Day 3: Brawley to Blythe

Day 1: I was searching for lower gears to get up those mountains. Day 2: I was looking for higher gears to get along the flats. Day 3: I think I used every combination of my 30 gears to get through the terrain. 

I had a brief conversation with Dave at our 2pm "lunch stop" aka Palo Verde's only gas station mini mart (ice cream sandwich and a bottled Frappachino). He said to me, "You don't sound like you're having much fun."

Fun is going down a giant water slide. Or being silly with friends. Or having a pink popcorn party with your 3 year old. Riding a bicycle across the North American continent? It has its fun moments. But today, "fun" is not my word of choice. 

Accomplished. Bad-ass. Rewarding. Exhausted. 

Today was the first day that didn't feel like just a day ride, and not because we were carrying our bags. If today's road was a day ride, there would have been a unanimous decision to call it early and head back for lunch. When you don't have that option, you push on. Into the headwind, up the hills, watching for the trucks, stopping to refuel, rehydrate, reapply sunscreen. When you're stopped, you realize it's about 88 degrees across the desert, and the wind is blowing harder than you thought. The green milage signs taunting you: "Palo Verde 7 miles; Blythe 27 miles," as you look down at the cycleputer's speedometer showing 8 mph, and that's all you can push into the wind. 

But we made our destination, had a warm shower, and heading out for some Mexican food. Within walking distance ;)

Stats for today:

Ride time: 7 hours, 48 min. 

Ave. speed 11.2 mph

Max speed: 30.0 mph

Miles: 90.26

Road treasures to date: a bag of pop rivets sent home with Chris on day 1, a pair of pliers outside of Glamis, and a brand new shovel that was left for somebody else. 

A-hole truck drivers: 2. 

Friendly drivers: 99% were very curtious giving us room on the road. Waving and honks of encouragement were greatly appreciated. 

Other tourers spotted: 3 (one tandem)

(My odometer is slightly off, need to adjust that later)

Thank you all for reading and your encouragement! 

This was before the hard part :)