December 29, 2009
Day 9: I LOVE touring on my bike!
Whoa! What a great day on the bike! It's days like this that make me want to quit my job and just ride, all over the world. Well, ok, I have a great job so maybe I don't want to do THAT, but it WAS a great day!
It started with clear blue skies, warm temps, calm breezes and light traffic, just how I like it. I rode east towards the Salton Sea and that stretch was about as good as I could have hoped. The scenery was great, I love the desert and all of its flora and fauna.
The stretch near the Salton Sea was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, it just was; but eventually I exited the busy road (that had a lot of traffic, though it had a nice wide shoulder with good pavement) and rode the agricultural belt near Coachella. It was there I bought some delicious dates from the farm they are grown; the woman also threw in more oranges than I can eat in a day for no cost.
From there I turned north towards my final destination which is, well... I think I'm in Indio, but it could be La Quinta who knows, who cares. All I know is it's near Palm Springs, which is where I wanted to be tonight.
I splurged too. After conflicting directions from a Highway Patrolman and a woman in a grocery store parking lot about hotel locations (the woman had it right by the way) I ended up with a choice between a Comfort Suites and a Motel 6. When you factor in the cost of breakfast and internet connection it was only about a $15 difference, AND the perks are worth it. First, there is facial soap AND deodorant soap, AND there is a safe, for all my valuables. The first thing that is going in there is my chocolate!
Finally, I had an interesting conversation with a Borrego local dude today. It went something like this
Dude: 'Wow, you're really loaded....nice bike....weird wheels, they are too small.....I rode cross country on a bike years ago when I got out of the army.'
Me: 'Really! That's great, I'm thinking of doing that next year.'
Dude: 'It was a real adventure. I'd like to do it again.'
Me: 'What route did you take?'
Dude: 'Route? I just went. It took me about 10 days '
Me: 'Uhh. Ten days? On a bicycle?'
Dude: 'A Harley. Well, I guess it's not like the kind of riding you're doing.'
Me: 'Not quite. It was nice talking to you '
Don't get me wrong, motorcycles are nice, but they run on, you know, GASoline, not, you know, leg power!
Tomorrow will be a short day. I'm going to tour Palm Springs a little, and then break down my rack and fold up my bike and hop on the Amtrak train to Phoenix. Hopefully things will go as smoothly as they did on my first train ride from Davis.
Until tomorrow...
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 71 miles (114 km)
Total: 281 miles (452 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |