Paul and Siona's travels

• DAY 51: Tuesday 19th April 2022 – Quartzsite AZ to Blythe CA
• Distance: 38km
• Elevation gain: 180m
• Accomodation: Comfort Suites Hotel

A short day today began with a nice ride along a road that paralleled I10 and didn’t really go anywhere useful, so was pleasantly traffic free. It was an unusually cloudy day (Yuma AZ, 100km or so from here is officially the sunniest place on Earth, so presumably such days are a rarity) but it was still hot even at 9am. The road died out after 10km or so, and we were forced to rejoin I10 – cyclists are apparently allowed on the interstate shoulder if there is no other available road, which was the case here. Given the amount of heavy traffic thundering past, the signs warning cyclists to ride only on the shoulder seem a touch redundant – only a lunatic with a death wish would consider riding in the traffic lane. The ONLY advantage of being on the interstate is the occasional rest area with shaded picnic benches and toilets – we took advantage of such an area for our morning break today. After 20km, we took the exit for Ehrenburg AZ to find that a lorry had crashed off the exit ramp blocking the road – a reminder of how potentially dangerous these busy roads are (again, Adventure Cycling Association, get your act together and plan better routes!) The state troopers in attendance luckily said that we could push our bikes around the accident and we were soon into town. There was a dramatic change of scenery here with green fields, trees and water in the irrigated and fertile Colorado River valley. We quickly cycled through town and across the Colorado River on a pedestrian/cycle path into state number 4, California.This also brought us into the Pacific Time Zone, but because CA observes daylight saving time and AZ doesn’t the time stayed the same, which was a little confusing. A slight uphill and increasing headwind meant that we made hard work of the last 5km, but we were soon in Blythe CA checking into our hotel for the night.

• DAY 52 and 53:  Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st April 2022 – Rest Days in Blythe CA
• Distance: 0
• Elevation gain: 0
• Accomodation: Comfort Suites Hotel

We had 2 rest days in Blythe – we only really intended to have one rest day, but with a long 100km+ day coming up through the hottest, emptiest desert stretch of the trip, our trusty windfinder app told us that by delaying an extra day we could swap a 40-60kph headwind for a 10-20kph tailwind – a bit of a no brainer really! We had a couple of relaxing days sitting by the pool in a nice hotel. We took full advantage of the free breakfast buffet and the nearby Subway and McDonalds to build up our strength for the days ahead! We also managed to get Siona’s bike a new pedal at the local hardware store.

• DAY 54:  Friday 22nd April 2022 – Blythe CA to Palo Verde CA
• Distance: 38km
• Elevation gain: 150m
• Accomodation: Oxbow Recreation area CG

A short day today, but (as so many times on this trip) made tough by a very strong westerly wind. We followed CA78 through a very green and fertile farming area in a flat valley, irrigated by water from the nearby Colorado River. As expected, it was very windy – we were glad to be doing today’s short day rather than tomorrow’s long day under these conditions. The road zig-zagged around between heading South (crosswind blowing us out into traffic) and West (headwind nearly blowing us to a stop). We stopped at a gas station in Palo Verde to pick up supplies before struggling the last few km in the wind to the campground, the last km down a rough gravel track just to really finish us off. The campground was busy with lots of people swimming in the river on a Friday afternoon, but we found a quiet spot at the far end. The sign said $15 per motor vehicle, so we assumed free for us! The very friendly camp hosts came round after we had pitched the tent and confirmed that it was indeed free for cyclists. They also warned us to watch out for scorpions, a 5 foot rattlesnake that had been seen on the campground recently and 200 motorcyclists that were having a rally here this weekend – I’m not sure which of those things bothered us the most. Today was Siona’s birthday – a number less than 50, but not by much! – so we had a few celebratory drinks on our campsite (not that we really need an excuse!)

• DAY 55:  Saturday 23rd April 2022 – Palo Verde CA to Brawley CA
• Distance: 107km
• Elevation gain: 620m
• Accomodation: Days Inn Motel

A 5am alarm today for what we knew would be a tough 100km+ day through the hottest, emptiest desert section of the whole ride. Not an ideal start when I found that I had a slow puncture and my back tyre was soft – I opted to reinflate it and hope for the best, which seemed to work. We then had to negotiate the rough gravel track out of the campground to get back to CA94. Luckily the wind was behind us as forecast, but it was slow progress on a very undulating road through some lovely desert scenery. We knew that we had to reach a high point of 300m elevation before it was downhill all of the way to Glamis CA, the only place of note along the way after 60km. 300m doesn’t sound much, but for every 10m we went up, we seemed to go down by 7 or 8. Eventually we reached the top and had a lovely 20km downhill to Glamis. We were happy to find that the only shop in town was open and got burgers and cold drinks for lunch – at ridiculously inflated prices! I’m sure they would claim there are extra overheads because of the remote location, but it’s on a main road with multiple lorries passing by – it’s not like the stuff is delivered on a mule or anything. I suspect the high prices are due mainly to a lack of competition – the next shop is 60km away! The Glamis Beach Store seems to be mainly frequented by blokes (and it is always blokes) who come out here at the weekend to drive their dune buggies around on the sand – this seems like a strange pastime for grown men, but I suppose cycling overladen bikes through the desert is as well, so who am I to judge? After Glamis we cycled uphill through the dunes for 6km or so with an increasing wind that sandblasted us all the way – beautiful scenery, but not the most pleasant cycling. Eventually, we left the desert behind and cycled through a long section of irrigation canals and fertile farmland as we approached Brawley. By now we had a strong headwind from the west (again!) so were relieved to get into town and to our motel for the night.

• DAY 56:  Sunday 24rd April 2022 – Brawley CA to Calexico CA
• Distance: 36km
• Elevation gain: 50m
• Accomodation: Holiday Inn Express Motel

A short, flat easy day with a tailwind today – this may well be the only time on this entire ride that I get to write that sentence. We started out by retracing our steps through Brawley to the east side of town. Brawley is a rather rundown sort of place, with some dubious looking characters wandering the streets, so we didn’t linger too long. One woman yelled and waved a stick at us as we passed – she was stood on a street corner looking like she was looking for “business” but I’m not sure that is the best way to attract custom! The route we followed today was through flat agricultural land – a big contrast to the recent desert scenery. Brawley and Calexico are linked by the busy 4-lane CA111 highway, but the “Old Highway 111” road ran alongside it for most of the way, making a great almost traffic free road to cycle on. After crossing Interstate 8 we joined the main road for the last few km but on a wide shoulder. We arrived so early that we couldn’t check in to the motel, but the guy running the place was very helpful and we only had to wait 20 minutes while the room was cleaned. We were in a nice air conditioned room by soon after midday – a nice change after sweating for hours in the afternoon heat yesterday. Calexico is just a small town, right on the border sat opposite the much bigger Mexican town of Mexicali. This is as far south as we go – tomorrow we start heading due West for the last 200km or so to the Pacific Ocean!

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