Indio to Blythe, CA

This was not a fun day for me.  It's 97 miles to Blythe from Indio.  We rode on the shoulder of Interstate 10 most of the day.  There's a twelve-mile climb out of Blythe with 2-6% grade.  The wind was in our faces and the road surface was in very poor shape.   It was raining as we arrived at the hotel.  Weird weather this year.  I was pretty beat by the time we finished the ride.  Willie is a saint for staying with me.  Willie is stopping to thank first-responders when he can.  We visited the fire station outside of Blythe and met a very nice fireman who opened the doors so we could see the fire engines before carrying on.  No Dalmation - I was disappointed.  Someone should buy them a stuffed dog at the very least!

6:55 hours, 97 miles, 2,309' of climb, 4,608 Calories.  Yes, I got my large, chocolate mile shake at the end.

This is a shout out to the motorist who stopped to talk to Harry and Tony.  Thank you!

Oh, yes.  I had one of those f-words, a fl@t, just before the second SAG stop.  I walked the last 0.3 miles - it was faster than changing the inner tube on my own.  When I got to the stop, Larry took my bike and replaced the tube for me while I refilled my water bottles and grabbed something to eat.

Dinner is now over and I need to finish this  quickly before I go to bed.  It's 116 miles to Wickenburg, AZ tomorrow with some hills to climb.

The iron men.  No keeping up with these big dogs.

 The twelve-mile climb out of Indio.

FL@T

Note the condition of the roadway.  Brutal.