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All posts for the month March, 2012

Tremendous Tailwinds from Blythe, CA to Salome, AZ

Posted by Brian on March 6, 2012
Posted in: Brian.

We started out in Blythe, CA at around 7:00 am, fully expecting another day of headwinds and climbing.  The climbing part was accurate – we climbed more that 1500 feet.  But fortunately the headwinds part was not – we finally had a strong and beneficial tailwind.  What a difference that makes!

We crossed into Arizona fairly early and went onto I-10 heading east shortly after getting into Arizona.  Here are some of the pictures we took early this morning.

Crossing the Colorado River around 7:30 am

Tim and Mark on CA side of Coloroda River

After about 5 miles on I-10 East, we took our first break of the day, a rest stop right on I-10 East.

Mark at rest stop on I-10 just indide AZ

Brian at rest stop on I-10 just inside AZ

Tim in front of Verde tree at rest stop on I-10 just inside AZ

We stayed on I-10 East for another 25 miles or so, but while on I-10 East we made our way into the Sonora Desert and came across our first Sagaura,  the giant cactus that have arms coming out from the sides.  Here are some pictures of then, from when we first came saw them and stopped to take some photos:

Mark at our first saguara in Sonora Desert on I-10 - they're on the hill off in the distance

Tim in front of saguras in Sonora Desert on I-10 - here also the sagauras are on the hill in the background

Our next stop was in Quartsite, AZ, where we stopped at a Subway and purchased an early lunch.  While there we came across Tim and Katherine Tolford, from Portand, ME.  We first saw them in San Diego and they are also taking the Southern Tier bike route, making their way to Houston, TX and taking about 3.5 weeks to do that ride.

Tim and Katherine Tolford at Subway in Quartsite, AZ

After Quartzsite, AZ we stayed on I-10 East for another 10 miles or so, exiting onto U.S. 60 East, a pre-interstate federal highway.  The road surface was good and we continued to make good progress.  Along U.S. 60 and also in Quartzsite, AZ, we noticed big Recreational Vehicle camps with lots of American and Canadian flags around the camps.  We determined that these were for “snow birds” from the U.S. and Canada, spending the winter months in the moderate-to-warm weather of Arizona.  They looked nice, but I’m not sure I’d be interested in that.

RV resort along US 60 in AZ

Tim in front of RV resort in AZ

We stayed on U.S. 60 East the rest of the ride to Salome, AZ.  After the RV camp, we had another 25 miles or so, but the wind was at our backs and the ride was relatively easy.  We took one more rest stop just short of Hope, AZ and took some more photos there:

Tim eating an orange at rest stop on US 60 near Hope AZ

Mark and Tim at rest stop on US 60 near Hope AZ

Mark calling Randy Walters, proprietor of Westward Motel, Samome AZ

Central Arizona Canal Project near Hope, AZ

Then after passing through Hope, AZ, we came across a sign confirming that, indeed, we had passed through Hope, AZ.  The funny thing is that none of us (Mark, Tim or me) realized the lack of a proof reader for the sign until we started looking at pictures as we were preparing dinner.

Your Now Beyond Hope sign - where is an editor when you need her/him?

Saguara next to "Your Now Beyond Hope" sign

Salome, AZ was only another 6 miles or so “beyond Hope,” and although it involved one more climb, we were close enough and the wind was still at our backs, that it was relatively effortless.  After getting into Salome, we found the Westward Motel, a really nice and eclectic motel where we had a reservation.  This place is a true gem!

Westward Motel sign in Salome AZ

Agave and other Sonoroa desert plants at Westward Motel

Giant Saguara at Westward Motel in Salome AZ

Most of the days on this ride, Beth has reached our destination ahead of us and has visited a grocery store and purchased cold brewski’s and snacks, and has had them waiting for us on our arrival.  How lucky have we been to have had her on this trip?  I will treasure this experience of having her along with us forever! Fortunately, today we managed to get to our destination first and we were able to return the favor!

Tim and Mark relaxing at Westward Motel in Salome AZ

Beth relaxing at Westward Motel in Salome AZ

Tomorrow is supposed to be another day with westerly winds, just like today.  You’ll have to take my word that these flags are blowing toward the west.

