Day two, what a day!
We started in Julian this morning at about 9:30. A little later than we hoped, but we decided to sleep a little longer after yesterday's climb.
There will be many things I come to loathe during this adventure. Number one on my list: Mr. Tom Tom. Mr. Tom Tom is our GPS that chooses to lead us in the wrong direction and towards off road bike/hike trails. Stupid Tom Tom, don't you know we have road bikes with trailers?
Needless to say, Tom Tom, I didn't appreciate the 12 mile detour in the wrong direction this morning. Tomorrow, you will be in time out, and we will stick to old school paper maps.
So...after backtracking to Julian after already taking on some mad climbs, we hit the correct route down Highway 78. You should Google this road, because according to the lady at the gas station, it's in the World Guiness Book of Records for the longest, curviest, and quickest altitude gain/loss in the nation! I'm not sure how many feet we dropped, but those 7 miles were FUN!
At the end of the descent was something we knew was going to slap us in the face. The desert. It was stupid hot. 103 degrees before including humidity. The air was stagnant. There were rolling hills. The sun continued to beat down on us for several hours with no reprieve. We briefly stopped under a canopy shielding post office boxes, and there we were offered some much needed water by the local park ranger. I don't think I would want to be a desert park ranger.
We Continued on highway 78 for 50 miles? I'll have to go back and check how long we actually were on it. Alas, we made it to highway 86, and decided to head over to the border patrol checkpoint. We could chat with the guys. Maybe the officers could tell us jokes or something. When we rolled up, the officers came out of their booth and started bombarding us with questions. Luckily, Jacques had his green card, and they didn't send him to Mexico. (by the way: Jacques is a native South African). I didn't think we were in Arizona yet. The officers let us hang out in their "holding area for lockup" for about 15 minutes before they told us to be on our way.
Back to the heat. The funny thing about the border control officers was that they all said different mileage to the next town. We heard anything from 8 to 12 miles, but in actuality it was 16! Their names mine has well been Tom and Tom.
As we were dragging along, we would check as we passed over bridges for any sign of water. We lucked out and found one, decided to take a little dip, and then kept heading towards Westmooreland.
About two miles before Westmooreland, I heard one of those ear wrenching "pops." However, this time it wasn't my tire, it was a broken spoke. Fortunately, JD from Bicycle Dr. had equipped me with replacement spokes. Unfortunately, the spoke that broke required me to take off my rear cassette. Moreover, I don't have a special Shimano cassette remover in my pocket. Shoot dawg. After bending the spoke so it wouldn't get hung up, we made our way to the oasis that is 7-11. (Or some gas station). We drank two big gulp gatorades, waited for the sun to leave its fiery place in the sky, and Jacques worked on getting my rear wheel in a working state. He's pretty handy, and made the rear wheel work.
We left Westmooreland at around 7:30pm for our final 20 mile leg to El Centro. By now, it was dark, but the sun's rays were messing up some other bicylist's ride in another part of the country. We made good time on the last 20 miles, front and rear lights blinking, and finally made it to El Centro.
After 98 miles of riding, we decided to spring for a shady hotel room. We tell ourselves we HAD to because we didn't have time to find a camping spot. If we are true to our inner selves, it's because we are sissies. Or...we rode almost 100 miles in 103 degree heat. As I type this, I realize I sound more and more stupid.
On the positive side, we spent zero dollars on gas today and we have racoon style sun burns on our faces.
Tomorrow, we have to find a bike shop, and somehow meander over to Yuma, AZ. In 106 degree heat. I would say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not allowed to lie any more.
---sorry for the long post!
We started in Julian this morning at about 9:30. A little later than we hoped, but we decided to sleep a little longer after yesterday's climb.
There will be many things I come to loathe during this adventure. Number one on my list: Mr. Tom Tom. Mr. Tom Tom is our GPS that chooses to lead us in the wrong direction and towards off road bike/hike trails. Stupid Tom Tom, don't you know we have road bikes with trailers?
Needless to say, Tom Tom, I didn't appreciate the 12 mile detour in the wrong direction this morning. Tomorrow, you will be in time out, and we will stick to old school paper maps.So...after backtracking to Julian after already taking on some mad climbs, we hit the correct route down Highway 78. You should Google this road, because according to the lady at the gas station, it's in the World Guiness Book of Records for the longest, curviest, and quickest altitude gain/loss in the nation! I'm not sure how many feet we dropped, but those 7 miles were FUN!
At the end of the descent was something we knew was going to slap us in the face. The desert. It was stupid hot. 103 degrees before including humidity. The air was stagnant. There were rolling hills. The sun continued to beat down on us for several hours with no reprieve. We briefly stopped under a canopy shielding post office boxes, and there we were offered some much needed water by the local park ranger. I don't think I would want to be a desert park ranger.
We Continued on highway 78 for 50 miles? I'll have to go back and check how long we actually were on it. Alas, we made it to highway 86, and decided to head over to the border patrol checkpoint. We could chat with the guys. Maybe the officers could tell us jokes or something. When we rolled up, the officers came out of their booth and started bombarding us with questions. Luckily, Jacques had his green card, and they didn't send him to Mexico. (by the way: Jacques is a native South African). I didn't think we were in Arizona yet. The officers let us hang out in their "holding area for lockup" for about 15 minutes before they told us to be on our way.
Back to the heat. The funny thing about the border control officers was that they all said different mileage to the next town. We heard anything from 8 to 12 miles, but in actuality it was 16! Their names mine has well been Tom and Tom.
As we were dragging along, we would check as we passed over bridges for any sign of water. We lucked out and found one, decided to take a little dip, and then kept heading towards Westmooreland.
About two miles before Westmooreland, I heard one of those ear wrenching "pops." However, this time it wasn't my tire, it was a broken spoke. Fortunately, JD from Bicycle Dr. had equipped me with replacement spokes. Unfortunately, the spoke that broke required me to take off my rear cassette. Moreover, I don't have a special Shimano cassette remover in my pocket. Shoot dawg. After bending the spoke so it wouldn't get hung up, we made our way to the oasis that is 7-11. (Or some gas station). We drank two big gulp gatorades, waited for the sun to leave its fiery place in the sky, and Jacques worked on getting my rear wheel in a working state. He's pretty handy, and made the rear wheel work.
We left Westmooreland at around 7:30pm for our final 20 mile leg to El Centro. By now, it was dark, but the sun's rays were messing up some other bicylist's ride in another part of the country. We made good time on the last 20 miles, front and rear lights blinking, and finally made it to El Centro.
After 98 miles of riding, we decided to spring for a shady hotel room. We tell ourselves we HAD to because we didn't have time to find a camping spot. If we are true to our inner selves, it's because we are sissies. Or...we rode almost 100 miles in 103 degree heat. As I type this, I realize I sound more and more stupid.
On the positive side, we spent zero dollars on gas today and we have racoon style sun burns on our faces.
Tomorrow, we have to find a bike shop, and somehow meander over to Yuma, AZ. In 106 degree heat. I would say I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not allowed to lie any more.
---sorry for the long post!
2 comments:
Way to go Brad and Jacques! Brad, how much would you rather be doing this than sitting in the GU library studying for finals?! Wishing you the best! Laura
I can't believe you rode 98 miles in all that heat! Incredible Brad! If you can do that, you can certainly do anything!
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