Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Phase II Begins
Kathy and I said goodbye to Cheryl today. She's flying home from Phoenix. We spent nearly 60 miles just getting to the east end of Phoenix, then after lunch in Apache Junction the climbing began. Serious climbing.
After 5 hours of warming up, the climb to Superior--30miles, was kind of hard work. But it was a piece of cake compared to the next 11 miles. At the top we were too tired to really enjoy the 8 mile descent to Miami/Globe, site of a huge copper mine, and blessedly, some motels. 106 miles, around 6000 feet of climbing, seven and a half hours in the saddle.
Almost forgot to mention the worst part--a tunnel east of Superior so steep we had to ride it in our easiest gear--34x27-- while cars and trucks whizzed past with their gas pedals floored due to the climb. And the trucks coming the other way use their Jake brakes to help slow down. Amazingly loud, definitely scary. Maybe Cheryl knew exactly what she was doing missing that part.
We'll sleep well tonight.
Doug
Friday, March 19, 2010
Living Large
On 3/19/10 Doug wrote:
As the pictures show, the three of us made it to the south rim of the grand canyon. It was quite a ride, to say the least. Made it just in time for sunset, and the low-angle lighting really highlighted the strata in the walls. Really looking forward to the ride back to Phoenix tomorrow--over 5000 feet of descending, and we should get some tailwind too!
We've been getting comments from some of you now that Cheryl and Kathy, a/k/a the pulchritudinous pair, sorted out how to get the 'comment' part of the blog working. Zolton wonders how the bikes are working, and so far everything is perfect. Amazingly, no flats despite rolling over plenty of glass. Only one moderate-sized cut in one tire. No wheel or chain troubles either.
Do have to say that food and lodging are both more expensive than I expected, but c'est la vie!
Can hardly believe how big Phoenix is. Our base at Cheryl's friend's house is west of downtown -- the side we came in from, but it was still 12 - 15 miles from where civilization took over from desert. Looks like at least 20 more to make it out the other side.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
More "Rest"
on March 18, 2010, Doug wrote:
Another relatively easy day--60 miles--from Salome, AZ to Wickenburg, AZ, which is quite a little tourist town. On U.S 60 all day, a beautiful stretch of road. Great pavement running right through the middle of a valley with moderately-sized mountains on both sides of us. Lots of wildflowers and Seguaro cactuses (cacti?)
Ran into 3 other X-C riders today. First, a couple heading west from Phoenix to San Diego then up the coast to Washington, fully loaded, who seemed a bit daunted by what they'd bitten off. They said their bikes weighed 70 lbs loaded, and I'd be daunted by the thought of pedaling all that up the mountains they'll be getting to shortly too.
The other guy, Fred Hines, represents the complete opposite end of the spectrum. He's 30, very fit, says he's done some Ironman triathlons, and intends to do the entire crossing west to east in three weeks--that's 150 miles a day with no rest days!! We left Sunday and he left Tuesday and he already caught us!! Most amazing was how little stuff he has with him. We're the most lightly packed riders we'd seen up till now, but Fred had nearly nothing more than we'd want for an all day ride except pants and a shirt for the evenings. I doubt his extra stuff weighed 5 lbs! If he gets caught in the rain or the weather's cold in the mountains, he'll really suffer.
We're supposed to get our first--and badly overdue--taste of tailwind tomorrow, another "easy" day into Phownix, where we plan a day off.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Recovery Ride
Only 65 miles today. Three 1000 ft climbs, and the headwind settled down to 10 mph or so. Getting plenty of heat acclimation though. 85 today.
The roads were good, no complaints despite our route included 26 uphill miles on I-10, the freeway from LA to Phoenix!!
Stunning scenery, beyond words. Rain last week means wildflowers lining the freeway, but the mountains silhouetted against the sky at dusk...
