Desert rains, big skies and a Super Bowl

No, I swear, it never rains here!.....says everyone. Lies. It does rain in the desert though we are lucky enough to have a roof over our heads for the event AND have the aded bonus of Super Bowl festivities...welcome to Phoenix!

After our 114 mile day on Monday we were pretty smoked, but got back in the saddle Tuesday morning and headed slowly to Salome, AZ. The ride was a bit more stressful of a ride due to a limited/non existent shoulder and heavy traffic. Thankfully, half way through the day it thinned out as most cars headed towards the freeway, leaving us with the road again and a very hot afternoon. The desert scenery has changed about 12 times since leaving the coast and just when we think we've seen every kind of desert imaginable, here comes something new.

The excitement for this day was the presence of those big Saguaro cacti...incredible! We ended the day at a county-run campground, sharing a site with one of the campground hosts. While this area feels rather desolate to me and lacking much of anything in the way of community, services or general life beyond desert and farm fields (melons, pistachios, wheat grass, and cotton!), we learned from our hosts that they love it here. They spend 7 months each year living there as campground hosts, playing golf at the little course by the campground and being part of the small community. I guess this proves there's a place for everyone, even if it's in an RV in the desert.

 

 

Wednesday's ride was nothing to write home about. We peddled for over 30 miles without even a slight turn in the road....endlessly straight and slowly uphill. The highlight was a lunch stop in a town that we swore was really in Mexico. There were about 18 houses, one hardware store, a gas station, and a Telefonica office. That's it. Just when we felt like this was becoming the norm for our Arizona experience, we crested the mountains and coasted into Wickenburg....dude ranch Capitol of the US....or so they like to say. Apparently this had been a gold rush hub town before WWII so the it had been a bit more "cleaned up"and ready for tourists. Not having a host to stay with in this town, Dot had called the Episcopal church in the morning to inquire about camping on their lawn or that of a parishioner. Having not heard back, we just showed up and Pastor Pat acted like she was expecting us all along. They gave us snacks, a ride to the grocery store and a place to stay inside in their basement meeting room. Thank you Wickenburg Episcopal church!

 

Thursday was our introduction back to city biking as we rode mostly downhill into Phoenix. What we anticipated being a boring day of suburbia/shopping center biking turned out to be much more eventful ride. Just 15 minutes into our day we found Dot's front tire to have a double hematoma and then 10 minutes later her back tire went flat. Flat #1 of the trip! We fixed this, got back on the road, and then in the middle of Phoenix (on their bike trail) we came across an older gentleman who had clearly wiped out on his bike, had hit his head and was bleeding. While another biker called 911 we tried to keep him from moving...I even got to break out my rubber gloves! The paramedics arrived in moments and took him (and his bike) to the trauma center. Ironically, the paramedic supervisor seemed to be more interested in our bikes and trip than the hurt guy so I guess he was fine.....Phew. Needless to say, a cowboy hat is NOT a suitable helmet! We ended the day with a 15 mile ride through rain and into Mesa where we are now currently staying with a family friend.

Today we are waylayed in Phoenix while the weather is too wet for travel and the Super Bowl festivities have begun! I think the rain might be a good omen for the Seahawks, but I don't dare say this outloud because all of a sudden I'm a Pats fan. The feeling here is like Mardi Gras with football fanatics. It's kind of like we invited ourselves to someone else's party.... :)

Tomorrow we will again hit the road and head east out of Mesa towards Superior. The weather is looking iffy again so we may have to make some last minute changes tomorrow morning. Finding the balance between uncomfortable riding and being miserably wet is tough...especially if you know it might happen in the middle of the desert. Below are some super bowl fun pictures for any of you who care.... Over and out friends!!

 

Look who we got to hang with today! --> I mean, I don't know them, bit apparently they play pretty good football.

Puppy Bowl puppies!!

 

 

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Into the mountains we go!

Hello from Parker, AZ....we made it to a new state! The journey here has been a long and winding one, including mountain climbs, desert hauls, a rainy day and winds that stopped us in our tracks. So let's begin...

We left the Laguna Beach area on Thursday morning after a quick morning visit from an old college friend (Angie Triplett!) and some awesome breakfast burritos. We then biked up to Newport Beach where we cut east and followed the Santa Ana river for about 40 miles. The path was lovely, but the river was nonexistent...a telltale sign of the intense drought we surmise. We passed Angles stadium and experienced the ocean coast quickly changing to almost rolling green hills with dry mountains in the distance....the mountains we had been dreading crossing over! In total, it was a 67 mile day and it ended in Riverside, CA which we peddled frantically through in the dark. Our housing plans had fallen through so Dot did some pleading calls to local churches to inquire about camping on their property. Instead we lucked out and ended up camping in the backyard of Ann and Crispen who were affiliated with the local Episcopalian church. They even greeted our haggard, dirty selves with wine, oranges and berry pie! We camped in the backyard beneath their giant avocado tree and surrounded by about 4 other fruit trees...paradise!

 

Friday began our long assent into the mountains. This was possibly the most beautiful morning we've had as we passed rolling horse ranches and orange orchards. That said, four hours later our lovely uphill climb was soon a pedaling ordeal. The Santa Ana winds kicked in and our 10mph pace quickly diminished to 5....at best. Essentially, we both jog faster than we were peddling. So we bailed out in Beaumont, CA at a shopping center and called for reinforcements.....four hours later Dot's cousins Lisa and Charles rescued us and drove us to Twentynine Palms, where they have a house. Perhaps some more hardcore bikers would have pushed through, but this two month journey has room for alternate transportation....and our knees are happier for it.

