California Dreamin'

Wednesday, March 22

The place I stayed last night, the Westward Motel, was quite interesting and eclectic.  I wish I had arrived earlier in the day so that I could have appreciated and enjoyed it a bit more.

Each of its four rooms was uniquely decorated in a "homey" style, and there was a communal kitchen available for guests.  All in all, it felt more like you were staying in someone's house as opposed to just sleeping in a roadside motel.

I ran into quite a few riders heading east, all identified by their shiny new gear--and trauma from having started in San Diego and immediately making a 4000-foot climb.  Since I just completed the Emory Pass in New Mexico, I'm not that excited about the upcoming climb before San Diego either...

I made good time the first hour, but then the winds picked up and my progress slowed down.  I also had to get back on Interstate 10, which was not quite as agreeable as riding on Interstate 10 near El Paso since the traffic was much heavier here.  While most semis will move over when possible, sometimes that wasn't an option.  The shoulder was wide enough where I didn't feel the traffic was too close, but it was not a very relaxing experience on the whole.

Then about 10 miles out, I got yet another flat (#9?).  This one (in the rear) was caused by a roofing nail.  So far: Nails 2, Me 0.

I did make it into California!  After today, I have about 220 miles to go!  I should be able to make it into San Diego by Sunday without any issues.  Knock on wood.

Day: 35
Time: 8 hours
Distance: 62 miles (Salome, AZ-Blythe, CA)

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Thursday, March 23

I started the morning by looking for a place that provided sandwiches as it didn't look like there were many service options on the ride today.  It took a few tries, but the third time was the charm.  The terrain at the start (and at the end) was typical farm country.  If not for the mountains in the background, I could have been in any flat midwestern state.

The wind soon made its presence known, and I battled it the entire day with the wind out of the west at 10 mph with gusts up to 15 mph.  This was the longest and hardest day as far as cycling into the wind goes.  Even though I've complained about up-and-down terrain and uphill climbs, I've decided that I much prefer cycling hills rather than cycling against the wind.  A hill or even a mountain is a finite challenge that can be overcome, but wind is something that you never know when it will be over.  There were portions of the day when I could only manage 6-7 mph.  It had me fearing that I wouldn't make it to my destination until 8pm!  As I mentioned already, there were not many options for making it a shorter day with very limited services ahead.

I was surprised when I was taking a break to see a rider heading west.  It turns out this guy was a serial cross-country rider and was on his fourth trip across the U.S.!  He wasn't following the Southern Tier but just happened to be on it today.  I think he found riding easier than finding a job...

In the afternoon I went through the Algodones Dunes.  It was a pretty amazing sight, with huge, golden, sand dunes as far as the eye could see.  If not for the dune buggies, one could imagine being in the Sahara Desert.

After leaving the dunes area, I noticed these big yellow caterpillars crossing the road.  I hope that they are not part of an endangered species, given how many yellow blotches I saw on the road...

I finally made it into Brawley a little after 6pm.  Whew!  I hope things are not as windy tomorrow for my climb to get over the mountains near San Diego.

Day: 36
Time: 11.5 hours
Distance: 89 miles (Blythe-Brawley, CA)

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Friday, March 24

I had a tough day of climbing ahead, so I made an early start and got on the road by 6:15am and was treated to a nice sunrise over the farm fields.

I stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box to use their restroom around 8am.  As I entered, two older gentlemen said to me, "That's dangerous."  At first I thought they were talking about bicycle riding, but it turned out they were warning me about where I put my bike and that it might be stolen.  Apparently this happened to an Australian woman a few years ago.  During the middle portion of the ride, I might have been happy to have the bike stolen.  :-)  However, I was too close to finishing to let it happen now!  So I took their advice and moved the bike off the street and closer to the restaurant and locked the bike.

For the first 40 miles I had a fairly flat ride, and luckily the wind was quite gentle compared to yesterday.  I did get another flat (#10?) about 25 miles in.  I couldn't find anything protruding on the inside of the tire, but I did pull a couple of radial wires out again.  My best guess is that some debris got into the tire the last time I fixed a flat and eventually caused a hole to develop.  (Crossing every finger and toe I have that I'm good for tomorrow...)  A guy stopped and asked me if I needed help.  I was ok, but it was nice that he made the effort to stop.  Between him and the two gentlemen earlier, it was reassuring to get such displays of the goodness of humanity.

The last twenty miles of the flat section was on an atrocious road.  They make drywall in this town called--wait for it--Plaster City.  You would think the corporation would want better roads, but maybe they want the roads to be bad so that no one uses the roads?  Luckily, there was hardly any traffic, so I tried to ride on the center line as much as possible.

I finally finished the flat section around 11:30am, and I found an abandoned gas station with an awning where I was able to sit in the shade, rest against the wall, and eat my lunch.  I made a bad decision to deviate from the route when I mistakenly believed that the frontage road where I was having lunch would connect to where I needed to get on the highway.  It wasn't until the road ended that I realized I might not be able to join up.  Fortunately, there were trails here and there and then, most importantly, the fence between me and the highway had been cut at one point so that I was able to get on the highway without backtracking.  Whew!

The highway is where the climb started.  You know it will be bad when they have signs advising, "Avoid Overheating.  Turn off A/C Next 10 miles."  They also provided water bins for radiators every half mile or so.  I took advantage of the radiator water to soak my bandanas and cool off.  It was a pretty brutal climb of 3000 ft in 10 miles.  I think this was the most I sweated on the trip even though it wasn't a particularly hot day.

I was quite happy when I got off the highway and coasted almost 4 miles downhill to my destination in Jacumba.  I'm staying at the Jacumba Hot Spring and Spa, a great little spa with natural hot springs.  I took advantage of the hot tub and pool to relieve some of the aches from the last two days.

Tomorrow I have another tough 80-mile day with 3000 ft of climbing.  I'm really hoping to finish the ride and make it to San Diego tomorrow!  I can't believe I'm almost done, but I will not count my chickens before they hatch...

Day: 37
Time: 9 hours
Distance: 58 miles (Brawley-Jacumba Hot Springs, CA)