Week 1

Week 1
NewportMy Favorite Castle
Vanguard University
We arrived. We had a fairly uneventful trip. We were concerned that our baggage would be too heavy and have to pay huge fees. Joyce pulled it off each bag was about .2, yes that is point two lbs under the limit. We just had to pay extra to ship our bikes. We did not bring a tent so we plan to buy one in CA.
Our trip had two stops, Denver and then San Francisco. Next time we would try for a direct flight. We were held up in San Francisco for about two hours so we missed our shuttle connection to Vanguard, but a few phone calls, some more waiting and we arrived. Everything was together, in fact one of our bags did get separated but it arrived ahead of us. No damage to our bikes. One of the other girls bike went to china or something , and they could not even trace it. After a number of calls by a lot of people she got a new bike, and then the old one also showed up so she now has two bikes. She likes her new one so she is very happy.
We had a relaxing couple of days to put our bikes together and get ready. We also had to buy a tent. When we checked google maps at home the Walmart was very close. Only 5 miles. We were still thinking like a car driver. Joyce, Bonita and I headed out in the early afternoon, first mistake, that is the hottest time of the day. I went to fast again and Joyce thought she lost me, but we did finally find the Walmart, and it was a very beautiful ride along a dry concrete river flood channel. The tent was in a package about 4 feet long so it was quite a ride back with it strapped to my bike. I told Joyce that I was used to taking wide loads down small roads. We made it, so now we have a tent.


Sunday afternoon we all went as a group to the ocean at Newport beach. That was a little stressful as there are a few inexperienced riders and accidents usually happen when in a group. We made it and all put our tires in the ocean and took pictures. Then we were on our own to eat and find our way back.





After we got back we had to pack up again, but not the bikes this time. We would be leaving vanguard first thing in the morning after a quick breakfast at the kitchen trailer. I don't think Anyone got much sleep.

Monday June 24 at about 0730 we hit the road. For the most of the day we follow the Santa Anna river trail. It was a very beautiful ride even though at the start it was pretty cool, and a very light rain. One of the riders did have a mishap, when he went off the side of the trail around mile 27 and hit a fence and as a result he hd a major fracture in his leg or ankle area. Him and his wife both left the ride. It did get a little warm but we both easily finished the day.

June 25th we started a little earlier. We are trying to beat the heat by cycling early in the morning. The first couple of hours was very difficult. As soon as we started we were climbing. It did not look like a climb, but everyone was going very slowly. Then the ride became easy, scary and fun. We had about 30 miles that was a nice downhill glide into Palm Springs with the wind behind us. You did not have to pedal at all and most of the time we were going at least 25 mph. I had a top speed of 38 mph. We did get a little lost and had to backtrack abit, and it was hot, so we did stop a few times to cool down in some lawn sprinklers. I also had my first flat. We both finished the day.

Day 3. June 26
Started out very nice, flat and cool. That did not last long. After riding through orchards, grape fields, that were being picked, we hit Box Canyon. It was beautiful, but very hot and a steady incline. There was very little shade, and no wind to cool us. Joyce almost made it through the worst of the hills, but we caught up to Rudy and Shirley Folkerts. Shirley could not go any further, so Joyce decided to join her and get a ride into camp. Rudy and I continued, and we cycled pretty fast. Joyce had a spot in an air conditioned hall on the floor for us to sleep, all set up when I got there. I was very tired and jumped into the lake with my biking clothes still on. After an hour or so of relaxing and cooling off in the water we took refuge in the hall. Some of the bikes were parked against the sunny side of the building and a few tires exploded. It was hot.



Day 5 June 27
It was very hot. There was reports of plastic bicycle parts melting. My IPhone quit at mile 42 telling me it was to hot. Most of the day was riding on interstate #10. That of course adds to the heat with all the hot truck going by. There was a 5 or 10 mile stretch were the shoulder was in terrible condition. It was like having a speed bump every 10 feet. I had a flat tire while stopped getting new ice and water and taking a short break. I guess I parked it to close to a thorn bush. By the time I found out it was flat Joyce was too far ahead and did not hear me calling. We were riding with Joann so they continued without me. I fixed my tire and joined up with a couple other guys. I wanted to catch up with Joyce, but that turned out to be very hard. We did finally catch up but I was almost exhausted. I was very happy to go her pace. We made it to the next SAG stop, and had a small break, food, new ice, and water, and we were on the road again.
The ice we used to keep us cool. I would put a couple of handfuls in a rag and put the rag in the pockets of my jersey which are located on my back. This proved to be very effective, and quite a few other riders also adopted this practice. We would also fill our helmets with ice and strap it down. This almost froze your brain at first, but when it melted it was great. We also had wet cold rags to put around your neck and we soaked our clothes when ever possible. This is the only way you could survive. It was not just uncomfortable hot, but very dangerous and possibly deadly heat. Lots of riders did not get even as far as we did. We made it almost all the way. About 8 miles from the destination, we stopped by what little shade we could find. Joyce was talking about quitting and a van rolled up to check on us. She decided to quit, and I was not allowed to continue on my own. We got a ride in. We thought we would have to be camping on a football field, but we had the pleasant surprise of a air conditioned community club.
At about 1 pm they picked up everyone left on the road. That evening they announced that they had suspended the ride until Tuesday morning and would be busing us to Payson AZ on Friday. They had rented a large 53 foot trailer to haul the bikes. Surprisingly no one complained to much.

Day 6 Friday June 28
We got off to a late start as we had to wait for the bus anyway. We left on the bus leaving our bikes behind, as they had not been loaded yet. We stopped in Phoenix,for ice cream and then continued on to Payson. At the water park in Phoenix I noticed a sign that showed the hours of operation. You cannot rent a paddle boat during the afternoon. I guess it is July, to hot for Anyone around here in the afternoon. There was also a bike shop in Quartsite that was closed for the summer. Not many bikers out in this heat.

We arrived in Payson. There was some disappointment and some relief that we missed seeing the beautiful scenery from Phoenix to Payson from a bike. The road did have some 6 & 7% grades in a lot of places. We set up our tents in a football field. No shade, no air conditioning, and only a very small washroom, but we are here for the weekend, and Monday.

We had church at a few locations that welcomed us. We attended the Lutheran church were they just happened to be celebrating their community day. Because of that we had I nice lunch served to us. Then they'd left the church open so we could beat the heat and stay indoors for the afternoon. I stayed at the campsite to repair a tube and it had cooled off anyway due to a nearby thunderstorm. This cause quite a stir as the gusts of wind blew a lot of tents around. Ours stood through it all. There is nothing nicer then sitting in a tent in a light rain storm writing a blog.