Day 92: Mount Laguna to MEXICAN BORDER!!!

September 22, 2014
56 miles


I am pleased to report that on the 3 month anniversary of landing in Anchorage Alaska, I have made it all the way to the US/Mexican border at Tecate!

I was so excited last night I couldn't sleep. I felt like I was 6 years old waiting for Santa Clause to come. So at 5:00 in the morning I decided I had enough and packed up. Unfortunately it was 45 degrees out and I only have one light fleece, so it was too cold to ride. I stopped and heated up some water on the buffet burners that I picked up since I couldn't find camp fuel. It takes an unreasonable amount of time to heat anything with them.

But the riding was nice all the way to Tecate. I think the heat has greatly influenced my opinion of southern California. Like how the rain greatly influenced my opinion of parts of British Colombia.

One thing that you didn't see between the US and Canada is this beautiful wall.

Mother did it need to be so high?

I won't be crossing until I meet up with mky new cycling partner, but I really enjoyed this milestone nonetheless. If I get run over cycling to San Diego tomorrow I will be joyful to know I made it all the way from Anchorage to Tecate on a bicycle!

I celebrated with some pizza, and then rode back to a city with wifi, groceries, and camping. Now the wait begins. I'll head towards San Diego to stay with a friend of a friend, do some beach camping, and visit family in Las Vegas. I'll get to see my 6 year old (I think she's about 6) cousin that I've never met before!

Day 91: Oak Creek to Mount Laguna

September 21, 2014

A COMFORTABLE DAY OF RIDING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! This hasn't happened in a long time. The temperatures were perfect, the hills were more gradual; I greatly enjoyed the riding today.

Of course such a great day had to be marred by some angry driver flipping me the bird for the first time all trip. I sigh as I think about how I made it almost 5,000 miles, almost from Anchorage to the Mexican border, without having to witness such rude behavior. And of all the times when I deserved the finger, I get it when I'm riding safely in the middle of a nice wide shoulder? The universe is unreasonable. I secretly enjoyed it a little bit.

So I hope that the truck driver's day improves and that he doesn't have to see any other cyclists that may trigger more explosive temper tantrums.

The truck driver drove off before I could take a picture of him, but I did see this fun little airport where they have air sailing. It was pretty cool to watch.

The craft with the wider wings is an engineless glider being pulled by the airplane with the shorter wings.

I should make it to the border tomorrow! So excited to be so close to such a great milestone!

Day 90: Pinyon Flat Campground to Oak Creek Campground

September 20, 2014
38 miles

I'm putting in fewer miles than normal in order to limit the amount of time I have to layover in San Diego.
The big news of today is that I finally met a southbound cyclist doing the Sierra Cascade route! I've met maybe half a dozen people on the route, and all but one were doing a loop, and not the whole route. On guy, Max was northbound.

So Matthew aka Stampede and I split a campsite and were happy to have someone to talk to. We decided we are both conversation starved. Stampede's story is partiularly interesting since he did the Pacific Crest Trail South to North, and then hoped on a bike and is headed North to South on the Sierra Cascade route, which loosely follows the PCT. Way to go Stampede!

Still, hot, still hilly. No photos. Oops.

Day 89: Mecca to Pinyon Flats Campground

September 19, 2014
56 miles


No surprises today: long, steep climb and hot temperatures.


What is the meaning of this?

Note the switchbacks I had to traverse.

The top of the mountain was quite beautiful, and the campground had some nice shady trees. I slept on the picnic table, cowboy style!

I've been carrying 2.5 gallons of water through the long dry sections because I don't always know where I will stop, I don't want to ration water, and some of the campgrounds and parks have their water shut off. It really adds to the weight and isn't ideal, but then again neither is being rushed to the hospital for heatstroke or dehydration.

Day 88: Joshua Tree to Mecca, CA

September 18, 2014
65 miles

I learned some unpleasant truths about my travels. Namely I learned that I have been riding in 100+ degree temperatures. I knew it was hot, but gee whiz I had no idea. Today was another 100+ degree day.

The hike I wanted to do was closed, so I did the only thing I have to do which is to ride my bike down the road. I skirted around some road closed signs and road 20 miles of road all to myself. Myself and 4 contstruction workers clearing away the sand and silt from the recent floods.


Cactus Garden. The sign said "WARNING! Unless you are a cactus wren be careful not to brush against the cactus..."

I don't recommend all natural botanical sunscreen unless you have allergies. 

This was a fun little canyon to drive through. I had it all to myself because it was closed due to mudslides.

I saw one man wearing a turbine. It made me wonder if he got on the wrong bus.

Day 87: Joshua Tree National Park

September 17, 2014

Last night I camped out on an open field, but when I woke up at 4:30 to the sounds of a ferocious dog barking nearby, I realized it might not be as open as I thought. I packed up and headed towards the park.

