Live for the Path

42 miles – 5.5 hours saddle time

(A note on saddle time: this is automatically calculated by my bike odometer and only counts the amount of time I am actually moving. Therefore, really hard days like this are going to show less saddle time than there actually was because I was off the bike resting, cursing the wind, etc. more often than days that are going well.)

I got up a little late, and set out at around 8am.

Outside my motel in the morning.

Another mountain shot.

One more.

Palm Springs

I stopped at a Burger King on the main street of Palm Springs, which was quite nice (Palm Springs, not BK). Anyway, heading north out of town I thought everything was going great, only to find when I reached the 10 that I did not take a turn that I was supposed to take to stay on the 111. Along the way I rode through one of the largest wind farms in North America.

Wind Farm

More Wind Farms

What a shot. He was going around 40 at the time and my camera surprisingly did not flip out.

More of the same.

So now I was a few miles farther East than I wanted to be. I spent around an hour trying to follow a path that I found on Google Maps to take me through the first part of the pass without getting on the 10 (now apparently illegal). I got to the road that was supposed to take me there, I got stopped by a fence saying it was private property. Lame.

I turned around and went back down the hill I had climbed, looked around, and saw no alternative to taking the 10, so I got on it, apparently illegally. (Note: it may have actually been legal and missigned, as I found out later that night on the internet.) Anyway, I hauled ass for the next two miles to the next exit, and got off and took a gravel path for a few miles. This was a horrible idea, and I ended up walking my bike for a while.

I invented a new game. It is called offroading with a fully-loaded tour bike! All the kids will be playing it.

I eventually got to another road that I could actually ride on. I stopped at a McDonald’s and chilled for a little while, because I was exhausted from the wind.

I eventually got going, and had a route planned out to get to Banning without getting back on the 10. I start out up Fields Road, and come to a checkpoint for the Native American tribe who owned the land. I told them my situation, and they had no sympathy, and told me it was private land, and they turned me around and sent me back towards the I-10. I sighed, and turned around and looked for another route. I saw a Railroad Avenue that may or may not have been a real road the entire time, and started along it. I was going along (slowly due to the wind) and sure enough, another dirt and gravel path. I pushed the bike again, and eventually, finally, got to Banning. I was cruising down the main street of the town, saw a Travelodge, and got a room. I ordered takeout, and relaxed for the remainder of the night after such a brutal day.

Two quick postscripts: First I finally figured out how to use Google Maps correctly, so no more scrolling needed. Second, remember that this blog is updated M-F… so see you next week!