Baker to Primm

OK, OK, I'm late with this post. Couple of good reasons. My last post was on Tuesday March 25. On that day we rode, mostly down hill for a total of 56 miles. In Baker there was Internet access at the Wills Fargo Motel that we stayed at. Very nice people running that place by the way.

Well on Thursday we had the 2nd big climb of the ride. Baker is in the bottom of a bowl and we started out towards Vegas by going up hill. Very gradual at first, but it got slowly steeper. This was not as steep, or as high as Woodford-Tehachapi Road, but it was long. It also featured 2 long uphills with a long downhill in the middle. That meant that we started at about 900 ft, climbed past 4,000 ft, descended past 4,000 again to about 3,500 ft, then climbed to 4,738 ft. All of this was over about 35 miles and before lunch. Which we ate later that day compared to other days.

After lunch we had a torturous descent to Primm, NV. This was about the worst shoulder I saw on the trip. Broken 2 x 6 lumber, large patches of gravel and debris, a wide rumble strip, and steep! I was on the brakes nearly the whole way down and I still hit 36 mph. I had to stop several times because my hands were cramping from trying to hold on and to brake. Oh, and don't forget the trucks with their burning brakes just off you're left shoulder and the intermittent gusts of wind trying to knock you over.

Once it flattened out it didn't get much better. The shoulder had huge ridges in it about every 10 feet. They are caused by the asphalt expanding and contracting from the heat of the desert day and cold of the night. Some of these ridges must have been 3 to 4 inches high. Not fun on a road bike at 20 mph.

The last 3 miles were smooth though and we all arrived safely at Whiskey Pete's in Primm.

I was beat and the WiFi wasn't working so good in the parking lot, where I slept in the trailer, so I didn't post that day.