Over the Hill and Far Away……….

These are a few shots from our trip across the desert today

After our swim yesterday and a clean-up we took ourselves off into town. Redlands is another grid-pattern, widely spread out town so we called a taxi to get us the 2.5 miles into the centre. Just as we were about to leave, an elderly American lady accosted us and asked if we had come far “on those little bikes”! We modestly explained that they were in fact quite large bikes and yes we had come quite far. The conversation would no doubt have gone on much longer had the taxi meter not been ticking,

We followed the hotel receptionist’s recommendation and went to a “British pub” in downtown Redlands. Its main redeeming feature was that it was not particularly British. Apart from the obligatory pub bore who had presumably been imported specially, the clientelle was American, as was the food and most of the beer. We passed a pleasant couple of hours there. Redlands seemed like a nice town with some tree-lined avenues and views of hills in the distance.

This morning dawned…… (I think you know where I’m going with this one) and we set off down Interstate Highway 10 which would take us, via Palm Springs, all the way to Blythe which is just on the Californian side of the Arizona border. The countryside was a mixture of mountains and desert and at times was quite breathtaking. The frustrating thing about travelling on the Interstate is that it is not easy to stop and capture the views, although some good photos did get taken. Mark is also convinced he saw a body that had been wrapped in plastic and dumped in the central reservation but we didn’t get chance to go back and check!

We broke the journey at Chiriaco Summit, a gas station and diner set up by Mr and Mrs Chiriaco about 1925, just before the highway was built and which is still run by their family. There is also a General Patton Museum on the same site as this was apparently the training area for WWII US troops before they were sent to the Middle East. We got some nice pictures of tanks before departing.

When out of the mountains we were mainly riding through flat desert. The heat was intense and registered as 108F on the temperature gauge on Mark’s bike. It was so hot I did begin to have morbid thoughts about what the flash-point of petrol might be! Raising the visor on the helmet was like putting your head into a hot oven. As if that wasn’t enough, at one point near the end of the ride, an insect the size of a light aircraft hit my visor and I did the last 30 miles squinting out through squashed bug.

The desert wind was strong and we could see dust devils swirling either side of the road. Occasionally a cross wind full of dust and sand would hit us, which helped to break the monotony no end!

The most amazing thing was saw today however has to be a large party of cyclists making their way along our route. We were struggling with the gradients, the heat and the cross-winds even with 1250cc of Japanese technology to help us but these guys seemed to be taking it in their stride and waved cheerily to us as we passed them.

Despite the conditions we made good time and arrived in Blythe at 2pm. After a short prayer of thanks to the god of ice machines we then went on a shopping expedition to Kmart and Ace Hardware for essentials for the travelling motorcyclist such as gaffer tape and leather restorer. After that we cooled down in the pool.

Rather than try to discover if there is actually a downtown Blythe we ate at very pleasant diner just across from the hotel. I ordered zucchini (courgettes) as a starter and received a massive plate of breaded and deep-fried slices with blue cheese dip. I ate about half and commented on the size of the portions when refusing the offer to put the remainder in a take out box. The waitress proudly told me that “No-one leaves here hungry”.
By this stage the temperatures had dropped to a mere 100F. The waitress told us that her strategy for keeping cool was to take her kids and go and sit in the Colorado river. We are however putting our faith in the air conditioning in the room.

Tomorrow – which will doubtless dawn sunny and bright – we are planning to get to Ajo in Arizona.

We covered 164 miles today and our total so far is 1100 plus. Only another few thousand to go now!

We had a scintillating night at the Bull Shed yesterday as our farewell to Bakersfield. The high spot had to be watching just about the only other person in the bar. He sat at the end nursing a small glass of beer and adjusting his baseball cap. Initially it was peak front, then peak at the back and finally he took it off. That seemed to be his idea of a good night out. Mark had to be restrained from accosting him and shouting – “It’s a hat. The peak goes at the front. Read the instructions!”

We then got talking to a disgruntled music industry A&R man who had stopped off en route between San Francisco and LA where he was “nursemaiding” some bands. He gave us his take on the San Joaquim Valley – “The Abyss” – and Bakersfield – “380000 people and 360000 of them are idiots on account of the inbreeding”. He also scared the bejasus out of us with tales of gangs and highway piracy around Barstow, which we were about to pass through the next day.

Alarmingly we discovered that out bar bill was $71 of which only $24 was food. We put this down to the excessive price of soft drinks over here.

Anyway, the day dawned fine and sunny (I may get sick of typing those words). We set off down Route 58 and were soon climbing out of the valley into some spectacular mountain scenery. Once down the other side we were in the Mojave Desert. It’s flat and arid country but something of a novelty after the last few days.

We passed the huge Edwards AFB, watching the contrails of fighter jets frolicking in the clear sky above us and big transport jets lumbering in to land.

Stopping soon after for a much-needed rehydration we noticed signs at the rest area warning about rattlesnakes! It seems their preference is for dogs and small children but we did wonder if they could get their fangs through a motorcycle boot.

The riding was much easier today with a variety of roads from three-lane interstate to narrow two-lane highways to break the monotony. Despite the extreme heat we covered a respectable 182 miles and arrived in Redlands by 2pm having only got slightly lost looking for our hotel. After discovering the nearest bar is about 1.5 miles away we leapt into the small but blissfully cool swimming pool. The high here today has been about 40C (105F). It was fine when we were moving but almost unbearable when we were stopped in traffic.

