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Embarking on an Ill Advised Trip
Saturday, March 5, 2005 Day Six On my way out of LA, I stopped off to see another forum buddy to say, "Hi," before leaving town. He caught this shot as I pulled away.
Into the high desert of Southern California, the view of distant mountains is breathtaking. I found, though, that I soon tired of the desert vistas and their barrenness.
As the ride progressed into early evening, it became apparent that I would be needing my rain gear before the night was over.
Undaunted, I continued my journey. At my next gas stop, a guy came up to me and said, "Where ya headed?" I said, "Daytona Beach." "Me too!" This was the start of a new friendship. Ron and I completed the rest of the cross country trip together.
This particular gas stop also offered a product I had never seen before: Anti-Monkey Butt powder. I bought it for its gag value, but as it turned out, I was later very happy to have gotten it.
Before leaving this gas stop, we both donned our rain gear. I seemed that rain before the end of our day's ride was inevitable. I was hoping to reach Phoenix before I stopped. Ron said, "I have to reach Phoenix tonight, because I have a free place to stay at my sister-in-law's house." As we got closer to Phoenix, Ron confirmed that I could also spend the night there. It also began to rain pretty heavily. I was glad to have gotten rain gear from Orchard supply, but was not so good for biking. The leg kept getting melted on my pipes, and, unless I wrapped electrical tape around the legs, the flapping was beating me to death. Ron's sister-in-law actually lived in Candler, which was about 30 miles past Phoenix, so we didn't get to that general area until around 11 PM. Due to construction, some of the street signs were missing, especially the street where we were supposed to turn. It was raining hard, and I told Ron, "This is beginning to suck!" A couple more phone calls, and we found ourselves warmly sheltered and warmly welcomed with a beer in our hands and beds ready at around 11:30. The next morning we were treated to a World Class breakfast of bacon, eggs and potatoes and sent on our way. This day we had covered 431 miles in spite of both of us having a late start. Go to NEXT DAY'S STORY |
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