Only tiny towns today. We crossed our first border, into Arizona, over the Colorado river and our holdup for the night about 60 miles into Arizona in a scrubby desert town, Salome, which is primarily run down shacks and mobile homes. More great Mexican food and extra time off the bike are welcome.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Talk about Luck
Forgot the best story of the day. About 40 miles past Glamis, a huge RV pulled up next to us, honked and handed Kathy the leg warmers she mistakenly left at Crazy Keven's trailer/store back at the TV trailhead. What luck! The sort of thing that restores faith in humanity. Doug
What's For Desert
On March 16, 2010, Doug wrote:
Kindly recall yesterday's blog where I wrote of seeing enough hay to feed every cow in the USA. Today we found where all that hay goes. A few miles east of Brawley we rode past a factory beef-fattening farm of humongous proportions. Cows were packed in right next to one another in an area that was at least a half mile by a mile!!! Cheryl says she's seen similar operations in Colorado or Nebraska but this was several times larger. Unbelieveable. So was driving past roadside markets selling BAGS of acovados for $3.00!
We knew we were facing 90 miles in the desert today and that it would be a hard day. To say our expectations were realized is a bit of an understatement! We got full doses of three out of the four 'H's of bicycling. Hills (mountains by Michigan standards), headwind, heat, but no humidity. Believe me, the other three were enough--especially the headwind. Not much to slow it down in the desert either. The heat was pretty oppressive too, though the locals said it was 'only' 85 degrees. 90 miles took over six and a half hours of time in the saddle.
Turned out we only had a 40 mile section without any stores. Good thing, too. I drank 75 ounces of water in the nearly three hours that section took, and I'm at nearly two gallons of liquid for the day counting a beer for dinner and coffee at breakfast. To get through the day, I ate a bowl of cereal, a yogurt, a bagel, a huge muffin, orange juice, V-8 juice, several fig newtons, a banana, a small bag of peanuts, a cheese samdwich, potato salad, two cokes, and several handfuls of Fritos--all before dinner.
Our route took us through Glamis--pop. 13--which apparently is the ORV/dirt motorcycle/dune buggy capital of the world. The guy at the concession there said that over a hundred thousand sand-crazed lunatics are there during the peak season--before Xmas--and over a million show up annually. Believe me, there's plenty of room for all of them. We saw enough sand today to make a hundred Sleeping Bears! We also saw a hole one mile deep and five miles around (used to be e gold mine) which the City of Los Angeles is setting up to hold garbage! Who knew the desert had so many uses??!!
We finally, and I do mean finally, got to Blythe about 4:15,. Our motel has a pool!! I dove right in, and how the heck the water could be in the high 60's with that sun beating down on it is certainly mysterious! But it felt great and so did the lounge chairs close by. Dinner was some excellent Mexican fare. I'll be sound asleep by 9:00 at the latest.
Monday, March 15, 2010
An Epic Ride
On Monday 3/17 Doug Wrote:
An amazing ride today. Started in the mountains east of San Diego in a very pretty town, Pine Valley, about 3000 feet up. The first 28 miles were pretty brutal--around 3500 feet of climbing in roughly 1000 vertical-foot sections--each one MUCH higher than any climb in Michigan. The Santa Anna winds decided to pay us a visit too, and they weren't very friendly. Cross- and headwinds gusting to a good 40 mph blew us across deserted roads. Combined with the steep climbs often reduced us to 5 mph. We were so close to the Mexican border we saw big sections of border fencing. Frankly, I'd think that, at least where we were, the forbidding terrain would be fence enough to keep anyone away.
Eventually we made it to the eastern side of the mountains and--due to a lack of any other option--proceeded to descend 3500 feet in 8 miles on the freeway--Interstate 8--into the Imperial Valley at Ocotillo, where the only place to eat was a poorly stocked convenience store. Luckily the wind was much lighter coming down out of the moutnains. 40 mph on a loaded touring bike in gusting crosswinds would be pretty scary! Instead we had a fun ride down, and the cars were generally very polite. Actually that was our second section of freeway, and we have one or two more comimg up! Big difference between the high desert in the mountains and the low desert--about 20 degrees difference. Would NOT want to be here in July. High tomorrow--85. High today--82. And the sun just beats down!
