 
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 - Go East Young Man, Go East!
40 miles. Sweet Water County Park to Potrero County Park.
We left our campsite at dawn having arisen 90 minutes
before sunrise. This is our usual M.O., thus assuring maximum daylight for
riding. To get on the main route required negotiating a construction
detour at rush hour not for the faint of heart, then on to Jammbul and Dulzura.
Here the ascent became a grueling climb with heat increasing as we put the
coast farther behind us.
We took numerous breaks as we struggled with the as yet
unaccustomed weight of our packs, loaded with cold weather gear and a full load
of water and stove fuel. In Dulzura [population 700 spread all over the
universe] we stopped at the only store for a sandwich and out in front was an
OLD timer spinning a yarn from here to the moon about some local yokel. He
is probably still talking now. I would have loved to have recorded it he
was so good.
We continued the climb to Potrero where we are camping
on the luxuriant leaf duff of CA live oaks. Total distance today was 35-40
miles. Here we found out from an informative local that we were fortunate in
that instead of a wind from the ocean behind us, the Santa Ana winds had been
blowing strongly out of the desert and down S.R. 94 for the three previous days,
which would have made our ride doubly difficult. It is impossible to train
for this kind of riding since there no mountains in MI and this is not kind
terrain for a cyclo tourist. We are also experiencing some of what we call
"touring shock" since there is no way to truly train for the trip.
We will take it easy as necessary and leave Freeway mileage junky down in his
cave until we encounter more humane cycling territory. Lookout Florida!
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