Our Progress and Today

 I think Thom and Claudia did a great job in summarizing today, so I thought I would add just a few comments, some pictures, a reflection on the first week and some modifications to the blog.

First today:

Yes the wind was incredible for the first 18 or 19 miles. When we turned on to I 40 and the wind was behind us, it was surprising how quiet it was.  Today we ran into other bikers for the first time. One guy was riding to Boston and the other was riding to Texas. They were on self contained trips meaning they carry all their supplies.

As we were riding through the desert, I kept thinking of a certain radio personality who tried to get The Horse with No Name as ear candy for me. It didn't work. However at lunch the radio was blaring Big Shot by Billy Joel. That became my ear candy.

We spent most of the day (and will for the next week) on I 40. At one exit there was a sign saying bicycles must exit. If we did it would have added 30 miles to our ride, so we didn't. A few miles down the road, there was a Highway Patrol Officer on the side of the road. Thom happened to be in the lead at that point. The officer didn't say anything to either of us and drove past us a few miles later. 

This picture is of a wind turbine blade that fell off a train. Unfortunately it doesn't do justice to the size and the mess it made of a train we drove past on Saturday that was carry a whole bunch of turbine blades.

This is a picture for Trish who said I should have Peanut M&M's. If you look at my Garmin that was almost at mile 65 of today's ride. I had to buy 2 bags in order to use my credit card. Don't worry, we finished them.

We went past another sign for the Heart of the Mojave. 

Here is today's ride on Strava for all you biking nerds.

I spent a lot of time creating the "Route in Detail" spreadsheet.  It was a good idea but as the trip is evolving we realize that we have to create a new route for the next day each evening. We also stop for breaks when we feel like it not according to a schedule. So if you are planning on meeting us or cheering us on by ringing some cowbells, you need to watch the blog. 

Our Progress

I created a spreadsheet to show our progress.