The Imperial Valley may grow a bazillion veggies a bit further north, but it's all desert here, and is even a bit below sea level. But blessedly--since our legs are trashed after two days of tough climbing--it's really flat. We did have to cope with some headwind for about 45 miles once we made it to the desert. For a long while we saw nothing but rocks, sand and sagebrush. Them we came across an enormous drywall factory, the only ediface in the aptly named Plaster City. Shortly thereafter we began to see signs of irrigation, and then hay bales, hay bales, and more hay bales. Honestly, I can't imagine all the cattle in the USA could possibly consume all the hay we saw this afternoon. Acres and acres of bales stacked 15 or 20 feet high. El Centro, CA must be the hay capital of the world.
We still had 20 miles to go after El Centro to Brawley, where we finished the day with about 90 miles and also where I sit in front of the computer in the lobby of the Brawley Inn--a genuine oasis in a none-too-attractive town.. Tomorrow we head to Blythe, CA, on the Arizona border. It will be one of the most deserted sections of the entire trip. We have to pack enough food and water for the entire 90 miles.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Let the Fun Begin
We dipped our wheels in the Pacific and began pedaling in earnest today. Beautiful day and a light tailwind only partly offset 6000 vertical feet of climbing and 42 lb.--loaded--bikes. We only did 55 of the 73 planned miles. Dont want to overdo the first day! Spending the night in Pine Valley, Ca. Great grub so far.
Doug
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wide Open Spaces
We made it to San Diego, and so did our bikes--no problems at all. Sure is nice to move around!! Train feels cramped after a while.
Had a 5 mile bike ride to our beachside motel, where we'll hang out for a day till we roll out Sunday morning. Saturday we check out the town.
Doug
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Lazy days
I'm not very good at the level of inactivity long distance train travel requires. A long, long day just reading and watching the countryside. 3snow squalls in the rockies made us nervous but its two weeks till we'll be back on bikes. Train stopped for an hour in Albuquerque so we went for a long walk. We get to LA tomorrow morning then switch trains for the final 3 hour ride to San Diego. We'll stay there a day and begin pedaling Sunday morning.
Doug
Getting High
We are at 6000 ft at Trinadad, Colo. Two inches of fresh snow seems a poor fit considering the name of the place.
No more dry plains.
It's odd that we are so sedentary on the train since soon we'll be on the bike 6 hours or more a day.
The train is fun but both the tracks and the condition of our sleeper car highlight need for infrastructure repair.
Doug
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Ridin' the Rails
As the pictures show, we made it to Union Station and I'm enjoying the company of my two lovely companions. Bikes are boxed and hopefully aboard. Weather was so nice in Michigan today maybe we should have started the ride from home. Good food and beer and ice cream for desert. Already in Iowa.
Doug
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Our Cross Country Route
We'll be following Adventure Cycling's Souther Tier route across California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Texas, Texas, Texas, Texas...Mississippi, Alabama, Florida. Okay, just once across Texas, it just seems like it's more than one state. The maps we'll be using are designed for cyclists with information on climate, terrain, riding conditions, services available in towns we'll ride through all printed on water proof (and sweat proof!) paper.
Here's a link to the Adventure Cycling web site where you can see in greater detail the route we'll be following. Just click on 'detail' to the right of each section.
We're riding self-supported and packing light, carrying about 15 pounds in panniers on each of our single touring bikes and staying in motels along the way. Our good friend, Cheryl Olson, will join us for the San Diego to Phoenix stint, then we'll be on our own. We hope to hook up with high school friend Dave Fisher who is riding solo with about a week's head start on our very route!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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