Wednesday April 22, 2015

It was cold when we got up this morning, we had our leggings, heavier jackets, and our hats under our helmets.

There was a little climb out of Pine Valley and then downhill almost all the way to San Diego. People had told us it was downhill all the way, but of course we very rarely believe a car driver when they tell us this. Our overall elevation drop today was 1,668 metres.

We arrived in Alpine, and had a quick stop at the McDonalds, we needed to warm up and had a hot cup of coffee. Then it was downhill again to San Diego. Most of the way to San Diego we had a cycle lane, which was really nice.

We met two touring cyclists just starting the Southern Tier, one is going to El Paso and the other is going to Silver City.

After we chatted to them we made our right turn and then got misplaced. It added a few more kilometres to our day, but we eventually found the right route and headed along an off-road cycle lane to the Pacific Ocean and Ocean Beach, where nasturtiums were growing wild.

We chatted to a couple from Phoenix (who took the photo) and then headed to the hostel in Point Loma.

We booked into a mixed dorm room and settled in. The hostel is really clean and has a great space for us to keep the bikes. The only negative is that there is no alcohol allowed. I was really looking forward to a few days of and a glass of wine or two.

After we had settled in we went for a walk. We found a German restaurant, and decided to celebrate and have a good meal. It was lovely, bratwurst and spaetzle and good beer.

When we got back to the hostel we chatted to people in our room. I also met a lovely lady called Leslie who is from San Francisco, she has offered us a place to stay when we cycle through San Francisco.

Tuesday April 21, 2015

What a start to the day, the wind had really picked up during the night. The trees were bending and I was a little scared about riding on the Interstate with the prospect of the wind blowing me around.

We left the motel at 7:15 and headed up the on-ramp to the interstate and the hill. Once again I was being blown around. I find it difficult to keep the bike in a straight line, when it is very windy. Going up the on-ramp was bad enough but once the first two transports passed me and blew me into the curb, I lost it. I wasn’t going to be riding in this wind.

We turned around and headed back down to Ocotillo. We were going to spend another night, but the forecast was no better for tomorrow. We went to the Red Feather Café and asked if anyone was going our way, who could give us a lift. Frank, the owner, was heading out to Live Oak Springs at 10:00 and our bikes would fit in the back of his Suburban. We loaded the bikes and gear in the back of his truck and then had a second breakfast, while we waited for Frank.

We arrived in Live Oak Springs at 11:00, after a rather windy ride up the hill, even the Suburban was being blown around.  The scenery was very different on this side of the hill, big boulders stacked on top of each other.

It was cold at the top, we had to put on our jackets, leggings and hats, before heading down the hill.

We decided we would make it to Pine Valley and stay the night. The route was rolling hills, with some slightly steeper climbs.

Down the hill we go to Pine Valley.

We are staying at the motel and will be up early to make the push into San Diego and the end of this leg of the Grand Adventure.

Monday April 20, 2015

We were up really early again, hoping to get to Jacumba a distance of 88.5 kms.  We said our goodbyes to Bill.

We took Bill\’s advice and joined the Interstate 8, it was a very quiet road, with a clean shoulder.

Unfortunately, by 11:00 I didn’t have the legs and we were only in Ocotillo (62.5) – 26 ks to go up a 1,000 metre climb.

I thought I might feel better after some lunch. Was it better to do the big climb today or have a good nights sleep and head towards Pine Valley tomorrow?

Of course wherever there are wind turbines there are protest signs.

Ralf said I wasn’t looking too good, I wasn’t feeling great, so we decided to find the motel and stay the night. It was supposed to have wi-fi, but no such luck. There is a bar with wi-fi and the café where we had lunch has wi-fi.

We went to the bar and had a pitcher of beer and I updated the blog – hope it read o.k!

Sunday April 19, 2015

Another long ride, we went from hills to sand dunes to agricultural valley. The first section of the road was on a narrow, winding road with some great dips and climbs.

The tough part of this road is that it is quite busy and cars cannot see you or each other when you are in the dip.

Therefore it is quite a dangerous road. We started early (6:30) so that we could avoid most of the traffic.

By the time we got to Glamis, where the road widens out and we had a shoulder, it was getting hot again. The sand dunes were amazing and very beautiful.

We met Danny and Jill at the convenience store in Glamis and headed up the hill.

I won, not really Ralf was at the top waiting with his camera.

Then we headed downhill into the agricultural valley of Brawley.

Corn, cows and cash crops were the mainstay in this area.

We arrived in Brawley at just after 12:00 and stopped in at a gas station we had two mocha ice-coffees which were wonderful. We then realized that we didn’t have our warmshowers actual address, only his phone number. Ralf called the number but it was turned off (we found out later it was because he was in church). We headed to McDs to get some wi-fi, second problem Bill doesn’t have his address on the warmshowers website. We once again relied on Janet who had stayed with him a few days earlier. We eventually found the house and were welcomed by Theresa who showed us our room shower and introduced us to the four parrots and three dogs!

