Hooked on Phoenix Arizona.

After a full week away from civilization (sorry Blythe), it felt good to have a lot more to look at besides cacti, doves, and motor vehicles.  After being spoiled by Mike and Kathy in Wickenburg we were ready and fresh for the 70ish miles into the Phoenix metro area.  A tail wind coupled with about 1200 feet in elevation drop made for a very pleasant 30 mile decent into the big city.  

Damn good dry rub wings

We hooked up with the Arizona Canal Path and followed it leisurely for another 30 miles or so.  On the way wee stopped at a "bike friendly" restaurant, the Spoke & Wheel.  We had some great tacos, wings, and churros and lined up our next adventure.  

Both Sarah and I are big fans of plants and learning so the next adventure was the Desert Botanical Gardens!  In addition to their normal exhibits there was a special feature for visitors that stayed past sunset.  A British artist set up a number of art installations right amongst the plantings.  They all involved light, some had sound and they were all cool to experience!  The coolest installation was a series of fiber optics "spiders" that covered a section of the gardens as well as acres of the surrounding more primitive park.  I'll let a couple pictures explain more....

Thousands and thousands of shifting lights covered the desert

Arrays of plastic bottles filled with water and fiber optic cables with choral droning to boot

 Some more great day time blooms:

We biked the last few miles into Tempe to our pre-arranged warm shower host's place.  We were in for such a treat!  Ryan and Jenn were super nice, had a great crash pad, and were super knowledgable about cycling in Arizona!  They were both into Bromptons in a big way (to say the least).  We had a shower, a few pastys, and a great night's sleep!

The next day we decided to take a complete rest day and stay with Ryan and Jen another night.  Not wanting trick our bodies into thinking we were done with strenuous activity, we decided to climb Camelback Mountain right in metro Phoenix.  A 1700 ft climb gave us 360 views of the area.

What a rest day!  We brought our bikes to a local bike co-op and had a great time working on our bikes and learning from bike gurus who were standing by to help!  We stopped by a great bike shop in Tempe and addressed some of the issues that we had discovered and learned about at the bike co-op.  That meant a new helmet and tire for me, a new front light for Sarah, some tubes, and some fantastic chap-stick.  We had a nice dinner to recover from the hike (and previous 8 days of riding), and to get ready for the ride to Tucson!!  More soon....

-WJT

1700 feet in about a mile meant steep trails!

Worth it

That famous southwest hospitality

Dear Readers,

After our harrowing ride on I-10 we had a less than refreshing afternoon in a Kmart parking lot trying to fiddle with tires and tubes so that Will's bike would make it to Phoenix. We were finally in Arizona, and after hours on the interstate with bike issues, were ready to relax... just kidding! We had to go to the world's ickiest laundromat and try to remove some of the road dirt from our clothes.

Road dirt, for the uninformed, is worse than nature dirt because it's mixed with oil and grease and it doesn't come out quite as easily.

Therefore it was with heavy hearts and merely cleanish clothes that we rolled the last few miles to our destination- a warm showers find that boasted a spot to camp in the yard behind a bait shop.

Our spirits lifted immediately upon arriving at B&B Live Bait. About a dozen people were hanging out eating, drinking, and generally merry-making while blasting Johnny Cash. Our first fellow bike tourist was there, 21 year-old Brian from Long Island, and he showed us around. I think the subsequent shower I had was one of the top 10 in my life so far.

We set up our tent on a deck out in a pond and woke on Easter Sunday to the sound of ducklings learning to chirp. The folks at the bait shop were welcoming, warm, and incredibly kind. We're so grateful for their hospitality and would recommend that spot to anyone going across country through the south.

Easter ducklings!

We rode hard on Easter and finally came into Salome, Arizona just as the sun was setting. We camped in Centennial Park and met our second fellow tourist, Jimi. We hope to run into him again since he too is heading our way. I fell asleep to the sound of coyotes howling eerily close by, and tried to imagine what I'd do if it turned out they had an appetite for Listers or Tritharts.

Priorities.

