Day 21: Woke up with the sun around 5:30am, packed up, grabbed breakfast at Denny’s, cleaned up in their bathroom, on the road by 7:30am. All freeway again today. Slow, steady climb for the morning; 2-4%. It looks flat but it’s enough to slow you down. You think you should be going faster or that something is wrong with your bike or legs but it’s just the grade. We’ve just been spoiled with a lot of flat & downhill lately that anything over 0% grade seems hard 🙂 We inflated our tubes a bit which seemed to help. There were nice shade trees every once in a while to stop for breaks. This stretch wasn’t too bad for traffic either since the right lane was reserved for slow vehicles only (which were all semis that couldn’t go fast uphill). Regular vehicles usually zip right by us but this morning was only slow trucks; a nice change of pace. The breeze they create when they pass us is nice too 🙂 There weren’t many options for water refill today so we stopped along the freeway to ask a busy garbage picker if he had any extra water to spare. He was happy to help & let us fill up our bottles. Thank you!
We had lunch under an overpass before enjoying 7 glorious free miles downhill to a gas station. We filled our water, got some snacks, rested a bit to avoid the heat & I blogged. They had a nice picnic area that was perfect for relaxing. The place was swarming with ravens! Those birds were bold! Funny too. They hopped around like the flying monkeys from Wizard of Oz. It was pretty comical to watch.
While we were chilling, a guy asked us for money. I never give people cash but I’ll buy them what they need (a meal, a pair of shoes, water) so I filled his RV tank with $30 of gas. He was in a wheelchair, can walk a little with a cane & his wife also has several health issues. He fell off a ladder last year & hasn’t been able to work since. He finally found a job in Vegas so they’re headed that way but were out of money & the RV kept breaking down. Maybe his story was made up. Maybe he has a gambling addiction & needs a fix in Vegas, but I’m willing to risk it for $30 that he was honest & needed the help he claimed. It’s not my job to judge him. I’d rather help someone who doesn’t need it than not help someone who does. No matter what, he needed help & I was happy to lend a hand. Plenty of people have helped me in my life (especially on this trip) & it’s only fair to pay it forward & help others in need. I’m so appreciative when others do the same for me.
Ben’s butt was really sore so to motivate him to keep going (especially since we had a harder climb ahead of us) I said we could stay in a motel tonight. That perked him up! He loves his luxuries 🙂 I never thought I would like to rough it more than Mr.Eagle Scout! But then again, I kind of like that; challenging gender roles! Eagle Scouts don’t always have to be outdoorsy & women don’t always have to like the luxurious life. Back on the road for the final stretch to Primm,NV. We left just in time, too. Not even 10 seconds after we left, a huge dust tornado came barreling through, encompassing the whole building & everyone outside. That would’ve been nasty to get caught in! We finished the climb & had all downhill to Primm. Wahoo! As we turned the corner to head north, you could see Primm off in the distance, but the most noticeable part of the landscape was a massive field of mirrors (acres & acres) for some energy production system. It’s called the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. The mirrors on the ground reflect up to a giant mirror on a tower, which creates steam that runs a turbine. So cool! It looked like a giant alien contraption 🙂 There were also fields & fields of regular photovoltaic solar panels, which I love to see. Go renewable energy! Riding into Primm looked like Emerald City (what’s with my Wizard of Oz reflections today?). It was so bright & shiny amongst the stark, bare desert; big glimmering mirror field & resorts galore in the middle of nowhere.
We rolled into Primm (officially state #2!), checked into our hotel, unloaded our gear, tried to go swimming (they had a huge, nice pool & hot tub, waiting for swimmers) but it’s “closed for the season” & requires a lifeguard. Ugh 🙁 The open season is in a few days…plus, I was a lifeguard, doesn’t that count for something? Ben made a curry dinner while I blogged. Early to bed.
Reflections:
1. So many beer bottles on the side of the freeway recently, & in clumps. Scattered would make sense but grouped together confuses me. For me, there are 2 possible explanations. 1) people pull over for car trouble or construction & have a few – not good if they’re driving! OR 2) people come out at night & have parties along the side of the freeway, which is kind of funny to picture.
2. Biking past memorials of car accidents where people have died is a little unsettling. Will we be next? If that happens, please don’t make a roadside memorial for me. I don’t want to come back to the place I was killed to visit my friends & family leaving flowers & notes. Make one for me in the Porkies! At least there we can remember the good times too, not just a horrible accident.
3. Biking uphill for extended periods of time, we go so slow that flies can keep up with us 🙂
4. New favorite snack on the road: avocado, mashed up in its skin cup with garlic powder & pepper, served with seasoned crackers. It’s like guac! Yum!
5. My vest serves as a sail & slows me down when I open it a bit while heading down a steep hill. It’s like a parachute when we bomb hills & I love it so I don’t go too fast 🙂
6. I can be a little OCD sometimes & I love systems to keep things organized or consistent, which has been handy in staying hydrated. Essentially, I take a sip of something every 5 minutes, alternating between water & electrolytes. I call it the 5s & 0s: water on the 5s, electrolytes on the 0s. You need water to stay alive = “staying alive on the 5s”. Electrolytes…electros = “electros on the 0s”. We’ve been using Nuun for electrolytes & I would definitely recommend them. It’s a flavored tablet you add to water to make your own Gatorade. They’ve really kept us hydrated & replenished our nutrients. Plus, it’s tasty, healthier than other over-sugared sports drinks, & cheaper. Thanks for the hookup, Erik!
7. People get nervous when they hear we’ve been riding on the freeway but we take several steps to be as cautious as possible & everything helps: neon helmet, neon vests, headlight & taillight, ear plug so we don’t get startled, & constant checking our rearview mirror for rogue drivers.
8. Distance is so warped in the desert, when there are long, straight stretches. Something looks like it’s right there, maybe a mile or 2 away, but in reality is still 15 miles away! What?
9. The landscape here is actually very pretty. The mountains are lovely . The heat & no water still suck but at least it was enjoyable to look at 🙂
10. Clouds exist? The past few days have been nothing but blazing heat & straight sunshine; not a cloud in sight. Today, a cloud blocked the sun for a minute & I actually ducked because I thought something was falling from the sky. Then I realized it was a cloud & I hadn’t seen one for so long! Silly perspective.
11. Speaking of perspective…on a big uphill day, like today (28 total uphill miles), any small grade feels downhill. There was a stretch I could’ve sworn was downhill but it was actually still up, it just looked down in comparison to the steeper uphill we had coming. It felt like this crooked house in South Dakota, called the Cosmos Mystery area (Mariah!). There are all sorts of weird angles & what looks up is down & vice versa. A ball will look like it’s rolling uphill based on its surroundings, but in reality it’s going downhill. Crazy. That’s how that hill felt to me today.
Well, the salad bar us calling us so I better dinner roll on outta here. Until next time!
Whitney