Blythe, CA to Salome, Az - 64 miles

 

            

 We crossed the Colorado River as we headed out from Blythe.  JoAnn Klassen, from West Linn, Oregon, rode with me this day, and she is looking through the fence at the river below.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the California-Arizona border.  One state down, six to go!

 

Our Sag driver has this on the side of her car.  When she drives by us, she honks a bulb horn (sounds like a squeeky toy) We signal to her if we need her to stop, or a thumbs up if we are ok.

 

On the road to Salome it was a gradual uphill.  Temps were in the mid 60's, up from 47 that morning.  We had a wonderful tail wind that made us all feel like we were the best riders!

 

 Along the way, we spotted this old car not far from the road. 

I would love to know the story behind it.

 

 

We rolled into Hope, AZ and stopped for lunch.

 

We don't always stop, but there was a group of us and we had plenty of time to get into Salome.  

Mary Drenner, Shelley Hatcher, Pam Harrison, me, Sue Hersman, Alayne Evans, Jo Ann Klassen, and Mike Sandifer.

                     

Lynn Kalifeiz found some flowers to decorate her shirt!

The sign on our way out of town was just too much!!  :-)  

We had a good tail wind to help us into Salome.  I think if you click on the Salome plaque you might be able to read the history of the name of the town.

When we cross a state line, we celebrate with a round (or two) of margaritas before dinner!  Carol Wilder was bar tender and we all lined up.  It was getting really cold (down to 47 that night) but we didn't really care.  Above is Mike, Alayna and Mary getting their celebratory drinks! 

 

 

Shelley Hatcher, Pam Harrison, 

Barbara McNary, Frankie Allen, and Jo Ann Klassen. 

 This is Nancy who ran the Sheffler's Motel where we stayed.  Her dog was Ozzie.

 

We just loved the pink neon lights on our motel rooms!

Blythe - a rest day 3/9/10

The Capital Suites Hotel is really nice.  Last night after a hot shower, a dinner at the Sizzler down the street, and an hour in a wonderful hot tub, we all slept like rocks!  I slept in (well, 6:30 am) and joined the yoga group in the conference room.  One of our riders, Lynn Kalifelz from Marathon, Florida, held a yoga session to get us stretched out.  At this point in the ride, we really needed it!

Then came our bicycle cleaning class in the parking lot.  Carol used my bike as an example, so I got off easy.  My gears and chain were just filthy after our rainy day and the next with dust, so it really needed to get it done.  There was red clay/dirt on everything!  Like Carol says, riding in the rain is not so bad, but it makes a mess of the chain, gears and cogs!

We are going into the next town of Salome, AZ tomorrow.  There will be no internet there, so it will be two days before I can make any entries.

Brawley to Blythe 3/8/10 - 91 miles

Today was our longest day so far.  We traveled across the Imperial Valley for 91 miles. 

Because we were in the middle of nowhere, and no place to stop for lunch, our chef, Linda, set up a wonderful buffet lunch.

When they said there were no services, the only rest facility was squatting down behind a scrub brush! We all learn to adapt!

After lunch, there were some rolling hills for 13 miles, which was great for riding!  The only problem was when we were on the down side, the many 18-wheelers could not see us when they came over the hill, the shoulder was non-existent!  We all wore our brightest jerseys.  (Our group leader, Carol, asked us, "If an 18-wheeler leaves from San Diego at 8 am, and another leaves from Phoenix at 10 pm, where will they meet??  Right where YOU are on your bike!)  I can't tell you how many times that happened!!  When I could see that was going to happen, I quickly stopped and walked off into the dirt with my bike.  Better safe than sorry!

In the afternoon, the road became less hilly and more agricultural...lots of green fields, watered by irrigation canals diverting Colorado River water.  It was amazingly clear water!

We saw acre after acre of hay being grown, and down the road we could see why!  There must have been tens of thousands of cattle being fed and readied for transport.  I have never seen that many before, even in Colorado!

The Imperial Sand Dunes were amazing.  Fortunately, all the week- end warriors were restricted to one side of the road, leaving the north side in a natural state. The people that come here are usually from San Diego or LA area, those than can afford the toys and the RV's.  Today the bicycling conditions were ideal, which after the day of cold and rain yesterday, was really nice.

 

There were miles of the Imperial Valley San Dunes,and I can see why they used this setting to film the original Star Wars movie.  In the picture above, I could just see R2-D2 and 3-CPO walking over the sand!

 

About 20 miles from our destination for the day, Sue Hersman and I stopped at a small convenience store.  We saw this sign and had to show you!  It was so perfect in that Red Neck part of the country, no doubt directed at the "boys" on the San Dunes!

On those last 20 miles, as we came into Blythe, the wind was mostly at our backs, so Sue and I flew in at 18-20 mph...a far cry from my 5 mph on the hills!  It was good to see the Capital Suites Hotel after 91 miles!

