Ocotillo, CA to Brawley, CA

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Shawne says...
Miles today: 59.25
Total Miles: 173.35
Flats Today: 1
Total Flats: 4

The road out of the RV Park was covered with loose sand and rock, much too soft for our road bikes to ride through. We walked out to the next paved road and climbed on the bikes. I had the forethought to put all of our water bottles in the freezer the night before, so we took a long pull of ice-cold water and started out. The asphalt in this town has seen many rough years of searing desert sun. The large cracks, sometimes two to three inches wide, were raised almost an inch at the edges. With no suspension and skinny road tires pumped up to 100 PSI, these roads rattled our teeth out of our skulls! My elbows and wrists were starting to feel the wear of hundreds of impacts for every mile of old highway passed.
We crossed paths with an older gentleman on his mountain bike. His wife was just dropping him off for his Saturday morning bike ride. He mentioned that he and his friends liked to train by riding up I-8 and cresting the 4,300 foot summit (that we decended yesterday) TWICE in one day! TWICE! Of course, Jo and I later justified it by making a note that he doesn't have fifty pounds of gear behind him, either. (Yeah, whatever, this guy must really be in shape!) He didn't like our route to El Centro...kept telling us that we could shave thirty miles off our trip if we took Old Hwy 80 instead of 98 to S29. We were in a dilemma-the last time a local told us to go off route to save time and avoid hills, we didn't take his advice. We later regretted that decision when, after climbing a ferocious grade, we crossed an overpass and coasted back down the mountain for a few miles to get to camp. If we had taken the stranger's advice, we could have had an easier climb to the campground, and we wouldn't have had to re-climb that section of the mountain that kicked our butts the day before!
Jo decided to stay on route and we parted ways with the man as he rode away down a dirt road that followed the railroad tracks. A few minutes later, I got another flat tire. Jo asked me why I was getting all the flats. I told her that I'm not sure, but it must be her fault! We were passed by a group of day riders heading the opposite direction. We pulled off the road in a driveway of a desert home in the middle of nowhere to fix the flat. A man emerged from the house and greeted us. His name was Sam, and he was full of interesting information about the area. He told us the story of the "Coyote Wells". Coyotes actually dig holes and find groundwater due to the shallow water table. I fixed my flat while he and Jo talked. By the time I was done, my hands were completely black from the road grime on my bike. Sam offered me some hand cleaner and I followed him to his house. After a quick hand-washing, we prepared to leave. Sam gave Jo a bandana with the map for the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) printed on it, which Jo LOVED. It was a cool gift, especially from a total stranger.
We made our way down 98, which was an incredibly smooth road. It had just been resealed, which made for a great ride. We passed many Border Patrol vehicles and were again passed by that same group of day riders. I didn't even hear them approaching and they startled me when they overtook me. We stopped at the Crucifixion Thorn Bush that Sam told us about so Jo could check it out. She hiked down the dirt road to the fenced area as I stayed with the bikes on the highway. I decided it was a good time to urinate, and only afterward did I realize over my left shoulder was a huge Border Patrol camera tower peeking over a sand dune. I could only hope that the Feds had better things to do than send out a unit to issue a "urinating in public" ticket.
A few miles later we came to our next turn onto State Route 29. This little gem of California's roadways was the WORST ROAD we have ever seen! Imagine riding on the rumble strip for eight miles. The only relief we could find was to ride on either the yellow center line or the white fog line. Literally, ride ON the paint. They gave some cushion to the huge cracks due to the many layers of thick reflective road paint that acted as a crack filler.
We cruised into El Centro and had lunch at Wendy's. A quick stop at the grocery store and we headed out. Jo was not feeling well-the heat was getting to her. The food made it worse. We pulled into Brawley and stopped at a gas station for a break. We needed fresh water badly. I never realized how hard it is to swallow hot water when you are thirsty. The ice in our water bottles had melted within the first ten miles, and the desert sun penetrated the bottled and heated the water to what seemed like coffee temperature.
Pulling up to the gas station, I tried to release my shoe from the pedal. I twisted and turned and pulled, but the pedal would not release. I almost fell over before I got the opposite foot out. Jo checked out the mechanism and said that my cleat was loose. I had her unlace the shoe so I could dismount my bicycle. It seemed that all the vibration from the horrible roads had loosened the screws that held the quick release cleat to my shoe. Of course, one screw had fallen out somewhere in the last 14 miles. We went inside to cool off and enjoy some fresh ice water. I joked about writing Governor Schwarzenegger about the terrible road conditions in his state. (Jo interrupts...Yeah, we said we'd write him a quick note. It would just say "Dear Sir, FIX YOUR ROADS! Thanks.")
We found a hardware store in town that had a good selection of small nuts and bolts and fixed the cleat. Next, we found the Library and updated our Blog. Afterward, Jo called the local Police Department and found a free spot to camp at the local community center. We arrived and asked if we could camp in the locked, fenced area around the pool. There were many homeless people wandering around the area which made me uncomfortable. A worker at the community center (aka "The Lion Center") told us that we could come inside and sleep in the air-conditioned conference room! How cool is that! Two nights in a row of free air-conditioned rooms!!! WOW!
We unloaded our gear and headed to the store for dinner and breakfast supplies. We had time to kill because an event in the main room of the center wouldn't end until 9 pm. We came back to the building and sat in the dark conference room. We didn't want to turn on the lights because there were many people just outside, and one wall of the room was all windows. I felt like we would be in a giant aquarium if we kicked on the lights. So, we sat back and enjoyed a few beers in the corner of this dark room with only the lights of the High School football field across the street shining through the windows. Loud Mexican music came through the walls and the smell of cooked meat filled the room from the event in the room next to ours.
After nine o'clock, the crowd left and the woman from the Lion Center (Becky) gave us free reign of the entire building. She informed us that the event was an AA meeting and that people leave their spouses at home and come here to fool around! We laughed and headed to the showers. After the woman exited the building, we burst out in laughter. We were hiding in a dark corner of a room, drinking beer, while there was an AA meeting in the next room!! HA HA! That's crazy.
The showers were something out of a high school horror film. Two clusters of shower heads on two large pipes, divided by old water-stained metal partitions in a large tiled area were on one side of the room. The rest of the room was filled with lockers and benches. We could not get the showers to turn on; there was no water pressure. To add to the creepiness, the lights didn't work either. I had to use my flashlight to search the room and finally found a large valve connected to a manifold of old pipes with temperature gauges sticking out here and there. I hoped that it wasn't a gas main or a steam line. I cautiously opened the valve. Hooray! Water spewed from the showerheads! Even though there was no HOT water, the shower was nice. We cooked dinner in the full kitchen and hit the sack. Today was one of the most interesting days so far.

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Photos

Sea Level
We passed this silo, and looked up to find that we were below sea level! Do you see the line?

Becky letting Shawne in...
Heading in to air conditioning!

Comments

[Erin]

It seems you guys have been having an interesting time already. I hope Jo's knee starts feeling better. The people you meet are amazing. Then again people always seem to amaze me. I hope you continue to have a successful and awesome trip. Thank you for keeping us posted on everything.