Bill was on his way home from Las Vegas, but was stuck behind an army convoy on the same road that we had come through, all those curves, dips and hills was slowing him down. When he got to the Glamis sand dunes, he was stopped again because there was a movie shoot and they were only allowing traffic through every 15 minutes.

Theresa took Ralf to Wal-mart and I did the laundry and caught up with writing the blog.

Bill and Theresa met in prison. She is a nurse and he was a prison officer. Theresa gets up early and we said our good-byes tonight. We planned our route and Bill suggested that we take Highway 8 earlier than the ACA maps recommended as the ACA route was on a rough, busy road with no shoulders.

Saturday April 18, 2015

We were awake early and had the tent and bikes packed. We had just got our breakfast things out as there was no sign of Mark, when he appeared and asked if we would like coffee and scrambled eggs, we said yes. Our breakfast stuff was packed away and we had coffee, scrambled eggs on tacos, it was lovely.

We followed the road and then had to get on Interstate 8, but we passed part of the agricultural area of Blythe.

We headed out not sure on where we were going to sleep tonight. We had been trying to get hold of Nancy who was on the ACA maps, and had not been very successful in getting hold of, we had the wrong phone number.  We had contacted Janet who had stayed with her and she told us she worked in the post office and gave us the number. We didn’t know what post office, but Ralf suggested we stop in Palo Verde and ask if the person there knew Nancy. Lo and behold, it was Nancy. She invited us to stay with her, and told us she would be closing the PO at noon and heading home.

We had an ice-cream, and waited for Nancy to finish work. She gave us directions to her place which was another 5 miles down the road.  Unfortunately, there is a one mile dirt road to get to her place, but apart from that it is a lovely 1959 trailer home, we have the bed at the back, close to the air conditioner and the washroom.

Nancy has been looking after cyclists for over 4 years. She provides dinner and breakfast and asks for a donation.

We chatted to two other cyclists who had also arranged to stay. Danni and Jill are a father and daughter team who are also going east to west. They started on March 1^st and have the minimum amount of gear – it is called “bike-packing”.  Although they are staying at motels and eating out every night.

After dinner Ralf went out to take some sunset shots and Nancy took Jill, Danni and I through some easy yoga and relaxation exercises that will help our backs on these rides.

Tomorrow is a long ride to Brawley, it will be hilly and we have a warmshowers host tomorrow night.

Friday April 17, 2015

We had a good breakfast and continued to cycle on relatively quiet, flat roads.

At one point I started to laugh, my silly sense of humour – “Passmore Gas and Propane”.

Today we had to join US Interstate 10. A busy highway with a wide shoulder, with a lot of road debris. Not the kind of riding we enjoy, but there was no other option. We were on the Interstate for 40 kms. It was hot and noisy such a change from the past few days.

We passed the California State Line – yeah we are in California.

We exited the highway at Blythe and headed towards our warmshowers host for the night. Wayne at the Bait Shop! When we arrived Victoria came out of the store, showed us where we could pitch the tent, where the shower and laundry was and then told us that all touring cyclists get two beers each for free! We have found heaven.

We pitched the tent and then went to be sociable with the people who were sitting out front, shooting the breeze. The people were really friendly and I chatted to Jim who was in his 90’s, Ralf chatted to Mark and Steven. We had a couple of beers, then Jim bought us two more. We stayed chatting for a while, then made a move to shower and do some laundry.

We picked up some provisions for dinner, and had dinner an interesting mix of wieners and beans and chicken and wild rice stew. We ate in the “pool room”, which had this great sign – no drinking (even out of brown paper bags)!

We went back to chat to the guys and had another beer, with them. We chatted for a while with Mark and then headed to the tent, for a relatively early night. Mark asked what time we would be up as he would cook us breakfast.

Thursday April 16, 2015

We were up early (5:45 am) a “wet wipe” wash in the tent and across the road at the McDonalds for breakfast and the loo.

We were on the road by 8:00 am. Tummies full with egg McMuffins and hash browns, I cannot remember the last time we had egg McMuffins or McDonald’s hash browns – they tasted good.

It was a little chilly to start the day and the wind was cool, we kept our yellow windbreakers on all day.

A small climb out of Wickenburg and we are were on a very straight flat road towards Wenden and Salome. We had emailed a warmshowers host for Wenden, but had not received a response. We had another contact for Salome and we knew there were campsites in Salome.

The road was very flat, very straight, we were in the valley all the way. The wind direction was north westerly and we were heading westerly. Although it should have felt like we were going against the wind, we maintained an average speed of 20 kph. The drafting worked really well for me, I could maintain a good average when I was in front, and then recover nicely behind Ralf before taking the lead again, Ralf at one point called me speedy Gonzales.

We met a couple of touring cyclists along the route, they said they could see us from miles away. I guess the yellow jackets and yellow pannier covers work. We chatted to them for a while. They were only out for a week, San Diego to Mesa. We commented that we liked Mesa and the cycle lanes. The fella I spoke to cycled a lot, and wanted to do a world tour, he was trying to persuade his cycling companion to go with him. His cycling companion wasn’t ready for retiring yet – he was only 62. At one point the guy I was talking to called me a young lady, I almost fell of my bike! Please no comments from the peanut gallery.

We arrived in Wenden and had a great lunch at Crystal’s Café. Then we headed out to Salome. We stopped to chat to Min, a Korean cyclist who was stopping for something to eat. He had already checked in to one of the motels and suggested we stay at the same motel. We wanted to find the campsite.

As we cycled towards another motel, a guy asked if we were looking for a room for the night. We said we were, and he told us that the motel we were looking at was the best motel in Town. How much we asked, $70.00 inc tax.

A scrubby bit of ground, but hot, clean shower, we even got clean towels, use of the kitchen (including the fridge), coffee in the morning and internet and a really interesting eclectic back yard.

Too expensive and we were about to cycle away. He said do you want to camp, I have a space. We checked it out and here we are. Rande said we could pay whatever we thought it was worth.

I would open this up to touring cyclists, contact ACA and create a Peddlars Rest right here in Salome. After chatting to Rande he told us he had been part of the ACA but was inundated by cyclists and it interfered with his motel business. He said “Anytime I try to make a lot of money it backfires, so I just make enough to get by”.

Ralf took some great photos of the cacti.

Wednesday April 15, 2015

We left Surprise at about 8:15 and followed highway 60 all the way into Wickenburg. Nothing much to see on the route, highway riding is like highway driving – boring. There was a good wide shoulder all the way, which was nice. I knew it was going to be a windy ride, but it wasn’t too bad until the last 10 kms (of course). A small climb and the wind changed direction on us, Ralf took the lead for the final 10 ks.

It is always sad to see crosses on the side of the road. But to see a “ghost” bike is even more poignant.

We stopped at McDonalds to check on where Janet and Stephen had stayed while they were in Wickenburg. They spent the night for $60.00 at the Western Inn, but when we called he was going to charge us $70.00!! no wi-fi, no coffee etc. dual pricing again.

We cycled into Town and checked out the Tourist Information Office, the lady in there was very nice and helpful. She called the hotels in the Town for prices – all of them over $75.00 excluding taxes. We headed for the only camp-site in Town – the Aztec. We were told by the lady at the Tourist Info office that there was some green space and to pitch our tent and the owners would be by to collect our money.

Wickenburg has a nice ‘themed’ downtown, the buildings are historical and there are figures dotted around the Town, some of them have an audio description, which is quite unique.

Wickenburg has been dubbed the “dude ranch capital of the world”.

We arrived at the camp-site at about 2:15 pm, Ralf called the number on the office door, but no response. We decided to pitch the tent and wait, and wait and wait.

The price of the pitch is good at $13.50, which includes water, electricity, laundry facilities and wi-fi. The only problem is that the toilets are locked so we cannot shower or get any water, electricity or wi-fi yet. Nobody came, we went over to McDs for dinner. Somebody had returned as they had left an electrical extension plug near the tent. No key for the bathroom!

McDonalds and Subway are just across the road, we might eat out tonight. Definitely go over there for breakfast. Planning on an early start, as we want to get to Salome, not sure what the weather will be like tomorrow.

Tuesday April 14, 2015

We were up early this morning and said our farewells to Christine and Margaret. Good luck Christine with your presentation today.

Tempe and Phoenix has some great cycle routes.

Most of the route today took us along a dedicated cycle route along the Arizona Canal Bike Path. Before we got to the canal, we zigged-zagged our way through Tempe, Scottsdale and north of Phoenix.

Throughout the route we were on dedicated cycle lanes. It was a really nice ride, flat and easy riding. The best of cycling – dedicated on-road cycle lanes and off-road cycle route.

We arrived in Surprise and found the Motel – no camping available. It is expensive, and we had to pay for wi-fi!!

Hopefully, we will be able to camp tomorrow.

Monday April 13, 2015

I spent the morning picking photos from the 350+ that we took in the Grand Canyon to put on the blog.

We met Franziska for lunch and took the LRT into downtown Phoenix.

It was so nice meeting with Franziska again.

We had met her last year in France, she was cycling on her own and we met her over a couple of days. The amazing coincidence with meeting her again was even more amazing when we discovered that she has only been in Phoenix for a month and met up with Christine a week ago. She is doing some research on independent touring cyclists, and had contacted Christine as part of the warmshowers organization.

We talked about her studies, she is taking a Masters Degree in Travel and Tourism and her thesis is specifically about touring cyclists. We are going to take part in her study, she is doing an online survey.

Franziska lives in the art district, and is currently living in a shipping container.  We walked to her house and saw the various art-work on the streets.

When we got back to Christine\’s place we had dinner and chatted to Christine about her upcoming trip. She is going to cycle the Pacific Coast – north to south.  She was unsure whether to cycle it on her own, but Franziska told her it was a good way to travel, as some days you can meet up with people and cycle with them and other days you can be on your own.