Share the Road - On the road - Day #2

Monday, June 27th Live Oaks Springs to Glamis (Above route is approximate, not necessarily exact route taken) There was so much today. Although we got off to a late start (didn't leave until about 9am even though we planned on leaving more like 6 or 7am...too busy patting ourselves on the back for a good ride yesterday, I think), the ride was very exciting right out of the gate. Starting off with a whoosh - * I hit 46.8 MPH, my fastest clocked speed ever (blowing down a hill with cross winds that felt like linebackers skipping across the road just beneath me, trying to fling me into the road). * We rode on Interstate Highway 8 -- my first highway -- as that was the only available road. Yes, it is legal for bikes to be on the highway when there is no other reasonable road in proximity. Adding big rigs flying by at 70+MPH to the day was a wee bit disconcerting. * Then my front tire starts wobble on the first downhill on Highway 8 -- was the problem me or the bike (or those big wind linebackers)? There are also a fair number of niceties on the right side of the white line (what car drivers passively dismiss as the shoulder) including (but certainly not limited to): machine parts, glass, roadkill and rumble strip. Rumble strip is the intentionally cratered asphalt put in to wake up drifting drivers who have floated a little too far to the right. If any drivers happen to float on us, we'll become rumble kill. At the end of the first big downhill decent (where the tire wobble incident occurred), I had to pee under the nearest bridge/overpass as I was a bit spooked by the whole affair. There was no crash, but there were ghosts whispering to me, I swear: "Lay it down!", "You're going down!" or "Look out!" Going down "Big Hill #2" was not as big of a deal (I corrected by shifting my weight to a more centered position on the bike and not allowing an absolute free roll (meaning I used my brakes a bit)). However, I compensated the good with the bad by exiting in the wrong place. I was ahead of the pack (which has happened more than a few times so far, but we always meet up along the route). I checked in with Chris and he told me to just keep going forward -- rather than double back and catch up with the guys. Apparently the road they were on was really bumpy and it didn't look that far out of the way the direction I was going. I'll say this much -- the road I was on was nice. The sign that read "Welcome to the Mojave Desert", however probably should have served as a disincentive. It didn't and I (unknowingly) began my trek down on the road to Calexico (flip Mexicali - read: Bordertown with Mexico...not good). It was about 1:00 in the afternoon. It's summer time. So the temperature is 110 (easy) and still running (not walking) up. I'm getting low on water. BIG TIME and wondering if I would make it or not. ISOLATED. Not terrified but considering the possibility of death. It is brutal country, the desert -- nothing to play with. Our barely familiar Sally came tearing road. A clearly shaken Chris told me to get in quickly because he had to go get Geoff and Gary. What's going on with them? I asked. It's good to see you. He said, then kept driving. We rolled on and found the other guys under (sort of) the meek shade of a Joshua Tree. The road they were on was uneven to the point they were simply shaken off of it. We were all drained. We took the rest of the way in ten mile pulls, sticking together the whole way and stopping every ten miles over the last 30 just to make it in. We needed that much water (and escape from the heat). A note on heat exhaustion (click here). It was a beautiful end spot in Glamis -- the desert dunes look like Tatooine (Geek check). We got in just as the sun was going down. I don't think any of us is even sure exactly where we are parked...we're not on the highway (I think). Breakfast: Oatmeal, peanut butter toast 1/2 grapefruit (at casino) Lunch: PB and watermelon (interesting) Dinner: Veggie Burgers and Beans Daily sups. Clif: 1 Gu 3 Ultima drinks 11 (at least!)