Here we are on the Streets of Bakersfield

 

That's today's ride on Strava. Thom and I reduced our mileage today. We only rode 115 miles. There was a little climb about of about 4 miles from miles 25 to 29. Then we went downhill with the wind behind us. For one 5 mile segment we averaged 27.6 MPH. The speed was all due to our legs and not the wind or the fact that we were going downhill. That was fun. For the whole ride we averaged 15.8 MPH. It could have been faster but we ended up riding on a mostly dirt road through an almond orchard for awhile. We did end with over 5 miles of bike paths along the river in Bakersfield. It was a delight. We learned that we really should work on our routes and alternatives before we leave and not try and  do it in the field. 

The route we rode is famous for the James Dean Memorial Intersection, where James Dean was killed in a car accident;. Here's a picture of Thom and me at the intersection. Who out there in the blogosphere is going to tell me what I did to my camera to take a picture like that?

We had lunch at a place that advertises itself as James Dean's last stop before he died. I had to have a picture of me and James. Don't we look the same?

Actually he doesn't have a bike or a helmet.

Our technical difficulties besides routing were minimal today. We are still having some lights issues but we are getting closer to resolving them.

We really appreciate our readers words of support on the blog and Facebook and your donations to TourdeCure and the Africa Teacher Foundation. We are a little too busy to answer all the questions individually. But here are a few answers:

Yes, We know our team is the No Matching Shirts and Thom and I wore matching shirts on the first day. While we have other matching shirts, we agreed that we aren't going to try and match the shirts most days.

People have asked if we are crazy for trying this. We don't think so but ask again in a few days.

No Claudia is not following us in the car. Claudia does her thing during the day and meets us at the hotel at the end of the ride. 

Tomorrow we have agreed that we are not going past our agreed upon destination Mojave. It is only 74.9 miles but will be over 6,000 feet of climbing. That's more climbing than we have done in total so far.

I hope everyone remembers to wish Thom a Happy Birthday tomorrow. He is catching up to me and will be 70.