Today we biked a beautiful 50 miles on Rt 60 and ended in Wickenburg. We would have loved to get as far as Phoenix, but intense winds from the southeast (exactly our intended direction) meant that Wickenburg was all we could do for the day. We had planned on camping in a town park, but while asking around, a woman waived us over and invited us to stay at her place.

To the non-bike tourist, this invitation might take some consideration. Stranger danger, you know? Well, the fact that the campsite in town had no showers or water at all was a strong motivation, and the when it came down to it, Will and I didn't even make eye contact before asking for the address and heading there.

Kathy and Mike have been so welcoming! We're so glad to have such a beautiful place to stay tonight. It is FULL OF BOOKS and has a waterfall/ fountain, and their dog is so cute. It rules.

We'll go to bed tonight so grateful that trust, hospitality, and generosity are so strong in this world.

-SLL

Mad Max: Biking on I-10

Fortunately there was a road for us to bike on through the desert.
Unfortunately there was only one.
Fortunately it was a direct route to the east.
Unfortunately there was a constant stream of trucks and RVs going 75+ MPH 4 feet to our left.
Fortunately there was a rumble strip separating us from the stream of traffic.
Unfortunately there was a steady 30 MPH wind blowing sideways.
Fortunately it was blowing from the north, thus blowing us away from traffic.
Unfortunately as trucks and large RVs passed by the wind would suddenly drop off, pulling us into traffic.
Fortunately it was a nice sunny day.
Unfortunately it was way too sunny and the gusting winds were causing sandstorms.
Fortunately we could find respite from the sun and wind in ditches under the interstate.
Unfortunately the ditches were only accessible by climbing around/over barbed wire fences.
Fortunately we had lots of water so we didn't die.
Unfortunately there were no facilities whatsoever during the 60 miles we had to ride on this hell road.
Fortunately we didn't need any stinking facilities, because we had sturdy bikes and strong legs.
Unfortunately I had a flat and had to patch it in the middle of the desert.
Fortunately we had a tube thanks to the family in Joshua Tree!
Unfortunately after getting off finally in Blythe, CA we found out that we had to do another 30 miles or so on I-10 in Arizona.
Fortunately the wind had died down, the shoulder was wider and we had great views!!

WJT

More from Joshua Tree

We were so wowed by the natural beauty of Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP).  I want to share some more shots from the park!  We are now enjoying a diner breakfast after a great night sleep at a free campground in Chiriaco Summit.  Looking back at the last three days in the park already is making me nostalgic for the wild views and uninterrupted nature that surrounded us.  

The wild forms of the Joshua Tree

Amazing cactus specimens

Many if not most of the plants were flowering during our visit!

So temporary art found near the remains of a mining operation on what is now park land.

Our campsite last night!

Joshua Tree

Dear Readers,

Precious shade

We last posted from Desert Hot Springs (DHS), a little resort town that has no apparent nice way for cyclists to enter or exit. We got a comfortable start on day 3 from DHS after a night in a hotel (much deserved, if you ask this bruised and battered biker), but then it was back to tough terrain and unkind roads.

We rode Route 62 from DHS to Yucca Valley. Readers. It was not a pleasant road to ride on. The choices: ride to the left of the shoulder and risk touching panniers to a passing vehicle, ride right on the rumble strip, risking sanity and the tightness of your bolts, or tiptoe the tightrope between rumble strip and guard rail. Yikes.

At least there were two lanes!

Nothing that ice cream can't fix! We picked some up in Yucca Valley to soothe our nerves, then headed up a gigantic hill to Joshua Tree. We reached the top feeling like we were finally in our tour groove- the feeling you get when you look over your coming miles knowing that they'll be hard and knowing that you'll do it anyway, hoping for milkshakes, content with pannier-crushed jellybeans.

A respectable hill- it's paved AND has a shoulder!

Joshua Tree National Park is a climber's paradise, but in the summer most California climbers content themselves with routes at Yosemite or elsewhere to avoid the extreme desert heat. The prime weather lined up with spring break at lots of schools out here, and made it nearly impossible to find a spot to camp.

