Across America

84.5 miles I woke up around 4:00 a.m. I was able to get on the bike by 4:30. About 30 minutes of riding in the dark, and then I got to see a pretty nice sunrise. The ride was overall pretty solid. Much cooler weather today. I think it stayed under 90 for my whole ride today. Also, for parts of it it was under clouds. All this let me get in some extra mileage, and get to this awesome State Park! And it is awesome! About an hour away from the park, I went to a Dollar general. The worker let me bring my bike inside, so that was really nice! I talked to him for a little bit about what I was doing. Once I arrived, I talked to the park rangers for about a half an hour. Good people. After that I got done what I needed to get done, and rested in the shade. Probably the best day on the trip so far!  The only problem, is that it's probably going to rain tonight...

52 miles I was ambitious. I wanted to try doing some night riding. There was supposed to be a tailwind. There was supposed to... So I left Dateland at around 7:30 p.m. I was flying. The first hour and 30 minutes I was going 17 mph. And then out of nowhere the 10 mph Tell one changes to a 20 mph headwind. It was brutal.  I was only able to make it to Piedra. Slept outside of a solar field. Not the best night of sleep. Once I woke up got back on the bike and made it to Gila Bend. Which was only about 15 mi away. From there I decided to take sort of a rest day. Got a hotel, was able to check in early and have been here ever since. I will not be doing anymore night riding for a while. It's not the easiest to find a place to set up camp when it's all pitch black.

56 mi I slept extremely well last night, and got to sleep in a little bit. I was up at 4:00, and had a great breakfast. Thanks Mike! I was on the road at 5:00. It was a pretty good ride. Only had to ride in the dark for 30ish minutes. And it's always nice when you're on the same road all day (Interstate 8). Dateland has a town about 30 mi west, and another town about 50 mi east. So pretty much in the middle of of the desert. By the time I finished around 9:00 a.m., I think it was upper '80s, not too bad all things considered. I didn't have a tailwind as I initially expect it, but didn't have a headwind either. Once in Dateland I just relax underneath the Tesla charging station. There are no parks or anything to relax at. But the Tesla station has shade I also had a date shake, a shake made of dates. It was extremely good, and I can confidently say, the town is deserving of its name.

63 miles Early start to beat the heat. I got up at 3:15 and hit the road at 4:15. Rode in the dark for a little over an hour. Less hills which made the riding easier.  The roads off of I-8 were pretty beat up. This slowed me down considerably. Was able to see the sand dunes. Made it to my host's at 9:25. 

52 miles I left the Desert View Tower at 5:45 and started with a 3500 foot decent. Essentially, 12 mi of straight downhill going 40 plus miles an hour. After that road in the desert for a little bit with a slight headwind. The roads were a little rough. The last hour and a half was in more rural land. They were bailing hay! There was a much heavier headwind. 15 miles per hour. Arrived in Holtville around 9:30. So about 3 hours and 45 minutes total. Pretty easy day. By the time I quit at 9:30, it was already 84° Once I arrived I set up shop at Holt Park, and stayed there for about 9 hours! I sat in the shade, and was finally able to enjoy the 15 mph wind! It got up to 99°, and stayed there for several hours.  

 84 miles - 7731 elevation gain  Very challenging day.

 I packed up the bike yesterday (5/11), moved out of my room today, and jumped on an airplane and went to San Diego.  During the fight I sat next to the wonderful Jessica and Katie.  Once I landed in San Diego, things started happening very quickly. My warmshowers host, and my new good friend, Steve pick me up at the airport and took me to the ocean. There I set up the bike and dipped the tires in! A wonderful start to the trip. Already met many great people. You know who you are! Tomorrow morning will mark the start of the trip.