Location: Glamis, CA
Campsite: Sand Rail Gathering in Desert
Miles: 23.6
Ride Time: 2:10
Weight: ?
Temperature: 105
Odometer: 185 Miles
Average Speed: 10.8
I didn't get out of bed until 10:30am, because I was sleeping so good in that hotel room. I got packed, and spent the next couple of hours in town trying to locate a phone charger so that I could send home my batteries which were too heavy, along witha lot of other gear that I wanted to get rid of to lighten the load. Overall, I ended up sending home about 17 pounds of gear. That's about 26 pounds total since
I left on this trip.
I took off in the heat of the day which was a bad idea, and rode about 25 miles. It was so freaking hot, I had to take a break every 30 minutes,a nd hope that I could find shade. There were farms with these aquaducts full of water, and I kept imagining myself jumping in there and swimming around like a wild animal after a long day in the sun. I felt like the sun was
sucking the life right out of me!
As I was riding, I saw this huge farms, full of cows. I have neevr seen so many cows in my entire life, there must-have been tens of thousands of cows at my best guess, all eating, preparing to be sucked dry of all their milk. I took some pictures, it was pretty cool to see.
Now for the fun part of my day. Something happened at the end of my ride that day the I am very happy about... I biffed it hard on my bike and fell straight to the hot pavement. I had slipped on
some sand, and down I went, hitting my elbow. What happened was, there's this huge group of people with RV's, tents, and all-terrain vehicles, jsut having fun in the desert, there were hundreds of them. I looked over at them, and when I did, I fell over.
Luis, one of the guys there came to my rescue and gave me some w
ater, and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine, but he was convinces that I was dehydrated, so he offered to have me stay there with them tonite, and they would cook me some carne asada, and give me plenty of water to drink. When I took a glimpse of the sand dunes ahead, and all of their nothingness, I made a wise decision and decided to stay with them tonite, and I'm very glad I did.
All these people had sand rails (which are vehicles you drive up and down on sand dunes with) and ATV's little 4-wheel drive vehicles. They were racing, riding, and just having
a good time. I hung out with two different parties that day. The Mexicans, and the old white guys. Theyw ere both a lot of fun. I hung out with the old guys during the sunny times, and then hung out with the Mexicans later that night when they cooked me dinner, and we all had some fun conversations getting to know each other. Before it got dark, one of the guys who had a sand rail offered to take me out for a ride. Holy cow! If you haven't been on one of those sand rails before, make it a goal of yours! If you think that off-road in a jeep is fun, just magnify that by 100 and you get riding dand dunes. You go almost vertical sometimes, and these machines ha
ve no problem getting up them. It was a blast. I took some videos, and one time about 50 pounds of sand hit me in the face, and now my camera lense won't shut, but it was all worth it.
Back with the Mexicans, while we were eating our tacos, Luis and his friends were talking about how every time they come out here they run into interesting people, and this time it was me. They said, how if they hadn't have met me, they wouldn't have had half of the
experiences they had that night, because I was involved in them. And if I hadn't have fallen I never would-have stopped there. We talked about having purpose in your life, Viktor Frankl, and searching for meaning in one's life. Our life experiences change as new people enter our lives.
Man, this is what this trip is all about! Having experiences like this is why I wanted to go on this trip. I know this is hard, but when you run across people like Luis and his friends, it makes the hard times worth it, and they recharge you for the next days's riding.
What a cool day!
Spiritual Thought of the Day:
Campsite: Sand Rail Gathering in Desert
Miles: 23.6
Ride Time: 2:10
Weight: ?
Temperature: 105
Odometer: 185 Miles
Average Speed: 10.8
I didn't get out of bed until 10:30am, because I was sleeping so good in that hotel room. I got packed, and spent the next couple of hours in town trying to locate a phone charger so that I could send home my batteries which were too heavy, along witha lot of other gear that I wanted to get rid of to lighten the load. Overall, I ended up sending home about 17 pounds of gear. That's about 26 pounds total since
I left on this trip.I took off in the heat of the day which was a bad idea, and rode about 25 miles. It was so freaking hot, I had to take a break every 30 minutes,a nd hope that I could find shade. There were farms with these aquaducts full of water, and I kept imagining myself jumping in there and swimming around like a wild animal after a long day in the sun. I felt like the sun was
sucking the life right out of me!As I was riding, I saw this huge farms, full of cows. I have neevr seen so many cows in my entire life, there must-have been tens of thousands of cows at my best guess, all eating, preparing to be sucked dry of all their milk. I took some pictures, it was pretty cool to see.
Now for the fun part of my day. Something happened at the end of my ride that day the I am very happy about... I biffed it hard on my bike and fell straight to the hot pavement. I had slipped on
some sand, and down I went, hitting my elbow. What happened was, there's this huge group of people with RV's, tents, and all-terrain vehicles, jsut having fun in the desert, there were hundreds of them. I looked over at them, and when I did, I fell over.Luis, one of the guys there came to my rescue and gave me some w
ater, and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine, but he was convinces that I was dehydrated, so he offered to have me stay there with them tonite, and they would cook me some carne asada, and give me plenty of water to drink. When I took a glimpse of the sand dunes ahead, and all of their nothingness, I made a wise decision and decided to stay with them tonite, and I'm very glad I did.All these people had sand rails (which are vehicles you drive up and down on sand dunes with) and ATV's little 4-wheel drive vehicles. They were racing, riding, and just having
a good time. I hung out with two different parties that day. The Mexicans, and the old white guys. Theyw ere both a lot of fun. I hung out with the old guys during the sunny times, and then hung out with the Mexicans later that night when they cooked me dinner, and we all had some fun conversations getting to know each other. Before it got dark, one of the guys who had a sand rail offered to take me out for a ride. Holy cow! If you haven't been on one of those sand rails before, make it a goal of yours! If you think that off-road in a jeep is fun, just magnify that by 100 and you get riding dand dunes. You go almost vertical sometimes, and these machines ha
ve no problem getting up them. It was a blast. I took some videos, and one time about 50 pounds of sand hit me in the face, and now my camera lense won't shut, but it was all worth it.Back with the Mexicans, while we were eating our tacos, Luis and his friends were talking about how every time they come out here they run into interesting people, and this time it was me. They said, how if they hadn't have met me, they wouldn't have had half of the
experiences they had that night, because I was involved in them. And if I hadn't have fallen I never would-have stopped there. We talked about having purpose in your life, Viktor Frankl, and searching for meaning in one's life. Our life experiences change as new people enter our lives.Man, this is what this trip is all about! Having experiences like this is why I wanted to go on this trip. I know this is hard, but when you run across people like Luis and his friends, it makes the hard times worth it, and they recharge you for the next days's riding.
What a cool day!
Spiritual Thought of the Day:
2 comments:
Dude, that is awesome, Luis sounds like a pretty sweet guy. On that note though, who just goes and hangs out in the desert? I guess I just dont know, and after the sand rail description, it sounds like good times. I think you are going to have a lot of experiences like these, where you are almost at your breaking point and something great happens. Just make sure to drink plenty of water!!:)
I am glad you made it to through the wind we encountered it as we rode out of camp that morning. You can be assured you will be an inspiration and the topic of many conversations in our group and family circle. Opting for taking the bus sounds like a wise decision. Don't forget why you are pedaling, the pain will pass but the glory will last forever my friend; or so I've heard it said. Here is the web address if you are interested www.glamisdunes.com
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