Bill ShaneyfeltOleander
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Last night I moved my sleeping area from the fellowship hall into the Cry Room. I did that because there were lots of lights in the former, including some very bright exit lights. The Cry Room was dark if a little warm. I went to bed at 9:30 and woke up about 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I started getting ready at 5:30. Breakfast was set out in fellowship hall. I ate the usual bowl of oatmeal and a hard boiled egg. I packed a half of a PBJ and a half of a turkey and provolone sandwich. I planned to eat the latter at the rest area and the former at the end of the ride. I also took some bars and an orange. I left at 7:17, almost the same time as yesterday. It was nice at the start, about 67, but got hot quickly. We were on Route 86 at first. It was four lane, but cars didn't seem to like it when I was in their lane. So, I stayed in the shoulder when I could. In Imperial we were supposed to turn off 86 to ride on local roads. However, the first turn tried to get me on a dirt road so I went back to 86. The route through El Centro was a little messed up so I just picked my through neighborhood streets by the map on my Karoo. We left El Centro on a local road that had terrible expansion cracks. We eventually ended up on CA-98 that took us through the (Yuha) desert. The border wall was visible and I saw a border patrol car and lots of electronics that look like they might be for border control purposes. The Near Ocotillo we turned to the northwest and were absolutely slammed by a headwind. I was riding at 10 mph and sometimes even 7 despite putting out 130-170 W. The last 6 miles or so on 98 were brutal. Fortunately it was cloudy and so didn't get as hot. In Ocotillo we turned off 98 and the route took me to a sand road for 0.3 miles that was completely unridable. I sent a text to try to warn people, but SR, DE, JE and JW were all right behind.
The van was in camp when I arrived. I was kind of tired and so sat down and drank some seltzers and ate my PBJ, orange, and some bars. The RV park has decent bathrooms, but is otherwise, dry and dusty. BW and I agreed that the only people who live here must be on the run from the law. I talked to Esther and Richie and Sarah, which was nice, and kind of chilled. I may try to sleep without my rain fly tonight.
JF and DE made dinner tonight. It is a barley salad. It is the last day someone will make dinner.
Tomorrow is the big day to Alpine. It is supposed to be 7000 feet of elevation gain. I'm a bit afraid that there may be a headwind so I will try to leave early. It seems the RWGPS elevation gain may be off as it was when we rode to Tonto Basin. BD said it may only be 3900 feet of elevation gain. That would be great news if true. I think we are going to make our lunch tonight so we can leave early.
Today's ride: 52 miles (84 km) Total: 2,968 miles (4,777 km)