We were glad we brought our climbing shoes!

Luckily we have had a ton of hospitality and help during our trip thus far. Here's a couple shout-outs:

Nate and Emily-
In addition to sending us off with a big diner breakfast on day 1, Nate found us a host for our first night out, then he and Emily met us in Joshua Tree for a night of camping. They brought TONS of food including delicious burritos for dinner and avocado-egg sandwiches for breakfast. Emily taught us about desert ecology, which was fantastic because it turns out the desert is having a MEGABLOOM (more on this soon) and we also saw a chuckwalla lizard, a hare, and tons of rad birds.
These guys are such MVPs and we are so grateful for their encouragement, supplies, and company.

Scrambling like a champ

Nighttime acro-yoga with full moon? Yes please. That's Nate keeping me in airplane!

Strangers on San Timoteo Canyon Road-
Some amazing folks with a ranch in the middle of a particularly nasty stretch of road for biking built this Bicycle Rest Stop that offers shade, water, bike tools, and a pump to weary riders. It was inspiring, and I hope to be able to offer something like this one day.

Campground companions-
These folks let us share their campsites when every site in the park was reserved. Austin and Ashton, we accidentally took your water bottle and we are grateful/ sorry about that. Email us if you see this! Jordan and Jose from LA, thank you for such a great time checking our the beautiful night sky and for letting us crash despite Jose's LA-style skepticism. As Jordan said, "What are they going to do? Carry our bodies away on their bikes?" Robert, have fun capturing incredible photos!

The Into the Transporter family-
When we left Joshua Tree this morning, a series of unfortunate events led us to three flats within an hour, two which led to unfixable tubes.. All of our functional tubes were on our bikes (it's nice to have some spares), and Will's tire a bit damaged (we used a dollar bill to patch the tire), we were pretty nervous about entering the desert without a whole lot of civilization ahead of us for days. In a fit of bike tour related confidence and fear, I flagged down a family that had bikes strapped to their truck to ask to buy any extra tubes they had. They gave us two to take with us! They were so kind and generous, and now as we enter the desert we have a lot less to fret about. Check out their blog! They are doing an awesome trip too.

-SLL

The first days!

Wheels in the Pacific!!

Jason of Newport Velo set us up!

Here we are in Desert Hot Springs.  Most people riding across country across the "Southern Tier" leave from San Deigo and parallel the I-8 corridor for a while before heading north the the I-10 corridor.  We wanted to go to Joshua Tree and leave from LA so we elected to head along the I-10 corridor the entire time.  Now we understand why this route my not be the most advisable...  But here we are!

Everything started great with about 30 miles on a bike path paralleling the Santa Ana "River".  Jason at Newport Velo did us a huge favor by accepting shipment of our bikes and helping us set them up when we got there!  He gave us great vibes and encouragement as we pushed off to start our journey.  We then had about 20 miles of city riding through Corona where most bike lanes were staging areas for construction equipment.

Back on the bike path for the last 15 or so making a very pleasant and tiring first day in the saddle.  We had great hospitality with a friend of a friend in Riverside, CA.  Grilled sous-vide steak, carne asada, guacamole, beers, showers, and a place to set up our tent was all we wanted
and more!  Thanks Dan and Nathan for setting it up!

Then came day 2....  Luckily we had a tailwind to help us navigate the 70 miles or so that got us here from Riverside.  We rode the last 3 miles of bike path along the Santa Ana and then heading into the wild that is rural backroads.  10 miles on San Timeteo Canyon Road was hot, uphill, and devoid of a paved shoulder for riding...  Fortunately we passes though miles of citrus groves so we had plenty to snack on!  We then cruised down though some "highway towns" and had some decent I-10 frontage roads.  We were flying with steady winds at our backs and set our sights on Desert Hot Springs, some 25 miles ahead.