Maybe I should have camped out here? There were other signs that said "Do Not Touch The Objects."



It actually rained last night! And it created a mess on some of the sidewalks and roads!



Joshua Tree National Park is as sparse and the landscape. I'm learning to appreciate desert beauty. It makes it impossible to take a bad picture.

Yucca!

Hidden Valley. They used to sneak "illicit herds" into this area to graze.

Self portrait.

Half tree, half cactus. It's a Sasquatch Tree!

I camped out at Jumbo Rocks. There are some fun rocks to go bouldering on.

From the rock above, I watched the sunset below.

That guy has it right..

Day 86: Crestline to Joshua Tree

September 16, 2014

Century Day! (100 miles)

Like most century days (days when you ride 100 miles) on tour, this one was unplanned. I felt good and so I kept going and going. Also I kept resetting my odometer on accident, so I never looked at my mileage and though "Wow, I came a long way I should be tired."



This isn't really a thing to celebrate because I am trying to slow down my pace so I have less waiting for my new riding partner to do in San Diego.

 I stopped by a strange park with life sized statues. I like the fact that my camera went to "portrait mode" and recognized the statue's face on the pirate. Good job sculptor!

 Sorry to the sculptor, but my camera does not recognize the policeperson's face as a face. I am curious if I put these on facebook, whose name would pop up for tagging?

About to descend into the Mojave Desert!

Long, straight road. And amazing desert sky.

Long desert shadows. I fell over on the sandy shoulder immediately after taking this picture.

Day 85: San Bernardino Forest to Crestline

September 15, 2014


I finally got out of the desert and into some hills and forests. They aren't as spectacular as up North. I have been spoiled, and now I am a forest snob. Forgive me.



The hills in Southern California are the most difficult, they are ruffled, so you are always going up or down. Normally I can cruise around 10-12 mph. Lately I either go 5 mph or 30 mph. No in between cruising!

And then I almost met God.

But all I saw on the other side was more beautiful mountains.


Your daily oxymoron.

Beat the heat by riding at night.

Day 84: Palmdale to San Bernardino Forest (East of Los Angles)

September 14, 2014

4 hours 58 minutes 20 seconds
43 miles
4037 total

Good morning from the San Bernardino Forest!

Heat induced nausea really takes the fun out of riding. I will not miss it when the trip is over. Hopefully things will cool off soon.

I can't go more than 5 miles before I have to take a break because I'm too hot. And I know I still need to eat carbs, but my appetite is gone so eating becomes a chore, and then I probably eat too much because my body is all confused... I'm not enjoying biking. But the road signs are very encouraging, in the way that a no-nonsense football coach is encouraging:





But fortunately by taking a lot of breaks I have more time to talk with the locals! I got to talk with another teacher who was riding her bike. It is always encouraging to talk to teachers, they make me excited to get back to education once the trip is over.

The highlight of the day was stopping to climb up a ridge (not an actual trial, I bushwhacked it) and up a mound of loose rocks to get an amazing view of the sunset. I was able to watch it set behind the mountains, which looked like big black frozen waves.



It amazes me how quickly the sunset changes.

I did a little night riding, and finally get to some trees, but they were too little too late, I was already shot so I called it a day after only 43 miles. It's just as well, I will have almost 2 weeks to kill in San Diego before I meet up with my new riding partner.

Day 83: Tehachapi to Palmdale

September 13, 2014
Tehachapi to Palmdale
67 miles

Psychologically my eco-conscious brain had a rough day. On the one hand, it was delighted to see all sorts of wind  and solar energy, including large and small scale operations. But then I also saw sprinklers trying to irrigate a desert. One side of the road was dirt and shrubs while the other side of the road was some sort of leafy plant growing in neat rows. And then I was happy to see bike lanes, but then I was disappointed to have to drive through a gigantic stretch of urban sprawl that is Palmdale and Landcaster.

It's too hot to bike comfortably. That's been a recurring theme in southern California.

So not the greatest day of riding, but I did get to see some random interesting things.

The owner must be a Don Quixote fan.

Stupidly long and straight and hot road.

I call this kind of tree a Sasquatch tree.

Look at the crops on the left. Look at the conditions they are growing in on the right. Why are we irrigating the desert?

There was a big bike race and I happened to be going on the same route. I left so early I got to the turn around before anyone else. I was hoping the spectators would start cheering for me, but they mostly ignored me.

I saw this tortoise on someone's driveway.

Yay! Solar! Now if only California would stop stealing and wasting the water.

Now if only California could get its water situation right. Here's an aqueduct that is feeding at least one  giant city that shouldn't exist where it is. I ranted a lot about water usage in my head.

I didn't even realize it until much later in the day, but the combination of downhill and tailwind during the morning pushed me to a new speed record: 52 miles per hour. Not bad!