-Ahhhhh. I left a chocolate milk and an orange Gatorade in the fridge :( :(
-I passed another cyclist heading east today...they asked me how I made it up the mountains with that few gears...I tapped my legs and said "these are the only gears I need" and laughed
-It's crazy how used to biking I'm getting...I don't even stop to take pictures anymore
-You know it's a long boring road when you start to sing all of your thoughts
-Why do all weigh stations always seem closed?
-Every time I get used to a time zone...I enter a new one
Today started out well enough. We awoke to a nice day and headed 100 yards or so over to the cafe for a nice breakfast. I had a scrambled egg and some chocolate chip pancakes that were quite good. The waitress thought I was crazy though because I kept filling my Camelbak with the water from my glass so she had to refill it like 4 times before I got my food. After breakfast we packed up our gear and started to load the bikes. Before loading, I did my customary tire pressure check and...my front tire was half flat. That meant I had a slow leak which meant I had a tiny hole in the tube. Thanks to watching Ricky, I found the cause (a small piece of wire that stuck through the tire) and switched the tube all in about 10-12 minutes. Much faster than usual for me. We then set off around 9 or so and flew through the first 26 miles. We averaged 18.2mph due to it being slightly downhill and a little bit of a tailwind. The whole day consisted of great weather, although the wind did switch to a cross wind around mid-day. We had lunch in an RV park for people 55 & older and the prime rib sandwich was fantastic. After that, we did some riding on the interstate again. We stopped in a town called Quartzsite and had some ice cream and talked to interested locals who wandered past the gas station we were sitting in front of. A few bikers rode up and told us thr we were the real bikers...that was kind of cool. Anyway, we then continued on, still going at a pretty good pace due to only a cross wind and ever so slightly downhill. Plus it was nice to be riding in the sun again after a couple weeks of long sleeves and pants. We did some more riding on I-10 until the Colorado River, which is the borderline between Arizona and the final state of the trip, California! Apparently I fly when I ride on the interstate. Probably because I fin it invigorating but also because the sooner I get off, the safer I am. Each time, I finished well ahead of Paul and Nadine and those two rides are the main reasons why I averaged 15.0mph today...which is another thing I can now cross off my trip's bucket list!
We only rode about 6 miles past the border to Cali to a warmshowers in Blythe, CA that I had heard about from people headed east. I heard mainly good things but the consensus was that this place was a bit crazy...correct. We were greeted warmly by Liz and offered a beer immediately. We talked with the group of people that were just hanging out and then took showers. After we were cleaned up, we were given more beers and hung out with the local crowd by the fire they had going in the trash can. Then there was a Domino's pizza delivery, free to us, and more beer. All in all, I think I speak for all three of us when I say it was an awesome night and a great experience. I know I enjoyed every minute of it. These people open their doors to us and do their best to show us a great time, which they succeeded in doing. I had so much fun tonight and will remember it forever.
Tomorrow will be a tough and dangerous day. We plan to ride 90ish miles to Brawley, CA. The ride will take us through a desert made up almost entirely of massive sand dunes. Normally, that would be pretty cool, however the road we will be on is quite dangerous. It is incredibly hilly, although they are small hills...more like dips. When we go down into a dip though, we can't be seen by any cars that aren't in the same dip. Essentially, we will be invisible to cars coming over the hills at us...and there are no shoulders. So, we must be very careful tomorrow and hope for the best!
