Thursday, May 15, 2008

Wed. May 14, 115 miles from Blythe, CA to Wickenburg, AZ

We crossed our first state line this AM, sprinkled sand for favorable winds and took photos at the welcome to Arizona sign... my photo is on Mary Ann's camera since my phone was still acting posessed. I'll post it when I can get it from her.

We were on I-10 for the first 36 miles, including one 7 mile long climb. There are not very many places to stop while riding in the desert, especially after we got off I-10 on to route 60 east. We were on that road for almost 80 miles! No traffic lights, no stores. We saw lots of scrubby trees and bushes, a cactus here and there, some dead snakes (black and white diamond pattern)... you see a lot on a long boring ride, but not a lot to relate. I can't imagine who would want to live here. There were some homes out there, some very nice, some not so nice. Lots of RV parks! Mostly empty--I heard that in the winter they are full. One offered adult hookups for $9.50... what are they talking about!!???

Lunch was provided by CrossRoads, good old PBJ in a sag wagon on the side of the road. Total climbing elevation almost 4,000 miles. But it was all forgotten on a really nice downhill coast into Wickenburg. We were told to expect a 4 mile downhill at the end of the day, but it was more like 8 miles! Yes! 115 miles is the longest I have ever ridden in one day ever, not even mentioning the fact that it was in the desert.

Update to Tuesday: 2 more people had to go to the hospital at the end of the day's ride due to dehydration. They are back on the tour now. Cycling is not for sissies!

1 comment:

historicstitcher said...

Try turning the phone completely off every single day. They often act up when you're switching networks all the time. It may not have liked the heat, either. You might have to pull the battery every day (just once) to get a full reset while it's jostling around on the bike all day in the desert!

You're awesome!