21 October 1997 (nice except for head wind; mileage = 98.7; Oasis Fire
Station #42/Riverside City/Salton Sea) -- I got up and found I had picked
quite a good spot. It was kind of clammy in the bivy this morning. I
started the descent right away hoping to cover the 25 miles to 29 Palms
quickly for restaurant breakfast. Wrong!! The descent was only 4 miles and
then slight uphill and strong head winds for the rest. Arg!! How
frustrating and I was running out of quick food. I was down to G-rade,
Knorr, oatmeal and corn nuts (which I ate some of). I also had a small
block of chocolate that was too hard to eat! Irony, eh? I was really
bonking bad, complete with cramps in my inside left hamstring. What a
grind. Along the way (in the Wonder Valley) were HUNDREDS of small houses
that were abandoned. This was a normal desert floor with all of these tiny
houses scattered around in disrepair. Really weird! I finally came in to 29
Palms and stopped at the 1st food seller I could find, a convenience store.
I ate 3 chocodiles, a Hostess blackberry pie and a pint of Nestle choc
milk. Ah! While in search of food, I resigned myself to McD's, especially
after a local burger place wasn't open yet. I did get 12 or so liters of
H2O, tho (everything full, no screwing around this time!). Outside of the
McD's was a loaded touring bike. Inside, I ate and talked to Roger from
Essex England. He had Caridice and agreed that Ortlieb were better. He was
riding from Boston to Santa Barbara and lots of other places in the world.
We both went to the grocery store. I did a super job of buying no-cook,
heat-resistant, high-calorie goodies. I'm set for days. Then Roger and I
said good-bye and I headed to the Joshua Tree visitors center. Nothing
special there but the bathrooms. Then for the climb into Joshua Tree.
Without a blasting head wind, the climb wasn't too bad at all, and those
trees are neat. Then I descended into a big valley. I was resting and
doing a map shuffle when this young guy on a carbon fiber racing bike came
by. He was friendly enough, but he didn't quite understand that my "slow"
ride translates into demolishing him in a fairly matched (bikes) race. He
was traveling in an RV and riding when he felt the conditions were good.
This was for training. Ya. OK. Whatever (American!). So I was on to pass
#2. This went very well in the lowering sunlight. I felt really good and
didn't have a nasty head wind. I cranked over the crest and enjoyed a
massive descent! Wow. Also the sun was just setting and it was awesome. I
got to the interstate and crossed it. There were some barricades up saying
my road was closed. I don't think so! This road (Box Canyon Road) was
AWESOME!! It was a perfect gradual downhill for 17 miles! Also with ZERO
traffic, it was quite fun and safe in the twilight. I popped out of the
fabulous Canyon to see the Salton Sea and neighborhood all lit up. Very
nice. At the end of the road, I heard gunshot-like noises and I had to yell
"Don't shoot!" to some people doing who knows what there. Then, on to a
town called Mecca. I was cranking, hoping for a restaurant. Not. This town
was crawling with suspicious-looking Mexicans. I pulled up behind a cop who
had just parked. He was very nice to me, but a hard ass to the Mexican he
then arrested. Time for a speedy exit!! I headed south and no one gave the
friendly vibe. I pulled into a fire station and asked for permission to
camp -- no problem, but the flashes I saw earlier weren't military
exercises. It was lightning! And now there's a storm in the desert!! Lots
of thunder and lightning and only a few big raindrops. High wind, tho!
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