Flags showing westerly direction (finally!) of winds in Salome AZ

The bottom flag is the state flag of Arizona.  With any luck, and hoping that the Weather Channel is correct, our ride tomorrow to Wickenburg, AZ will be as manageable  as today’s ride!

 

Blythe, CA to Salome, AZ: Life on the Highway

Posted by Mark on March 6, 2012
Posted in: Mark.

Lots of random things are running through my head today, such as “Americans throw a lot of stuff away.” When riding a bicycle on an Interstate, you see things from a different perspective. Today we rode on I-10 from the border of California for 31 miles into Arizona (on The Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway). On both sides of the road, there are beautiful wildflowers in bloom this time of year and when you look ahead, there are yellows and pinks and tiny blue flowers in blossom. But when you turn and look to your right side, and focus just a few feet in front, there is an incredible array of trash. Rubber pieces, metal parts, nuts, bolts, screws, T-shirts, shoes, Astro-turf, car floor mats, and all manner of fast food wrappers and containers. Its everywhere. As nice as it is to ride a nice straight, smooth, gently graded path, after a while, the noise of the trucks and trash gets to you. I was glad to exit and get on Highway 60.

Another random musing: What would it have been like for my grandmother in 1936 when she traveled coast to coast by car before the Interstate system? Was she seeing things in a similar way as we are by bike? She wasn’t going 75 mph and cars weren’t air conditioned. And there were no rest stops so she was stopping in small, out-of-the-way towns like we are, meeting and talking to strangers. We talk to strangers all the time. People who would never even notice us except for the fact that we are on bikes. (It almost makes people ask, “Wow, where are you going and where did you come from?” One gentleman at a rest stop on I-10 we met looked so envious as we described our journey, I felt bad for him, especially when his wife yelled at him to come and open the car door.) I think my grandmother might have had similar experiences.

Anyway, today’s ride was so nice: we had tailwinds. Big tailwinds, 30 mph tailwinds. Finally! At one point I was going 22 mph and there was absolutely no sound or wind on my face. I was going exactly the same speed as the air around me and it was marvelous. Indescribable. Nothing hurt and life is good.

We are staying in the most fantastic motel. The Westward Motel has 4 rooms and we got ’em all. We sat outside and had another beer, cheese and cracker picnic. Then we made a big salad and pasta dinner in the kitchen and had a great state border crossing party. Two bottles of wine and 3 six packs are gone.

Here are today’s pictures.

First border crossing

The bridge over The Colorado into Arizona

The river is beautiful

Tim working on his gears at a rest stop. He didn't fix a thing but looked busy and knowledgable, didn't he!

Brian is in love with cacti plants.

This one and the next one are typical of what we saw today.

Downtown Quartzsite

Snowbird RV Resorts are everywhere around here

Damn you, autocorrect!

This is big sky country!

Best dinner yet.

Day 5: Feeling Blythe

Posted by Beth on March 6, 2012
Posted in: SAG Lady.

Well, the boys from Blythe Avenue made it safely to Blythe, CA, as did the girl from Prospect Heights. When I checked in at (the brand new, utterly lovely, why don’t we just stay here the rest of the trip) Comfort Suites, the guy behind the desk (who’s around my age) looked at my ID and said, “Brooklyn? Seriously?” Favorite line of the trip so far. He then went on to say he could never live in Brooklyn because there were too many people, by which of course he meant hipsters. Hey, don’t hate me just because I eat artisanal everything.

But let’s go back in time to yesterday morning. The guys left me cowering alone in the room, as you remember.

The requisite pre-ride shot

From the door of our terrible motel — now whenever I turn off a light I tell myself that I’m doing it for the children

I couldn’t hold out till the 11 check-out time. At 10:45 I packed up and drove off, telling myself I’d go slowly to give the riders some extra time.  Since there was no place for them to stop and refuel along the way, I was going to drive until I saw them on the road and then pull over and let them unload their jackets and refill their water bottles.

This was one of the best drives I’ve ever taken, and it was an honor to share it with Great White. The roads were nearly empty except for an occasional other vehicle.

