Category: DC to California 2010

My alarm clock in my motel room was off by an hour, so I slept in and didn’t get on the road until 9:30. I didn’t have a good idea about my destination for the evening but I wanted to make good mileage.

The miles went by while listening to my audio book when all of a sudden I hear a voice. It was a British couple and they were the first tourists I had met going the same way as me. We chatted for a bit before they told me where they were eating lunch and passed me.

A little while later I pulled into the lunch place and talked to Jon and Liz. They were awesome, doing wheelies up the hills but their tires were shit. But that’s just how they described themselves. They were from Guernsey and had started in DC, taking a surprisingly similar route to mine that included cutting the same corners off the ACA route. They are blogging on fittraveller.com and like me were heading to San Diego. After our meal they headed off towards California and I followed a few minutes later.

Before hopping on I-10 I pulled over to drink some water only for them to show up again from behind. Apparently I had passed them at a store and they had just caught up. We discussed where we were each stopping for the night before they went ahead. I didn’t learn this until the next day but apparently later this evening they had almost caught up to me after another break and were literally (please read that in a british accent for maximum enjoyment) about 4 feet away from catching up when Liz got a flat and they had to stop.

As the sun was setting I reached the Colorado river and crossed into California, the last state of my trip. I rode to the town of Blythe and started looking for a motel when another cyclist hailed me from behind. At first I thought he was a local cyclist but as it turns out, he had come from Atlanta and was headed to San Diego as well. Amazing that I went 65 days of static and finally met other tourists almost at the end of my trip.

I suggested we go grab dinner and he agreed. His name was Andrew and he was 19 and was traveling ultra light – hardly any gear. We agreed to stick together until San Diego and he wound up crashing in my motel room.

Today’s mileage: 117 miles.
Total mileage: 3566 miles.

I started off the day late due to staying up late, ruining my chances to beat the heat. Yesterday, my bike computer had fallen off my bike in traffic and gotten run over so I had to run to a bike shop to get a new one. Brock was kind enough to drive me to a store and Mara kept me company while I installed it. I bid them farewell and headed off into the heat.

I was going back to Wickenburg, where I stayed a few days ago. My path would diverge from my previous route there and head west.

I wound my way out of Phoenix, taking a dirt bike path and then a paved one. Stopped for lunch and a wave of lethargy overtook me and I had to stay and rest a bit. Luckily it was to be a short day and I made it to Wickenburg pretty early but not after stopping by a ghost bike for a bit.

Today’s mileage: 58 miles.
Total: 3449 miles.

I stayed with Will from The Internets for two nights. Ate some of his fightsauce chicken teriyaki and hung out.

On the third night I met up with my mother’s friend Jackie, her husband Brock and their daughter Mara. Went out to dinner with them and had a great time.

Not a very exciting day – I’ll keep it short.

Got a later start than I’d have liked to, but at least it was going to be a short day. I headed southwest and quickly found the shoulder to be in terrible condition. Big bumps every twenty feet jolted my bike for miles and not an hour in I got a flat. Made quick work changing the flat and continued on my way – I was ready to make it to Phoenix and take a rest day.

After a while the road surface became acceptable and my pace quickened. I stopped at a gas station for lunch where a family who had passed me on the highway came up to me to ask about my trip.

Back on the road, my shoulder disappeared as I approached the Phoenix area. I dropped off the highway and took roads through the suburbs for the remaining miles to my host’s house, arriving in the middle of the afternoon.

Today’s mileage: 58 miles.
Total: 3391 miles.

No photos from today.

Today I decided I was going to try and break a hundred miles. Unfortunately, it was really cold outside so I didn’t get out of my hotel until 9:30. I got on the road and had to take an interstate for about 20 miles. There were signs for bikes though, which was interesting.

After about an hour of riding it started getting warm so I pulled over and changed on the side of the road before continuing on. I was making good progress and stopped in a town for a big lunch after about 50 miles.

I just kept on pedaling. Went through the town of Prescott, AZ which seemed like a pretty nice town. Coming out of the city, the road wound its way through some mountains that were very reminiscent of the coastal hills in California. Lots of turns, I’m sure I would have gotten carsick had I driven.

The last 30ish miles of the day were to be downhill, and the sun set as I approached the descent. Got a nice view of the sunset over the desert as I wound my way down the side of the mountain. Before long it was pitch dark and I rode for about an hour before reaching the town of Wickenburg and finding a motel.

Today’s Mileage: 124 miles.
Total: 3333 miles.