water here is questionable anyway), and I had to pay $4.25 for a gallon of water. I was too pissed about that to engage in any small talk with the seemingly-friendly cashier. I drank a can of pepsi ($1.50), ate 2 pop-tarts (one food item I am extremely thankful for) and we were back on our way.

Somehow in the 20 minutes we stopped, a pretty strong head wind developed. In 20 minutes?? How did this happen?! I was with 3 people, and we started a paceline on fully-loaded touring bikes in the middle of the desert at about 8 mph. We caught a couple other riders and all rode for about an hour when 3 of them wanted to stop. Gunnar and I continued on our own because of an impending migraine for me. I had 4 full water bottles and a full nalgean, and I still had to ration my water. I drank the first bottle in about 5 miles, and I realized that if I kept drinking at that pace I'd never make it.

20 miles into it, we crossed a boarder patrol station. The boarder patrol boys invited us in to cool down and offered us water. I cannot tell you how thankful I was for this. I promptly downed almost 2 water bottles, and topped them all off before we left. At that point, I was still feeling good. The next 10 miles was a series of "dips", another word for short hill. Unfortunately, the speed you gained going down was never enough to get you back to the top, and the sun was beating down on us. After about 3 or 4 more miles, we stopped for a second, and when I turned around, there was a cloud of sand about 1/2 a mile back. It looked like there had been an accident, and we were terrified that it involved one of us. We later found out it was a diesel trucker who had crashed when he was going up and down the dips (no cyclists involved), and the highway was closed for a few hours. It was scary for me to think that it was only about a 1/2 mile behind us, must have been my guardian angels looking out for me.

With about 5 miles left, I felt terrible and was really worried about this accident. I was looking for a tree to sit under, but there were none for miles. Finally, I stopped on the road and begged Gunnar for some Gatorade and electrolyte mix. He graciously gave me some (Gunnar I owe you big time), and I felt so much better. He pulled me the rest of the way at about 10mph and we made into camp.

We stayed at a motel, but it was really a brothel.

There were 5 rooms, all equally as disgusting. It is by far the worst "motel" I have ever stayed at, but luckily it did have a working ac. We later found out at the bar that the hotel used to be a brothel. 30-50 years ago, they used to raise cattle in the area that would be brought to the market in Colorado via the Colorado river basin. Palo Verde was one of their stops, and all the cowboys would go to the local bar. The women figured out they could make money off these men, so they would reserve rooms at the Lagoon Lodge and take care of all the cowboys. The women would try to get the cowboys to spend every last penny they had at either the bar or on the women themselves before they took off the next morning. I don't think the hotel has been renovated, painted or let alone cleaned since then. We decided not to look much at the room because we didn't want to know what was there, and I won't go into anymore detail.

Day 4

DAY 4

Today we rode to Brawlings, California. It was a pretty easy day to give us time to prepare for tomorrow. It was a pretty flat day, and we made it in by about noon. It was my day to cook with Gunnar, so we didn't get too much time to relax. We stayed at the local pool who was kind enough to let us use their facility. I did manage to get a few laps in before the cooking began.

We made a simple pasta dish with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil that went over well with everyone. We all got to bed early because we knew we would need to get an early start in the morning.

Day 3

The day began with about a 7 mile climb at a 6-9 percent grade. Nothing like seeing the US at 8mph! We stopped in the first town where there was a lady wandering outside the local store. We mentioned that one of our riders, Penny, was coming, and she started to talk about how she just found a lucky penny which she in turn gave to Penny. Then she asked about where we were going and asked where and later what we were sleeping on. We told her tents and camping pads, and she told us she would be softer than any of our mattresses. I kind of felt bad for her.

The rest of the day was some beautiful "rolling mountains"

and ended with a 7 mile decline. I have never hated going down hill as much as I did today. My trailer will fish-tail if I go faster than about 25mph, so my hands hurt by the end from braking so much. On top of that, my brakepads are getting too thin for comfort. Luckily it looks we pass a bike shop tomorrow.

 I wasn't sure how this place would be, and I found the fact that it was an "Adult RV-Park" somewhat interesting. It turned out to be a great place, and the owner was kind enough to drive us to the grocery store.

Day 2

We rode about 40 miles out of San Diego. It was rough getting out of the city, but managed to only get honked at once. Then we hit the first hill. Of course we managed to get lost the first day, but it didn't take too long to find the route. It was probably 'only' a couple of miles, I guess a little warmup for the hills to come later in the day. They felt like they never ended.

 Teaching the Aussie how to make a Smore.

 Camp

 Best part of the trip so far!

Day 1

Here goes nothing! The past couple days I have been asking myself why I ever thought this was a good idea. After meeting everyone and talking about the trip, I'm pretty sure I know why.

Today we did a little shakedown ride to make sure things are good to go, and we also went to the beach for the ritual 'wheel-dipping'. There were about 10 of us riding around San Diego with all of our fully loaded panniers or trailers, and I love it when people ask what we're doing. When we were at the beach, someone stopped us to ask where we are going. Our leader, Rick, simply said "Florida" and kept on walking down to the water.

 

 

After the trip to the beach we went to the Cabrillo National Park/Monument. The views were amazing, but I was still a little anxious/nervous riding with my trailer again that I didn't fully appreciate what the park was about (or maybe it was that I was still tired from climbing that extra hill when we went the wrong way?).

Apparently this is where Juan Rodriduez Cabrillo set foot on the west coast in 1542 as the first European to do so. I wonder what it would have looked like before there was a city there.

The rest of the day we all spent getting ready to take off. Tomorrow is a short day, about 40 miles, and my 9 weeks of living out a tent and an over sized duffel bag begins.