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Monday, October 8, 2001 - One State Down, Seven to Go
Palo Verde CA to B10 RV camp, Quartzsite AZ
We started out today a little late, about 8:30. Before
we left we bid adieu to a couple who were riding cross country from Bar Harbor,
Me to San Diego. It was their first major tour, quite an achievement.
I didn't tell them that I had spent more money for my bottom bracket than her
bicycle cost. We rode the first 21 miles into Blythe, CA (pop.
8,428) in 90 minutes, just to show what we can do when the terrain is kind.
This area is level and irrigated farming is the order of the day. Hay and
cotton are the main crops right now with melons grown in the hotter months.
Bits of cotton from the fields wafted in the air and stuck to us as we rode
past.
The Colorado River provides the life giving water and at this
point gives up its life as it is here that it is finally tapped out. It no
longer reaches the Gulf of California and with that has been lost a unique
riparian-delta ecosystem where Mexican and coastal life intermixed.
There were actually jaguar in the mix, but we will never see that again. In
Blythe we had breakfast at a great little Mexican restaurant that caught my eye
with its home made tortillas. They made us some by hand to take out.
After eating we sat around and talked to the owner/waitress for an hour before
heading out.
In a few miles we crossed the Colorado River and
climbed about 1,000 feet, now routine, on I-10. We are moving up in the
Interstate world. We started out on I-5, moved up to I-8 and graduated to
I-10 today. This wouldn't been have such a bad ride except for these
annoying diagonal rumble strips every 30 feet.
We were happy to exit onto old U.S. 95. The last
five miles into Quartzsite were down, the most perfect coasting-pedal down
descent I have ever ridden. Most of it could be coasted with out any
braking, not wasting any of the drop.
We arrived in Quartzsite just in time for a brief
shower. They do get winter rain but said that this was the most summer
rain in three years. This area draws large numbers of snowbirds every
winter. They swarm out into the desert during the cooler months turning it
into a giant BLM RV park. Then in a few weeks they migrate away.
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