Sept 26th A good nights sleep in Aguila sees me up and away by 8.00am. a short step today as beyond Wickenburg there is nowhere to stop and camp for another 36 miles and I am not up for a 60+ mile day in this heat. Its 16 miles of gentle uphill on a straight as a dye road passing the ominously named 'Vulture Mountains' followed by a descent over 10 miles, the scenery is pretty boring and barren. I am well prepared with energy drinks , gatorade and 3 kilos ice plus 3 litres water , there are no services [View Full Entry]

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Sept 25th The night terrors, or panic attack or whatever left me chastened in the morning and a bit unsteady , a gentle day is in order as I have a lot of wee aches and pains ,numbness etc, I'm only 75% to be sure. I leave Hope with little interaction from other human beings, the guy who named it did so in the hope that prosperity would follow, one RV park one gas station, population twelve , it didnt work. A wee climb to start with then on for brekkie in Wendon pop 556, 12 miles up the road. A [View Full Entry]

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24th Sept Its not a good start, almost no sleep last night, two steep climbs ahead on the damn interstate (when no other routes are available cyclists are allowed on the interstates, normaly they are not) hate the interstates. I am looking at getting to Brenda where there are some RV parks. First step at 7.45 off up the hill to Quartzsite Az. pop 3,300 , It is a grueling grind but downhill the last 7 miles after a 14 mile climb. At the entrance to town there are a couple of shops, I get some Jerky and head for the [View Full Entry]

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Sept 23rd In bed and asleep by 9.30 last night, after a good sleep I'm up at 6.15 and leave the site by 8.00am , there's no-one around to pay or place to leave money so I had a free night. A bit saddle sore today so its a short 23 mile ride through the flat agricultural lands of Riverside County to Blyth at the edge of the Colorado River and the State boundry with Arizona, nothing remarkable to see. In Blythe I spent about 3 hours in Starbucks on the net, chatting , updating reviewing the route etc , it [View Full Entry]

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Sept 22 Did not sleep well spent loads of time searching for the key in the bags on the grass ah! No key for the washroom as everything closed when I arrived so that was inconvenient too. Up at 6.45 , more searching in vain, have to wait for the office to open at 8.00 , bolt cutters solve the problem but my start has been delayed till 8.30, sun is up since 7.00 I have lost an hour and a half. So can I make it to Palo Verde 82 miles , will the services at Glamis be open (they [View Full Entry]

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Septemner 21st Up at 6.15 , Well up all bloody night, one trailer had an awful lot of visitors coming and going - hmmmm. Boy was it cold , had to put on my fleece and trousers, finger numbing cold like. Two climbs await today , then its downhill at last ! and the yuha desert to get to the imperial valley, below sea level. Not hungry after the pizza so no brekkie and off at 8 am . The climbs were easier not to steep and my body is becoming accustomed. Rode real closs to the Mexican border and passed [View Full Entry]

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Sept 20th A great nights sleep at the indian reservation campsite, quiet peacefull and relaxed after the spa. Up at 6.15, Damn serious climbing today up to 4000 ft down 1000 and back up 1000 before descending , tougher than yesterday. Imagine my delight when I met Ed at 7.30 when preparing to leave. He offered to take my trailer up the first climb in his van and then come down and meet me on the road. The purist in me wanted to refuse the offer but what the hell I'm still pedaling the whole route, ten miles of equipment lift [View Full Entry]

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19th Sept 2008 Day one of the journey has finaly arrived, Slept less than four hours last night, despite having a few beers to hasten the onset of sleep, hardly the best prepararion ! Up at 5.45 Some final tinkering with equipment; the big last minute niggle being a pain in my right knee which has come and gone since arriving here, last night the pain was rotten and made me limp, maybee I'm taking on too much and will falter ignominiously in the first week ! Ed arrives at 6.45 and we shoot off on the bikes to ocean beach, [View Full Entry]

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Some photos of San Diego [View Full Entry]

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Time difference issues resulted in an agreeable early rise and re-assembly of the bubble wrapped bike. I was assisted in this by the owner of the Motel, a charming older guy who has a hands on approach to his business - sweeping up in the patio at 7.00 am ! A lot of the morning was spent on-line in video conference with family and friends, I am well pleased I brought this mini lap top, considering how much wi-fi there is here who needs phones. Ed came round to the motel to say hello (he and I should be meeting up [View Full Entry]

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