It was impossible not to think of Steven Spielberg’s DUEL a few times

Also, the landscape was incredibly diverse, shifting from flat green farmland to desert to short, roller-coastery hills to mountains to farmland again. The transition from irrigated land to desert was especially stunning, in part because it was so abrupt. There I was, bopping along to Mexican radio, trying not to think about Duel, when all of a sudden everything looked like this:

I stopped at a conveniently placed overlook to take it all in. The world was silent, no one else was around, and I had a few moments to experience a wonderful, incredibly powerful sense of tranquility and solitude. Great White looked at me and said, “This is a gift,” and I said, “I know.”

A photo can’t convey how awesome this is

I may look a little squinty and pained, but inside my heart is glowing

Soon after my respite, I came upon a very friendly group of border patrol agents. I asked them if they’d seen three old guys on bikes (kidding, I didn’t say old! or did I?) and they said they had. I found out later that Tim had instructed them to give me a hard time, but they totally didn’t.

I caught sight of the old bikers at a little pull-off on the side of a hill and somehow managed to stop without causing the car on my tail to hit me.

Reapplying sunscreen — don’t worry, Chris, Dad learned his lesson

You can’t see it, but the sign says “28TH AVE” — it seemed like it might be a joke, as it was the first intersection I’d encountered for miles

I got to Blythe around 1:30, then went to a grocery store for more beer, snacks, water, and Gatorade. The guys got in around 4 and we snacked it up, napped for a bit, then went out to dinner at the Courtsey Coffee Shop, the likes of which I wish still existed in every town, everywhere:

The sort of restaurant decor I usually only dream about encountering

The light fixture in close-up (thank you for indulging me)

I might be going back here for lunch today, in fact. Or just to sit. Apparently there’s a whole other section.

I unfortunately went 0 for 3 in salsa, bringing my average down to a still-respectable .462. I’m not sweating it; everything else about the day more than made up for my salsa slackitude.

The hell with homework!

Posted by Brian on March 5, 2012
Posted in: Brian.

Usually after the end of a day’s ride, I pull out my math books and try to do some of the homework problems for the new course I an teaching this semester at Villanova University.  But tonight I just decided that it was past due for me to blog about our bide ride.  So here is my blog.  My wife Nancy keeps telling me it will be funny, but I’m not so sure.  Maybe to her, it will be.

Mark on 1st break - 5 Mar 2012

Today (5 Mar 2012) we rode ~91 miles from Brawley to Blythe, CA.  We left shortly after 7 am and started heading East along CA 78.  We saw lots of neat scenery (as you’ll see in some of my pictures) and also talked to several interesting people along the way, including Jack Watson from Colorado, and three border patrol agents at a check point along CA 78 between Glanus and Palo Verde, CA.

The ride to Blythe took us about 9 hours.  We climbed about 1000 feet today and really only had the wind in our face when we were climbing hills.  The temperature started out at about 50 degrees in Brawley and before we got to Glanus it was warm enough that we all shed our bright yellow-green  or orange (in Mark’s case) jackets.  It was 87 degrees by the time we made it to Blythe around 4pm.  We did 40 miles to a short distance beyond the Border Patrol check point and by that time I had consumed both my water bottles and eaten all my snacks, when Beth showed up in our trusty sag wagon vehicle with lots of more fluids and food!  Today she literally saved our lives – there’s just not much civilization between Brawley and Blythe.  In all I drank 5 water bottles today and all of us were completely out of fluids by the time we made it to Blythe.

Here are some of the pictures I took today along the ride.

Mark with desert and mountains along CA 78 - 5 Mar 2012

Irrigation canal outside Brawley - 5 Mar 2012

Agriculture is definitely “king” in Imperial County, CA.  There are lots and lots of farms growing greens of all sorts.  And lots and lots of trucks, too!  But there were all extremely courteous, going all the way over to the other side of the road before passing us.

Imperial County Irrigation ditch - 5 Mar 2012

Mark and Tim along CA 78 near Imperial County Dunes - 5 Mar 2012

Desert dunes in Imperial County along CA 78 - 5 Mar 2012

Desert and Mountains in background along CA 78 - 5 Mar 2012

Chocolate Mountains in Imperial County along CA 78 - 5 Mar 2012

Tim after taking care of business with Chocolate Mountains in the background - 5 Mar 2012

Tomorrow we ride close to 70 miles and climb another 1500 feet or so, so it will be another challenging day, one that I expect will take us nearly 7 hours, with all of the breaks we take and given that whenever we climb, there’s bound to be a strong wind in our face.

