A short post for now, just to let you know what's what. We rode out of Brawley on Tuesday and covered around 69 miles to Palo Verde. There is pretty much just open country between those two spots, with a couple of places where you can rent sand buggies and a border patrol checkpoint thrown in for good measure.
The scenery was amazing. We left the agricultural Imperial Valley and entered the desert again. Then we entered the Imperial Sand Dunes. Impressive. From there, it was back into the desert with a lot of "rollers" - up and down, up and down, on winding roads. Things finally (mostly) flattened out about 20 miles out from Palo Verde.
The weather was cool - started overcast and got sunny as the day wore on. At about mile 30 (I think), we hit memorable headwinds that just kept going and going. Rollers are no fun with headwinds & panniers, just for the record. It was a long, tough day but we made it!
Made new friends as well - - Lee and Jeff from Michigan who are also traveling on the Southern Tier route, as well as the folks at Wandering Wheels - a supported cross-country trip with an itinerary that is similar to ours for a couple of days. They are welcoming and have already fed us one meal, and another coming soon!
We ate breakfast with Wandering Wheels before departing for Blythe, and the group's leader, Bob, invited us to speak to the group about our ride and the cause for which we are riding. Several people showed interest in getting more information about what we are doing - - thank you, Bob, for that opportunity to spread our message of awareness and hope!
Today's ride was a short 25 miles (flat, with a mild breeze in our faces - - not a big headwind) from Palo Verde to Blythe. The scenery was mostly agricultural with mountains on the horizons in most directions. We're resting, relaxing, and generally trying to catch up.
As always, Garmin data here:
Day 4 Brawley to Palo Verde
Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Day 4 Brawley to Palo Verde
Day 5 Palo Verde to Blythe
Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Day 5 Palo Verde to Blythe
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Good job riding Jay..........you are so awesome.That sounds like the same route we went back in 2002 I directed 37 cyclists from Disneyland to Disneyworld.......Wait tell you get to TX what a long, long state......be safe my friend and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteTodd and Jay...way to go! Having fun tracking you on the map and reading the blog. Looked at the satelite pics...think we saw you in the parking lot of the fire house ;) or were those ants?
ReplyDeleteWay to go guys... teamwork. For that stubborn cold think zinc, zinc lozenges are sold at health food stores My thoughts are with you, ride strong.
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