In desert between San Bernardino and Beaumont and I'm told 100°F+ heat at noon wondering how good it would be to be on a train sipping a cool drink and seeing this landscape. I did not make it to Banning which is another 8 miles away. I am a fairly loyal person, persistent, some have even said stubborn or just stupidly fixed to an idea.
I met a bicyclist about ten years ago on one of those Sonoma County back roads that lead as most of them do to Petaluma. It was a very hot day and he was in trouble. I was driving my pickup with a bunch of camping gear heading back to Marin from the Russian River. He had ridden his bicycle from Portland Oregon almost to SF where he worked as teacher. He had ridden nearly 700 miles and climbed 30,000 feet. And yet he took a ride to the Larkspur Ferry that day 50 miles short of his destination.
The teacher made the right decision and I believe I did also to stop 8 miles short of yesterday’s goal. Today I am staying over in Beaumont and will take my time approaching the uninhabited desert to acclimate myself and I hope to find a strategy for crossing to Arizona. I have ridden 587 miles so far and my bike guru is telling me that I can do this, that my goals should be to start around 5AM and ride for 6 hours. Then find shade. If I need to ride some more that day then do it in the evening. This sounds like good advice.
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