The weekend was spent hiking and exploring Joshua Tree National Park. On Saturday we hiked up to an actual desert oasis up a canyon near their house....check out the palm trees in the picture! It was crazy, totally unexpected and pretty amazing. On Sunday we checked out the park via car and saw some climbers, classic Joshua Trees, and prepped for our next leg of the trip.

Monday was our biggest day ever! We did an official century ride (100 miles) plus 14 more. Luckily the majority of this was either relatively flat or downhill-ish. The unfortunate part was that it rained most of the day...really proving our hardcore-mess :) we rewarded ourselves with a hotel room in Parker, AZ. The town isn't much to write home about, but the family restaurant next to our hotel DID have homemade carrot cake so that's a big win in my book!

Above is a good idea of what most of our day today looked like....long, flat and wet. Below are a few random pictures that just had to be included.

Does this hotel look familiar to any U2 fans? It's right next to our house in Twentynine Palms!

Art at a new friends house and below me in Joshua Tree.

 

Yup, cruised this 100 mile strip.....and they were totally right, and only a handful of houses as we left town. Truckers and RV caravans kept us company.

Above is Dot at this great "bicycling rest stop" along the road up into the mountains. It had tools, a pump, water and benches. Super win!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Up the coast we go!

Well it official...we're begging to log actual miles and not just "practice runs". We spent Monday warming up our bikes and ourselves by biking from our friends' house in east San Diego down to the beach to dip our back tires and then get a final tune-up at a bike shop (shout out to Adams Avenue Bicycles for the great staff!!). We also made a friend on this jaunt (Bill) who advised our novice-selves to instead of spending the first few days of our trip climbing mountains, to instead head north along the coast and then cut east just south of LA....thus avoiding some significant climbs right away and getting a few days of "flatter" practice under our belts. So that's what we're doing with our end of the week destination being Dot's cousin near Joshua Tree National Park.

So for this blog I'm going to give you a list of some of our highlights/ interesting sights from the last 48 hours:

1.) Passing a guy by the side of the road who had his entire drumset set up and was playing for a marsh

2.) Staying with our first warmshowers.org host family in Carlsbad and having an amazing dinner and then breakfast....they set the bar very high, thank you Erin and Steve!

3.) Biking through Pendleton military base and watching the personnel train and listening while they blew things up...only a bit unnerving.

4.) Passing a guy with two miles on a bike trail...check out 3mules.com to see their story....I think they are on an adventure like us!

5.) Camping out tonight at Crystal Coce state park on a cliff overlooking the Pacific....aaaand route 1.

6.) Making some new biking friends along the way: Bill and Neil, thanks for the encouragement and advise!

Tomorrow the journey will begin to head eastward and as sad as it will be to say goodbye to the coast, I think we're ready to face our tires homeward. Besides, I don't think anyone we've met so far really believes we are actually heading to Florida!

 

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It's official...it's happening...we're doing it!!

So it's happening...like it or not (prepared or not) we are on the west coast with our panniers stuffed and sanity mostly in tact. We have both recently gone through moments of "My God, I have to really make this happen now!", and after weeks of preparing to leave CT, it was almost surreal to begin this next step. That said, you can't back track once the house is packed, bikes shipped, goodbyes said and words of wisdom exchanged. Besides, who in their right mind would back out of an adventure such as this!? (And I say that with only a little sarcasm)

 

The 12 hour prep:

Dot arrived at my parents house in Maryland on Friday and we got serious about our packing. Very serious. Even though we'd been through the list about eight times, we continued to second guess our packing decisions....jeans?....warm socks?....that other fleece?...where the heck IS that Leatherman? We both have mostly backpacking experience so it's hard to imagine being able to just pick up something as we roll through towns along the way, but we also know there will be long stretches where this luxury doesn't exist. In any case, final decisions were made, panniers closed and we're off!

 

The final 48 hours...

Today our bikes arrived courtesy some wonderful friends who we shipped them to (thank you Hannah and Martin!!) who have bike know-how and a beautiful baby. Full disclosure here (as I come clean about this), I have never actually practiced riding my bike with the shoe clips AND it loaded with anything. Furthermore, my only experience riding with my feet in clips was a 30 second ride around a parking lot in the snow. I am an embarrassingly inexperienced road rider and I think my naivety and general optimism are the only things actually allowing my mind to believe that this is possible...as is mostly the case with all great undertakings!! So my mantra right now is less about my abilities and more of a wider-scaled approach. Life is always worth good adventures and you should live as though all your ancestors are living again through you. It's a tall order, but at least I can blame this wanderlust on someone else!

 

Paying it forward:

Finally, below is the link to my support-Hannah's-ride-by-helping-to-send-a-kid-to-camp page. Like the podcast Serial, I will only ask once :) everyone deserves the gift of a great adventure and for many kids, a week of summer camp is just that. If you do decide that this is something that you are able and interested in supporting, please visit this site, search my name and donate as you can. Thank You!

http://PROJECT139.kintera.org

 

Over and out friends....'till you hear from us on the road!

 

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