| Distance | 102.98 kms | 64.00 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Climbed | 735 meters | 2,411 feet |
| Ride time (hours) | 6.64 | - |
| Avg speed | 9.6 kph | - |
| Avg climb | 2% | - |
| Max grade | 8% | - |
| Distance | 27,635.42 kms | 17,171.59 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Climbed | 289,271 meters | 949,052 feet |
| Ride time (hours) | 1,960.24 | - |
Friday, May 16th, 2014
When I go to load the bike I find the back tire flat. Shit. I replace the tube and keep going. Hot as hell today. 4 miles down the road the back is flat again, double shit! I change it in the sweltering heat.
I've reached the end of this road, the only option is to get on the freeway. I will be on it for pretty much the rest of the day. I stop in a place called Glenville to get water, my water consumption has gone through the roof. I've already drunk 3 liters by noon. After the store I go to a restaurant for lunch and to charge up my stuff. On the way out I have the waitress fill up a few more bottles just in case.
The wind has been ramping up as the day wears on. By 3pm it's beating me up pretty good, that hot Mojave wind right in my face. I run into some roadworks on I-15 where they have put both directions of traffic separated by Jersey barriers on what would normally be the west-bound lanes. This leaves me with a very thin shoulder, the trucks just eek by. Makes for a stressful 5 miles, particularly because I'm climbing into the wind.
At last I get out of the construction zone. It's late and I need to find a campsite. I could go up 93, that was what I was originally thinking when looking at the map, but it's a big climb and I can see some buildings in the closest valleys. I get on a road that parallels the freeway instead. 5 miles down past some factories I see some open hills so I ride up a dirt road. The ground in this area is absolutely covered in shell casings. Not the ideal place for camping! I try to get as far up the hills as I can to get away from the war zone, set up and make dinner. No fire tonight for the first time in a while. I'm still using the fuel I bought way back in Williams, AZ before I went to the Grand Canyon. All those fires have kept the stove in the bag. Going to be a hot night again, probably no sleeping bag.
I've got a new thing to complain about with my laptop: I'm inadvertently closing windows and causing other chaos when I squish bugs on the screen. Damn touchscreen! The QA department should have a bug-squishing test case.
Around midnight I am awoken by gunshots. Way too close for comfort. I'm too tired to do anything about it, I just go back to sleep. They start up again at 6am but I never see anyone.
