Date(s): Sept. 24, 1999
Day: Friday
From: Palo Verde
To: Blythe
Lodging: House of a friend of the leader
Actual Riding Time: 2:24, much of it around town
Average Speed: 12.7
Weather: Temp: Sunny, humid, high 80's
I got a relatively early start today from the trailer court, then sent email from the phone at the market while most of the others headed out. I passed through Ripley, bypassing the first store, usually a mistake, as there are so few stores in this area. There was a small Mexican market with a big unruly dog out front that 'greeted' me but backed off as I approached. The owner said that the town was dying, with fewer migrants coming each year, mostly now to pick lemons. Machinery does most of the harvesting of the cotton and hay. I suggested the dog wasn't good for business and she seemed a little frustrated that the neighbor let it run free. Just outside of town I did a quick watercolor of the fields and mountains beyond. Later I met up with Lynne and Janet, and Janet and I rode together for a while, Janet setting me straight on the difference between straw and hay. Janet knows everything, including how to fix most people's bikes, experience gained from running an olive orchard, teaching for many years, and riding cross country several times (she wouldn't say how many).
Since it was such a short day, Spike and I arrived at around 11:30 and waited for a minute at the Albertson's market for the others to arrive to buy provisions for the day. It was great to have some time in Blythe to get reorganized and to just kick back, especially since we had the run of the downstairs of the house of a friend of Jim, the tour leader. Some of us spent the afternoon watching Tiger Woods sink chip shots in the Ryder Cup in the air conditioning. I cruised through town, dropped off the film from my throwaway camera to be processed, and stopped by the library, one of the few without Internet access, but with great air conditioning, and the latest Infoworld magazine.
Dinner was at a good Mexican restaurant, a long walk from the house, but it gave Suzanne a chance to get new bike gloves from the bare-bones bike shop where Oliver had earlier asked for help on his rear wheel and they made it worse than before. In that case Janet came to the rescue again and trued it as good as you can without a trueing machine. Some of the group decided to see the movie The Sixth Sense, which got good reviews from everyone. The rest of us walked by McDonalds for an ice cream cone and then back to bed, but not before I demonstrated this Sharp TM-20 to Lynne and Spike. They were going to tell their son Ty about the web page. Earplugs and eyemask were in order due to the busy road behind the house, and the street light. Jimmy and Todd didn't get much sleep, as they had to get up early in order to get to Quartzite by 8am to retrieve the mail while the mailman was still the office. Saturday is also a short day, which will will give us all some time to recuperate and get ready for two long uphill days.
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