Brawley to Blythe–Crossing the Dessert

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2012
Posted in: Tim.

The worst night’s sleep of the trip.  Woken up by people above us in the Travelodge Motel at 11 pm and again at 4 am.   On the way out of town at 7 am passed by a brand new Best Western.  Wished we had stayed there.

It started off cold but we knew it would warm up as the day progressed.  Fortunately it was overcast so it never got as hot as forecast.  This was expected to be a hard day crossing the dessert with no services available for at least 70 plus miles.  I had three water bottles and we refilled at mile 50 when Beth came along to restock us.  All three of us were totally out again when we pulled into Blythe.  I don’ t how people do it when they don’t have any support network.

Some interesting people along the way.  Met a fellow named Jack Watson who was pulling  a little cart with his gear.  He is retired and planning to ride all the way to St. Augustine camping all the way.  He camped in the dessert last night and plans to camp every night if he can.  Mark said he would like to try it sometime but Brian has absolutely nointerest.  I might be persuaded to try it for a two or three day stint.  We’ll see.

The second interesting person were the three border patrol officers when we had to go thru a checkpoint.  They were probablybored and there wasn’t any traffic.  They were very friendly once we engaged them in conversation.  We stayed and talked to them for probably 10 minutes and we asked them to be on the lookout for Beth (Hawaii license plates) and be sure to give her a hard time, in jest, of course.

Best of all was the scenery, especially thru the dessert.  We switched it up a little and took short stops (5 min or so) every 10 miles or so.  The stops in the dessert were so quiet.  There were no man made  sounds unless a car passed us and no animal sounds.  Lots of sand dunes along the route for 15 miles and then minimal vegetation until we got to Riverside Co. where irrigation started again.  A long butsatisfying day pedaling over 90 miles.  Tomorrow is a shorter day but has moreclimbs than today.  Feeling more confident as each day passes.

Brawley to Blythe: Through the desert, Arizona’s calling

Posted by Mark on March 5, 2012
Posted in: Mark.

89 miles (143 km) – Total so far: 232 miles (373 km)

I have to be honest, Beth was right. Last night’s motel was lousy. The ACA maps don’t list the brand new Best Western in Brawley, but if you are riding The Southern Tier and need a place to stay, go there. You’ve been warned.

We knew that today’s ride would be a long one and we left Brawley at 7:05 a.m. It was cold for the first hour but we warmed up quickly. From Brawley to Blythe, the road is flat, through farmland on both sides of Rt. 78 for the first 20 miles or so. Then the road goes through the dunes and up and over the Chocolate Mountains. The last 30 miles are flat again with agriculture on both side of the road. It was amazing how similar the scenery was on both ends of the ride; flat green fields with mountains on all horizons. The big difference was the road surface. When you leave Imperial County and enter Riverside County, the road becomes beautiful new asphalt. The road for the most part today was fine. For long stretches, the main highway had a chip seal surface, but there was about a two-foot strip at the side of the shoulder of older, smoother asphalt that we rode on. At times when the shoulder was absent, we rode on the white highway line to try for a less bumpy ride.

We stopped every 10 to 15 miles for short breaks; it seemed to help our stamina. We did not have a sit-down lunch today, there literally was nothing open until we reached Blythe. Glamis was closed. Palo Verde was closed. Ripely, believe it or not, was closed!

Beth stayed in Brawley until check out and then drove until she spotted us. She refilled our water/Gatorade bottles and provided Cliff bars, bananas and such. The temp today reached 84 and for most of the ride, the wind wasn’t a factor. We did have a bit of wind climbing the Chocolate Mountains, but not too bad.

We reached Blythe around 3:30 p.m. and went to the address for the Comfort Suite Inn listed on the ACA maps only to find out that the motel is now in a new location. What’s a day without a little detour? I should have verified the address on Google.

Tomorrow we cross the Colorado and enter Arizona.

Brian had to stop and tie his shoe and really upset these barnyard dogs

This is the end of the irrigation canal. The desert began immediately.

The start of the Dunes. Thank goodness it wasn't on the weekend or traffic would have been heavy. We only heard a few dune buggies. Didn't see any.

