Blythe

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DAY 2
Are we there yet?

ROUTE: 1000 Palms to Blythe CA	DISTANCE: 118 Miles	WINDS: Light to start, headwinds after box canyon...5-10
WEATHER: Sunny and unseasonably unhot	TERRAIN: Flat start, gentle climb through box canyon then flat in	TOTAL CLIMBING: 3300 feet

DAILY DOINGS: Yawn...day 2 started off early with breakfast at 5:30. I walked to Denny's right on the time scheduled, but there were 5 riders walking out that had already eaten...whoa fellas, I'm not loading the truck until after I eat! We had load at 6:15 and 2 riders were already on the road by 6:17 with a nice tailwind on the departure route. We scurried around to get on the road to beat them to the first SAG...always a challenge. It was Jim's day to ride so I told him to go ahead and start riding and that I'd tie up things at the motel. As I was closing up the luggage truck, I noticed Jim was working feverishly on Alabama Bob's cassette...somehow one of the cogs wouldn't shift right. As it turned out, the new cassette they had put on the night before was missing a spacer and two of the cogs were about touching each other. Sorry guys, the cog teeth should be the same precise distance from each other to work properly. That probably should be a duh today, but I don't really know who to give it to. Jim made quick work of the problem but they were the last to get on the road about 15 minutes after everyone else had left.

Today's route took us south out of Thousand Palms toward Mecca (not that Mecca...the one in California). The first 25 miles of our route were on flat, dry desert terrain dotted with irrigated date farms where we could find small venders all along the road selling dates. When I told the riders about the Oasis Date Gardens, Team Alabama (Joe, Charles, Bob, and Mike) put on an extra bit of aftershave before departing and even recruited my mechanic Jim and Fred to stop and take in this local attraction. Their excitement was short lived when they found out it wasn't the kind of date they were expecting! Oh well...better luck next time boys.

After leaving the first SAG at Mecca, we ride on one of my favorite roads where I especially like to take pictures...Box Canyon. I think I took about 300 today as I drove back and forth making sure everyone had enough water for the dry climb. The road is slightly rough in spots but they had put down a new level of blacktop in most areas. The better news was that it was well out into the desert with no traffic at all. To say the canyon is one of the most beautiful areas we'll ride through is an understatement. The canyon walls are basically dirt that rise up both sides of the road and are marked with hundreds of years of erosion that make interesting patterns on the face of the cliffs. The morning sunrise casts shadows that accentuate the colors on the cliff walls and makes for some beautiful pictures albeit we climbed the entire time we were in the canyon.

After climbing through the canyon we still had a little more climbing after we got on the interstate until we got to Chiriaco Summit at 1700 feet and 51.1 miles into our ride. Today was our first real day on the interstate riding as we only rode a mile or two on the first day. After today we'll spend a few more miles crossing AZ and NM on Interstates 10 and 40. Today's portion of the interstate had a smooth shoulder except for a short section of weather seams that about bounced my back wheel off the ground. The biggest challenge, however, was the nagging headwind that just seemed to be strong enough to be annoying and the dry air that made your mouth feel like it was full of cotton. Everything being relative, the wind felt like a gale force in our face after yesterday's 25 MPH at our tail. But it was a good day all things considered...the temps weren't in the triple digits and everyone got in safely by 4:00 PM. I'll take that anytime.

Interstate riding presents several interesting challenges for the riders and the staff. Unlike east of the Mississippi River, out here if the interstate is the only road connecting areas, it is legal for bicycles to ride on the shoulder. One of the challenges is not getting a flat tire. Shoulders on the interstate are collecting grounds for debris that play havoc with bicycle tires...little wires off of radial tires are the biggest culprit, but there are lots of other sharp things that tear into our tires all along the shoulders. Another challenge is negotiating the exit and entrance ramps with high speed traffic. Luckily out in the west, the traffic is usually fairly light so, although dangerous, maneuvering through these hazards is not too difficult. Finally, the biggest challenge for the staff is supporting everyone on divided highways. When we go back to help someone, we cannot just cross over to the other side anywhere. Sometimes we have to drive an additional 10 miles before we can turn around. But in spite of all these "challenges" interstate is relatively safe.

Well, it's getting late and we've got to do it again tomorrow. Hope you enjoy following our progress...tomorrow we've got another day of desert before we start climbing on Thursday. See you then...until then, be safe.

DAILY DISCERNING DIALOGUE:
-"I saw a sign ordering not to pick up hitch hikers near the prison that was 3 miles from the highway. But I figure that if someone had survived the trek through the desert to the highway after escaping from the prison walls, I should pick him up...he's probably got survival skills that may come in handy this far away from civilization!"

-"Boy, it's hot!"
"But it's a dry heat!"
"Don't care...it's still hot!"
"That's why they call it the desert!"

-"That box canyon looks like something from another planet!" "Awesome!"

DAILY DUH: After everyone had left lunch, we had another case of water bottles declaring their owner MIA. So much for the accolades that I gave Charlie yesterday about following precisely the SAG stop protocol...he fell a bit short today. But to his credit, he got most of them again today...pull in, park bike, sign in, wash hands...fill water bottles. I guess I've got to add, "PUT YOUR BOTTLES BACK ON YOUR BIKE" to the checklist! We had noticed the abandoned bottles and were about to take them down the road to find whose they were but just before we pulled out, Barb got a call on her cell..."Water bottle lost and found," she answered. Thing was, Mike had made the call to see if we'd retrieve them, Charlie was either too embarrassed or too dry to talk. When Barb finally caught up with them Charlie was a bit parched...had his teammates shared their H2O with him...nooooooo. Learn from the college of hard knocks...He won't forget them next time I'll bet. I'll keep you posted.

DAILY DIGITAL DELIGHTS
In this area we find some pretty big cactus plants. Here Karen admires one of the prickly mammoths. Karen is the one in the middle.	Andy claimed to have nothing to do with the mysterious disappearance of the powdered donuts at Denny's this morning?
As Mike supervised, the rest of Team Alabama couldn't figure out how to get Joe's bike working this morning. While one tried to figure out how to get the rear wheel to the ground, another was trying to get the air hose thingee on the tube thingee so the whatchamacallit could put air in the front tire.	Does this photo really need a catchy caption?
At lunch, I was frustrated when I was trying to make the "perfect" PBJ sandwich . I either didn't have enough peanut butter or I had too much bread.	As if they don't have enough palm trees in the metropolis of 1000 Palms, the cell phone companies have built artificial trees to camouflage their towers. Doesn't it just look so real? On that same line, Blythe is so far out in the boonies that it doesn't have cell service. So a local nursery has camouflaged one of its palm trees to look like a tower to make people think they do have service. Boss, if you are reading this, that's why I didn't call today with the daily report.