May 9, 2023

Day 3 - Indio to Blythe - 97 miles - 2,385 feet of climbing - 5:39 in the saddle

Today was a ride I was not looking forward to: 97 miles (cause that is what it takes to get to the next town) in the desert (cause that is on the way to Boston) on Interstate 10 (cause there are no other roads)!

But honestly it was not as bad as I expected.  The shoulders were wide, most were fairly new pavement and truckers were mostly courteous and pulled over to the left lane when passing us.  Here are a few scenes from the road for you to feel the experience.

The ride started right in with a 10+ mile hill, then a false summit and more climbing.  At 33 miles, we reached to top and it was flat or downhill the rest of the day, but with a shifting headwind to crosswind.  I rode a better part of the morning alone enjoying the solitude of the desert (when the traffic wasn’t zipping by!

We had 3 SAG stops today.  The second was in an abandoned town, except the Post Office is still operational.

I was a quarter mile from exiting the Interstate when I got my first flat of the trip.  A tiny wire from a blown out steel belted radial truck tire wormed its way into my tire.  I was happy not to have an audience to “supervise” the tire change.

Tomorrow is our longest ride of the trip at 116 miles.  We will ride out of California into Arizona.  I hear only 30 miles of the ride will be on I-10!  It will be a long day in the saddle.  Stay tuned!

Savor the Journey // Achieve the Goal