The beginning of the climb out of the Yuma Desert.

It got hot fast. Every layer came off at once.

My mother would have loved these "Chocolate Mountains."

I had to get in at least one photo!

Beth saved our lives. What a great Soccer mom!

We met Jack Watson along the way. He's camping out and going to Florida. He left on March 1.

What a good looking guy.

Day 4: Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy

Posted by Beth on March 5, 2012
Posted in: SAG Lady.

I’m gonna level with you guys: our latest motel creeps me out. Yesterday was fun, everybody got to take it easy, but now the dudes are gone and I’m here alone, hoping not to get murdered.

View from the room — somehow it doesn't look as desolate and threatening in a picture as it does in person

I know it doesn't seem all that bad, but trust me

Here’s a little play I wrote while showering this morning:

GUY WITH KNIFE enters bathroom.

BETH (to self): Crap.

GUY WITH KNIFE pulls back curtain, knife poised.

BETH: Oh my god, really?

GUY WITH KNIFE: Really.

PSYCHO theme plays as slaying occurs.

[end]

But anyway, like I said, yesterday we were all alive, and it was a good time.

Just before their light 15-miler

A drive-thru carne asada taco, soon to be expertly dipped in salsa

This does not technically count as pic-ing and driving because I'm at a light

Great White and Mark, enjoying some beers

Tortilla chips and cheese, a good combo in any form

Recommended if you're ever in Brawley, CA

My salsa average is now a solid .667

Forty more minutes before I split this joint. Till tomorrow, hopefully —

SAG Lady

El Centro to Brawley CA: Easy rest day of Advil and ice and a few “Fat Tires”

Posted by Mark on March 4, 2012
Posted in: Mark.

15 miles (24 km) – Total so far: 143 miles (230 km)

Today our check out was at noon, and we were out by 12:30. El Centro is bigger than I had thought, and we are 3 or 4 miles from the ACA actual route. We didn’t get to the Fairfield Inn last night until almost full dark. This morning, Brian googled a bicycle route from our hotel to Brawley and it was a straight, 15-mile shot parallel to Austin Road — the ACA road. It was a smooth asphalt road without a shoulder, but on a Sunday afternoon there wasn’t any traffic, so we were fine. It felt so good to ride fast with no wind or hills to climb. We flew! We would have made it in an hour if Brian hadn’t seen a sign saying “Get rid of Obama and Brown.” So we stopped (some of our dismounts were more graceful than others, ahem, Brian. Think about that guy on the tricycle from the old “Laugh In” show).

Tonight we are in a pretty run-down motel in small-town America, but the weather is perfect. Beth had a leftover taco that I ate for lunch at 2 p.m. Brian and Tim skipped lunch (???) but I’m eating and drinking all the time. Brian and I went to Von’s Super Market for snacks, water, and beer, and around 4 p.m. we went outside on our fancy veranda at this 5-star palace for a little picnic. Tim, Brian, Beth and I had some wine and cheese (Cracker Barrel and 2 six-packs) before we head to a steakhouse in about 30 minutes.

My knee feels better today, but it was pretty sore after all that wind and climbing. I lowered my seat a few millimeters and took lots of Advil and iced it before and after the ride today. Tomorrow we have an 89-mile ride with about 1500 feet of climbing. We are actually below sea level here in the Imperial Valley. We plan to eat breakfast in our rooms and be on the road by 7:15 a.m. We need to carry everything we need because there are no WaWas where we are going. Services will be limited to non-existent.

We found an authentic outside eating area Mexican diner. It was great, filling bicycle fuel.

I like this beer!

Our picnic was fun!

Those are the mountains we will cross over tomorrow.

Flat green fields

I love a good Mexican Steak House!

Day 3 El Centro to Brawley: Rest Day

Posted by Tim on March 4, 2012
Posted in: Tim.

Went to mass with Brian to pray for Mark’s soul. Spent the morning resting and doing wash. Left for the short ride to our next stop and took a nap. Picked up extra water, snacks and Gatorade for the trip across the dessert to Blythe. All set to leave at 7:15 tomorrow morning. Finishing up this entry listening to Mark snore away. I think this was smart planning on Mark’s part to incorporate a rest day into our schedule. Always lots of laughs with Mark and Brian together. Beth and I can just sit back and enjoy.