No pine trees today but we did see Joshua trees in the desert.

Having found ourselves in a pleasant hotel and in the middle of a heatwave, we decided to have a rest day today. We are making good progress but up to 200 miles per day on a bike takes its toll and it’s good to have an occasional day off.

The temperatures here are nudging 37-38C which is about 100 for those of us who still think in fahrenheit. It is apparently approaching record high temperatures for the time of year and about 20F above average. Consequently we’ve done little more than stagger between the pool, the gym and the ice machine since we got up. 

We spent an interesting half hour or so last night in the bar (The Bull Shed) attached to the hotel. It seems to be a popular place with the locals and baseball caps and cowboy hats were present in abundance. We watched in horrified fascination as huge glasses were filled with ice which then had fluorescent green or blue liquids sloshed over it (and most of the surface of the bar) before being dumped in front of the lucky recipients. We stuck to beer!

On the subject of drink, we’ve noticed that Newcastle Brown Ale seems to figure prominently among the beer taps in many bars. Who says that the Brits have lost their entrepreneurial spirit if we’re actually able to export something so toxic that no-one at home wants it any more. It’s seems a bit like Chernobyl being able to sell its nuclear waste.

Anyway to return to the point, we are back on the road tomorrow and heading for Redlands which is just outside of San Bernadino. This was the last stop on the old Route 66 and we should cross it at some point but we won’t be joining it yet. From Redlands we should be a day’s ride from the Arizona border.

Thanks to all at home who have been following this blog. It’s great to get your feedback and comments and to know that we haven’t yet been entirely forgotten!

My day began with the sound of Mark swearing at someone in a call centre half a world away. The wonders of technology! The day appears to be ending in the same way! We’ve both had problems with our phones and card payments refused – presumably because some computer back in the UK wonders what some bloke who hasn’t left Stafford in the last 12 months is doing buying petrol in California. Still I am learning lots of new swear words just from listening to Mark.

Anyway, apart from that it has been a good day. Merced was a fairly nondescript grid-pattern town with no discernible central area. After a massive meal last night at The Branding Iron Restaurant (a popular place with local cattle ranchers apparently), we both passed on breakfast and set off in 90 degree heat down Route 99 through the San Joaquim Valley via Fresno and various other towns. The valley is very flat and agricultural with vineyards and grain silos dotting the landscape. There is a striking contrast between the wealth of the natural resources and the poverty of some of the communities we passed through.

The other thing that dots the landscape is billboards advertising legal services which always feature pictures of the lawyers looking both earnest and shifty in roughly equal measure. We have decided that if we get nicked down here we’ll engage the services of Randy Rumph (I kid you not)! If he can’t get us off, at least we can have a laugh along the way.

After 164 miles we reached Bakersfield and amazingly found the Hilton immediately. Our hotel was actually located somewhere behind there but remarkably the god of hotel bookings had smiled on Mark and our place was pleasingly upmarket too. This was evident when the ever-present Californian welcoming smiles faltered somewhat as two sweaty, dishevelled bikers shambled into their pristine lobby. However they let us book in and we took ourselves down to the large swimming pool which we had to ourselves. It was so good that we’ve decided to stay another day and have a rest day tomorrow.

We’ve just had a sumptuous meal in downtown Bakersfield mainly involving lots of seafood and wine. If you’re ever passing through I’d recommend the blackened salmon at the aptly named “The Mark” restaurant. I’d suggest avoiding the rest of the town unless you have kept your gang membership current (and apparently membership of AAA doesn’t count as a proper gang).

Mark has finally finished swearing at call centre operatives for the day so we’ll probably turn in now or maybe head to the hotel bar for a nightcap.

ps Did I mention there were no pine trees today. We have seen lots of palms and the occasional cactus though.

The day dawned bright and sunny and with the promise of a warm ride. We breakfasted at a local diner where Mark sensibly ordered bacon, eggs and hash browns – which for some reason were white. Meanwhile I fought a grim and bloody war of attrition with a large cow which had apparently fallen into a huge vat of potatoes and mushrooms before being diced and finally dispatched by having two large eggs dropped on it. Delicious – but I’m still struggling to digest it.

After the epic breakfast, we set off for Merced, some 200 miles south down Route 99.

However after a few minutes I watched Mark miss the intersection and accelerate merrily away down route 149. It was at that point that it occurred to me that this was not a good time to realise that neither of us has any sense of direction and we both have the memory-span of a particularly inattentive goldfish. There followed a frantic chase with much waving of arms before we found a farm track where we could turn round and get back on course. It was all plain sailing after that apart from navigating round Sacramento in what seemed to be rush hour!

The scenery was a mainly flat, agricultural and industrial landscape with rice-fields and orchards interspersed with small towns.

After just over 100 miles we needed a break and pulled over at a truckstop. We discovered that we were actually just outside of Lodi. You have to be a Creedence Clearwater Revival fan to realise how exciting this was! For those of you familiar with the lyrics of the song, you will be relieved to learn that we were in fact just passing through and we did not get stuck in Lodi again.

Naturally we got lost again looking for the hotel and when we finally got here we discovered that I had booked the room for last night rather than tonight! However we managed to smooth over that little blip and we are now shaved, showered, shampooed and ready to head off for our tea.

Our mileage today was 217 – exactly the same as yesterday – how weird is that?

Did I mention there were no pine trees today?

PS Sorry for the late post. The wifi was not cooperating last night.