After getting turned around outside the Morongo Native reservation because of their policy of no bicyclists we headed to a dirt frontage road along I-10 as it was the only other road in the valley to get us east.  We thought that was bad until we found ourselves climbing a 3 mile hill up into a giant field of wind turbines riding up rough gravel and sand with no end in sight.  As the sun started to set behind us we crested out at the top of the turbine field clutching our GPS enabled phones and counting down the miles of gravel road.  By 7 PM we had exited the fields and had a "easy" 8 miles cruising into Desert Hot Springs with the last of our energy.

Pizza and wings, a hot mineral bath, and 9 hours of sleep and we are ready for day 3!

What are we doing...

Is this a road?

continue on Painted Hills Road for 2.3 miles, F@#*...

-WJT

Costal Starlight

Dear Readers,

Today is Monday, March 21. Today was the day we started biking. 

It was great, and will make an excellent blogpost for another day.

Let's catch up though, shall we?

Since we last wrote, we headed west to the coast from Yosemite to Santa Cruz. We stayed with Will's culinary school friend, Andy, in his beautiful (totally what we imagined as very California) casita. Andy is the guy in charge of the kitchen at a restaurant nearby, the Cremer House. He brought us tons of delicious food, and the bartender was fantastic. We had local beer, really tasty food, and great times in general.  Thanks for the bike tour fuel, Andy!

Will finally got to feed his disc golf addiction! The Banana Slugs at UC Santa Cruz have a great mascot and really fun disc golf course, but I did say goodbye to my favorite of all time disc. Rest well, Wolfie.

We returned our rental car in Salinas and took the beautiful Costal Starlight Express Amtrak train along the coast to Santa Barbara. We ended that night in Carpinteria and camped on the beach. We finally stepped in the mighty Pacific.

Anyone know what plant this is? Portulaca maybe?

Carpinteria is a really fun town, and we had a great time waiting until our evening train to LA the next day. We stumbled upon (and then proceeded to sit on and ruin my jeans on) a natural tar pit and had a few great beers at the Island Brewing Company.

We arrived in LA on Friday night and had an amazing time with Abby and Dan that weekend. We brought a big crew including us, Abby and Dan, Scott and Katie (Will's high school buddy and his fiance), Larry (our college pal), and Larry's friend Dan. We hiked in the beautiful Malibou Creek State Park all day, bouldering and scrambling over rocks in an incredible canyon. 

Afterwards we had seafood at Malibou Seafood and tried to figure out if anyone around us was famous, and Dan taught us that by expanding those little white ketchup cups by the dispenser, you can exponentially increase their volume- a trick that will come in handy on the tour, no doubt.

Hanging with Larry on Saturday night. B.

Abby took us out to The Griffin, the bar that is the setting for the bar in the New Girl!

On Sunday we took a similar group, plus my high school friend Brida and her partner Joe, to Griffiths Park Observatory and the Hollywood sign.

Tons of thanks to Abby and Dan for their hospitality. Dear readers, they show their guests quite a good time.

Trees, a Valley, and some more Trees....

What a few days!!  I will mostly tell the tale in pictures.  If you have any questions about the trails we took, campsites we used, roads that were open, or anything at all please comment and we will get back to you!

Following our ski at Crater Lake we descended into a persistent rain event that was affecting hundreds of miles of terrain in all directions.  We decided to go straight for the Redwoods, about a 7 hour drive.  As we winded our way into Crescent City we could see the towering trunks next to the road but we would have to wait until morning to witness their true greatness.

I love these trees!

Sarah has never looked so small!

 Next stop Yosemite! Another long drive and rain, rain, rain...

Our views upon arrival!  Mysterious and wet

Climbing a trail to the rim built over 120 years ago!

Yosemite falls with a snowy Half-dome in the back...

 We really enjoyed this park and hope to return another year in a different season.  Beautiful vistas, stunning rocks, and we missed the crowds by visiting on a weekday early in the spring.  Next stop: Sequoia National Park

The Biggest Tree in the World!  

A kitchen used by native americans along the Kaweah River
I had to make some time for business research!

Sarah for scale

Above the clouds at Moro Rock

 Till next time!

-WJT