17 October 1997 (hot!!! mileage = 96.2; southern Death Valley) -- X - I
slept pretty well in the absolute silence of the desert. I got up before
dawn and packed up. It was just getting light as I started the flat tire
repair. What an ordeal. 3 patches and a previously bad tube later, I
finally got it to hold air. Next I had some Pop Tarts and took off. The
road was now merely very bad. But it got better and within a couple of
miles, I was onto the pavement. Then to the ranger station. I paid my $5
and talked to the guy. He said the south exit road was worse! Then some
fabulous downhill stretches. Quickly, the sun came out. Also the volatile
winds changed. It was VERY hot. I cranked away all morning at a good pace.
Desert, desert and more desert. Eventually, I came to a kiosk thing with a
picnic table halfway in its shade. I stopped there for a long rest. An old
couple pulled up and I talked to them while they ate lunch. They gave me an
apple. I jettisoned my 12-ounce spaghetti. We saw a stealth bomber, too.
Pretty neat. A bit pricey for $1 times 1,000,000,000. I finally rode out
into the sun. It wasn't too long before I got to the tourist place. I went
in the visitors center and watched a slide show. It was boring, but the
A.C.ed dark room was bliss. Once out, there were 2 loaded bikes. Amen! I
met Toni (female) and Mike (male). They are from New Zealand. They are
about the same experience level as April and me. In fact, they did a lot
of our trip clockwise. But they are totally non-Swiss. The Kiwi-style is
early-Chris style. Today, they brazenly wheeled their bikes into a resort,
took a shower and had a swim. It looked perfectly natural. I didn't swim,
since I knew the H2O would be hot, but I did enjoy an awesome quicky shower
for free. We hung out by the pool chatting for a long time. Eventually,
near dusk, we went to the grocery shop and bought quick dinner stuff and
ate outside on the patio. After dinner, we went back to the visitors center
for H2O and R.R. Then we took off into the night. They were a bit uneasy at
first, and I reassured them they'd like it. Sure enough, as the traffic
dwindled to zero, we rode 3 abreast, chatting as the miles slipped by. We
found bad water in the dark. When the moon came over the mountains, it was
very bright. We rode quite a ways and now we are camped at some random
spot. They both commented how much they enjoyed riding at night. Cool.
Literally. It's great now (~72 degrees F). At the pool, the temp said 102
degrees F!!! Yikes. Amazing.
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