Day 5 Blythe, CA to Wickenburg, AZ
115 miles (50 completed)
3:39 time, 13.4 average
2,239 feet of climbing
Well today the desert won and won big. Kind of like the desert hitting the lottery if that is possible. We were supposed to do 115 miles with 3,000 feet or so of climbing. The climbing was in the first 30 miles or so. Then the terrain was fairly level for 75 miles. Normally the temperatures are 90-95 degrees with a prevailing southwesterly wind, resulting in a tail wind for the riders. Instead we had a 15 to 20 mile an hour head wind with 115 degree temperatures. Needless to say the riders dropped like flies. Flies however were not stupid enough to be flying. We weren’t that smart. It was an absolutely brutal day. We saw not a living thing unless you count Seguaro catcti. Only 2 riders made it the whole way. I dropped at the 50 mile point deciding to fight another day, since we had a very tough day coming up for Day 5. To add insult to injury we didn’t get in until late because the vans had to watch the surviving duo.
One of the two riders that made the entire went to the hospital and did not ride on Day 5. The other rider was Mike T. He was the rider that finished with me on the day before blooper of 125 miles. He has the mental tenacity of a heat treated horseshoe and the physical prowess of a gazelle, something useful in biking.
Not much more to say about that (remember the Forrest Gump line). I decided to have a steak for dinner and I’m not sure it was beef. Looked like beef, cooked like beef, tasted like leather. Hopefully Day 5 will be better.
Signing off………..
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| The Arizona State Line | The Arizona desert |
A red cross (actually Swiss) and a white shirt. This was too good to pass up. |
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| The Colorado River | The only store for miles. |
Any idea why there was a post office here? |
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And this was the best part of the day. They were closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
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. The AZ desert.
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We all look so much better before we start.
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