Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Day 3 - El Centro, CA to Ehrenberg, AZ 115.83 miles/13.5 mph average - 7 hrs 56 min.


The day started great. Cool temps with clear skies. We were on the road by 6 am, and pedaled through Brawley and onto highway 78. This one road serves as the only passage through the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness Area. This area changes from agriculture to scrub brush in about 100 yards. The scrub them changes to miles and miles of dunes. The dune buggy crowd meets in Glamis, California for the sand party.

Turkey and Cheese in Glamis, California - a ride staple.

rolling into Palo Verde, wearing most of our cold-weather gear. It rained in the desert.

Chris did well, but there is that tiny issue of her rear end. Imagine an adult diaper rash brought on by too many miles in the saddle. Props go out to my sister, Roxane, mother of two. She had the great idea to suggest using over-the-counter diaper rash remedies. Hey, it works! She toughed it out and stood out of the saddle as much as her knees and arms could take, and we rolled into Ehrenberg, AZ around 5 pm.



Dad and Phyllis travel in this little number


We can afford this. Note the free hay bale

bench the dealer threw in no charge.


The Flying J truck stop runs a hotel and eatery. We checked in, cleaned up, and went to grub. By the time I sat down, I had that familiar, shaky feeling of bottomed out blood sugar. I was prepared to start insulting people if the food did not arrive damn quick. Truckers eat well, the plate of food spanned from fork to knife, shoulder width. We chowed.

over and out

4 comments:

roxaneleigh said...

hilarious,i am laughing out loud. but very happy jasper is safe. you are in store for much more than many gueling days of bike riding it seems.
a very funny story for me, with 2 girls napping and me enjoy a quiet glass of wine.
have fun and be safe.
rox

thestoddyman said...

Excellent detail - thank you. The Flying J's are great, and I'm glad your food didn't take too long. If you're going to insult people a truck stop isn't the best choice.

We're checking your blog everyday and enjoying all of it. Have fun!

Todd (M), Laura, Lucy and Nick

ash said...

Todd/Laura/Lucy and Nick!

Hey thanks for reading, and we'll try to get updates every few days, as the wireless Goddess permits.

Hope all is well, and we will bump into you this summer, right?

Ash and Chris

mrgreenjeans said...

My coworker asked what was the worst day I had riding from Huntington Beach, CA to Houston, Tx. There were so many, I thought, but one was riding through the Algodones Dunes in 114 degree heat. I told him there is one store in the middle of it where I asked if I could top off my water and the guy behind the counter said, "You can BUY water!" That water was something like $4 a gallon.
Well, I topped off my bottles and not wanting to waste such expensive water, sat down at one of the benches outside and drank three quarters of a gallon on the spot.

So, here I am 11yrs later trying to find the place on Google Maps when I see your photo where you're tearing into a sandwich (which I can only guess was at least six dollars) sitting at a picnic table. I recognized the tables, found the town name, and can see the table I sat at from Google Street View.
Thank you for your role in rekindling some memories!

Now, I'm going to kill the last couple of slow hours at work reading your story.

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