Day 3: Earth, Wind & Salsa

Posted by Beth on March 4, 2012
Posted in: SAG Lady.

So as not to be outdone by the impressive feat of my dad and uncles, I’ve given myself a physical challenge of my own: to incorporate salsa into as many meals as possible. I went two for three on Day 2, with a taco salad for lunch and fish tacos for dinner. Day 3 started promisingly at the delightful Major’s Diner, with tasty potato pancakes topped with sour cream and, yes, salsa. I might have to become “that guy” and start taking pictures of my food. Sorry, fellow diners.

"This pineapple juice is great!" – Dad, about grapefruit juice

Shelly, Mark asked me to tell you that your bike is ready and waiting for next year's ride

But the SAG Lady’s real challenge is not to gain (much) weight after ten days of diner and chain restaurant meals. I’m eating nearly as much as men who are biking 50-90 miles a day (and drinking at least as much as they are, of course). My sole daily exertion entails carrying suitcases in and out of Great White. If I’m still able to zip up my skinny jeans on the last day of this trip, I will consider myself a winner.

After breakfast it was time for the boys to bid adieu to the lovely Pine Valley Inn:

Yeah, we get it, you're strong

Great White (at right) wished them well

I chillaxed and got a little work done in the room, then headed out around noon to our predetermined lunch destination in Ocotillo, California, population 266. The drive was great. There are all kinds of crazy rocky hills in this part of California — it looked like a giant dump truck had come and unloaded huge piles of stones and boulders everywhere. I kept wanting to pull off to the side of the freeway and take pictures but was too much of a wimp. And I don’t pic and drive, so see Mark’s last entry for a shot.

As far as I can tell, there is only one restaurant in Ocotillo, so it was easy to pick a spot to eat:

I love that this sign uses five fonts

Places like this make me love America (not being sarcastic; I mean it)

The guys originally thought they’d arrive around 1:30-1:45, so I timed my drive accordingly. Just after I pulled up to the restaurant, Dad called and said that they had eight miles to go and that the last two miles had taken half an hour. Yikes. So I went inside and had an ice cold beer (along with being the only restaurant in town, this place is apparently known for its ice cold beers), killed time on my phone, and hoped no one would try to talk to me. Sometimes I enjoy talking to strangers, but for no good reason I was feeling a little wary of this place. Fortunately everyone was similarly wary of me and my non-Californian outfit.

The dining room

They got there just before 3 p.m., ordered hearty lunches, and ate quickly. I had chicken tacos (I really like tacos, okay?) and scored another salsa point.

Yesterday Tim was demoralized by how tough it was; today it was Dad’s turn. He was angry at the relentless terrain and wind, and he wasn’t having fun. But he and everyone powered on.

Oops, wrong way! Luckily they figured it out pretty fast

I drove on to El Centro with a couple of assignments: 1) pick up a battery charger for Mark’s camera and 2) find bright yellow windbreakers for Mark and Tim. Mark’s zipper had broken and Tim just wanted a new jacket.

Our hotel is right by a mall, so I hit up Best Buy and picked up the charger. Assignment 1 complete. But before Assignment 2 I had to take a little detour:

When did their logo start looking like a news network?

Ladies, if you haven’t been following, Old Navy has stepped up its game lately. About 40% of stuff in the store is actually stylish and is at least somewhat well made — a major improvement over how it’s been for its entire existence. They’ve got some especially nice accessories right now, so I encourage you to check it out. Anyway, four shirts and a dress later, I’m ready to look for some windbreakers. But then Dad calls and says the gang is in the hotel lobby. Whoops.

Good thing, though, because it was pretty much dark by that point and I was thinking Great White might have to make its first rescue.

We had a decent dinner at Famous Dave’s BBQ (salsa score: 0), then headed over to the mall to look for those jackets. Turns out none of the stores had what they were looking for, so I didn’t have to feel guilty about neglecting my assignment. Then Dad and Mark got vanilla cones from Dairy Queen and told me about how they used to go to the airport to watch planes with Gampi when they were kids and get DQ on the way home. Any day that ends with ice cream and a Gampi memory is a good day, and this was no exception.

Bonus note to my brother: One of the sporting goods stores we went to was playing our song!

I danced, because how can you not.