Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Bike back to Seattle day 3 and 4: Salome, AZ to Blythe to EL Centro, CA

Hey everyone!

Well I got a eariler start today I left the campsite at 1015am today but stopped at the library across the street to use the wifi and catch up on some blogging so by the time I left there it was 11am still 2 hrs eariler then yesterday! 

Today's ride ended up being about 70 miles with 1000ft of elevation so back on hwy 60 I went again the shoulder had a lot of debri on it so I rode on the right side of the lane and just checked my rearview  every 10 sec or so and if I saw a car I would just hit the shoulder when they got close to me for them to pass safely along the way there's was a very scenic view of the mountains on both sides of me that was hard not to look at and admire while I was riding I passed thru a few small towns then hwy 60 ends and I had to get on hwy 10 whare bikes have to ride on the shoulder at all times luckily the shoulder was very wide so I could easily dodge debri. So after that I got to Quartzsite, AZ 42 miles in and took a break at the public library for some lunch.
After that explored the library for a few then on the way out I stopped at McDonalds for their dollar yogurt parfait and a dollar any size soft drink I had about 6 refills of poweraid then headed out. At this point I started hitting some downhill it was pretty easy biking and before I knew it I got to the Califorina border!
After that it was just a few a few miles to Blythe, CA whare I stayed with Warmshowers host Wayne owner of the B&B Bait shop which he has run for almost 30 years!


It was an amazing expeareance he showed me whare I could take a shower and do laundry so I got settled and showered, changed and washed my very dirty bike clothes and when I got done he had a bunch of beer and beef tamales out to feast on! He also said he would buy me breakfast the next moring at the local cafe! We chatted for a little bit then he headed to bed and I waited for Matt another bike tourist to arrive he got in at 8 well after dark he had biked over 100 miles that day! There's was a bunch of beef tamales out but he said he was vegitarian so I gave him the last of my fruit and I ate more tamales. So we chatted it up for a bit and I found out he was just 21 years old and was biking from Phenoix,AZ to 59 palms about 100 miles west from Blythe, CA.  At 21 I didn't even know what bike touring was I wish I had but better late then never I was also able to share some of my wisdom with him and we talked about different things we had learned from touring he told me about a website http://www.wwoffusa.org/ it's a site whare you can stay at different farms across the US and all over the world and you work for your lodging! After that we headed to bed for the evening.
 
The next moring we got up earily and headed for breakfast and also found out he owns the recycling plant in town and he asked us if me and Matt wanted to work for a few hours and earn some cash and we accepted so we got to the plant and had to move these big metal rails out of one of the recycling bins and get them piled up outside heres a shot of the stack.
After that he had us sort out glass bottles seperating clear and not clear ones and flattening cardboard boxes then we headed back to the bait shop and he had us load these huge sacks of plastic and crushed metal cans onto some trailers heres a shot of me and Matt when we got done!
 After that I was having so much fun I had lost track of time and realized there was no way I could make the 105 mile ride to El Centro, CA Then I remembered last night another guy there Dennis that was heading for Brawley, CA 15 miles north of El Centro later that day at 430 and him and Wayne also told me that hwy 78 the route I was taking to El Centro was pretty dangerours for cyclists a lot of the hwy has no shoulder and people speed through at over 80 mph so as to not inconvinence the warmshower host Brian by changing the date at the last min I was staying with in El Centro I decided to take him up on the offer and hanged out at Bait shop got a nap in and relaxed till 430 then folded up the bike and got all my stuff in his trunk! By the time we left it was closer to 5 and we blazed down hwy 78 at over 80mph and we chatted it up and had some laughs on the way down he dropped me off at about 645 at this point it was dark but all the roads had lights so it wasn't a big deal. So I got loaded up and headed down hwy 86 to El Centro the roads were pretty rough and after 15 miles I was in El Centro!
After stopping for a sec to check my map for directions I headed for Brian's house I got there at about 830.  Brian was very welcoming we chatted for a short bit then he showed me in and gave me a bed to sleep in and a place to shower it's the first bed I had slept in since Tempe,AZ 
So I got settled in took a shower and headed to bed. 
The next morning I got up and Brian made me some oatmeal and made a mixed veggie shake that was really good we chatted for a bit swapping stories then he had to head to work in a few so I got packed up to head out. 
Well that's it for this page in the blog. Thanks for reading!

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