Alpine to Jacumba, 3/06/10 (45 mountainous miles!)

We left Alpine around 8 am, and continued uphill for miles! (check out the first entry of the blog for the altitude map.)  It was 50 degrees when we left.  After 20 miles we took a break at a local diner in Pine Valley (the dip on the map).  As we left I saw this sign:

I don't think this was meant for us, however!

Tonight we are staying in the little town of Jacumba, CA. We can literally look out the window and see the fence separating the US from Mexico--it's high, red (like the Golden Gate Bridge) and goes on for as far as the eye can see. The Border Patrol is everywhere. Even as I type, lowing flying airplanes and helicopters are sweeping the area. Wish I had some night vision goggles--

 

 

 

As we continued toward Jacumba, it started to sprinkle!  The last 6 miles were all downhill, and I was surprised to see that I was going 35.5 mph!  That was great because we were anxious to get in before the predicted rain began.  Our group made it in before the serious rain began, but most got drenched!
When we arrived in Jacumba, I was beginning to think we had  arrived at the Bates Hotel. We were warned that we may be staying in some "no star' hotels because that is all that was available on our route. I certainly hoped this is one of them, because if it wasn't, I am afraid to even imagine what the 'no stars' look like. It's old and not terribly well maintained, but the people were friendly, the shower was hot, and the sheets were clean.  However, this is outside the window...

Things that make you go "hmmm".... Rather made one want to sleep with one eye open.....oh, did I mention our door didn't lock....... 

The restaurant at the hotel allowed us to bring in our plates to their restaurant so we did not have to eat in the rain.  Here is the group that rode together that day:

We had some interesting experiences at this hotel.  It was raining so hard, the roof started to leak all over the hotel!  Some of our group even had water dripping onto their bed!  (They got a new room.)

Most of us were lucky that the roof leaked mostly in the common areas.  I was happy we did not have to sleep in a tent, and that we had a hot shower!

PS  (We found out later the casket was a left over Halloween decoration!)

MARCH 6, 2010  JACUMBA TO BRAWLEY, CA  (67 miles)

Today when we left Jacumba, the temp was 50 degrees, the wind was blowing hard, the road was extremely steep downhill, and the rain was pouring down!  The leaders strongly suggested that we should all be transported down to the bottom of the hill (15 miles).  There were a few who rode it, but most of us didn't.  We were glad for the lift, but we had to ride the rest of the 55 miles in pouring rain, sleet, and even some snow!  (Thank you to my daughter, Shelley's husband, Shaun.  He loaned me a great rain jacket!)

Today started with an 8 mile climb with grades ranging from  4 to 14%.  In that eight miles, we climbed 1,800 feet, and there was more climbing after that--4% grade doesn't sound so bad anymore.  A lot of the ride averaged between 5 and 8%.

It was cold, but once the heavy climbing started, we warmed up quickly. About mile 5, we had to go onto Highway 8, which was more high speed traffic than we were used to.

On the exit to Hwy 8, one of our riders' family made this sign and put it on their car.  I think it may have been Kathy Kirby's family ? ) Photo: Sue Hersman

Anyway, we had 7 miles of extremely rough road...it looked like the road cracked and buckled every 10 feet!

We arrived tonight (3/7) at a very nice hotel in Brawley, however.  I can hardly wait for Linda's stroganaff  dinner!

Our ride from Brawley to Blythe tomorrow will be 89 miles.

San Diego to Alpine, CA 3/5/10 (34 miles)

(Click on photos for a complete view - I am 8th from the right.)

The Dog Beach tire dipping ceremony was fun.  Dave was so helpful in packing and getting me and all the gear to the start.  There were lots of photos, and we all said good bye to our families for 2 months.  (I am 8th from the right)

 

Here we go!!

Getting out of the city of San Diego was enjoyable.  As we rode next to the dedicated bike path next to the San Diego River, we saw where they were filming a movie. We only went 34 miles on our first day (a warm up!), but the last 20 miles were fills with long steep hills!

We arrived in Alpine around 2:30 pm.  Ann's daughter, Kathi came to visit with her two children Krista and Kevin.  Jim Dragoo also came up since Dave and I missed seeing him in San Diego. But it was a short visit, because it

getting to be dinner time. After dinner, it was going to be early to bed.

We had dinner outside, sitting on white lawn chairs.  The cook, Linda, cooked amazing dishes, accommodating all the different dietary needs.  It would have been wonderful, even if our appetites weren't huge after the ride!

Linda uses hot charcoal, pans and aluminum foil to cook.  Tonight she cooked Talapia!

Weather looks like it will be good during the day Saturday, but the prediction is for rain tonight and tomorrow.  The ride from Alpine to Jacumba will be 45 miles.