{"id":530,"date":"2017-05-11T22:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T05:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/?p=530"},"modified":"2017-05-14T15:11:48","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T22:11:48","slug":"brawley-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/brawley-ca\/","title":{"rendered":"Brawley, CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Desert riding today, a lot of it urban desert.<\/p>\n

\"yuha
In the morning, I started from Ocotillo. There are two paths to Seeley – the regular one through Plaster City on top, which 3 people dis-recommended, and the lower one, the Yuha Alternate, which is longer, but supposedly has less bad road. (The really good road, Interstate 8, is illegal for bicycles in this section.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"hwy
The first part of the Yuha Alternate is a 20.5 mile segment through the Yuha desert. The road is good, smooth, fast. No wind in the morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"mystery
I kept seeing these blue and orange flags in the desert, spaced at about half-mile intervals. Curiosity finally got the better of me, and when I saw one near the road, I investigated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"water
This is what’s inside. Water. So if you’re ever stranded in the desert, look for the flags.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"bad
After the Yuha alternate turned left, there were 6.5 miles of bad, torn-up road. It was worse than it looks in the picture. But better 6.5 miles of bad than 19.5 miles of horrible. I have no regrets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"store
The store at Seeley was being massively remodeled. It was astounding for a small-town store. I got a Tamarindo popsicle. They also will have a restaurant inside in a couple months.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"lunch
This lunch consisting of a lot of roasted chicken, tomatillo salsa, roasted pepper, lime, and tortillas was in the heated section of the meat market. $2.65 . Even though it was only 9:30 am, I couldn’t pass up this bargain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"large
By 11:30, I was in El Centro, a large city with multiple commercial strips and all the common chain stores. I went to Wendy’s, where I got the largest frosty. I also checked the weather for Brawley tomorrow. Today 91, tomorrow 98.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"dry
This is actually the driest cemetery I’ve ever seen. There are headstones and plastic flowers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"townhouse
This is the motel that Louise and Mike recommended to me. Air conditioned room, iron, ironing board, toaster, coffee maker, kleenex, microwave, direcTV, refrigerator, wi-fi, and breakfast from 5-9 am in the morning. $59.90 including tax.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After my dinner at Carl’s Jr next door, I met Richard, who was sitting out on the chair provided outside each of our rooms. He’s a veteran (navy, Vietnam) on motorcycle, joining an annual rally ride to Washington DC that starts in San Francisco. 1500 bikers (that is, motorcycles) join in over 3 routes, to finally meet on Memorial Day in Washington DC. Richard is from Louisiana, and recommended Cajun food like fried fish, shrimp, and etoufee (sp?) when I get to the gulf coast, there. Thank you for your service, Richard.<\/p>\n

\"Veterans
Wayne (L) and Richard (R). This picture was taken the next day.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 5 am breakfast at the motel is tailor-made for cyclists hoping to attack the desert before it gets hot. I hope to leave at dawn tomorrow. The first 30 miles are a gentle uphill, and if I can make it to the precipice before it gets super hot, I should be in good shape.<\/p>\n

This evening, I got enough food to last the day, since there will be 70 miles without food or water. In fact, I have enough so that if I can’t make the whole distance, I can wild camp by the side of the road, and resume the next day. Going to bed now. Pray for me if you do, or at least wish me luck.<\/p>\n

Miles for today: 53.7, mostly flat, 90’s heat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desert riding today, a lot of it urban desert. After my dinner at Carl’s Jr next door, I met Richard, who was sitting out on the chair provided outside each of our rooms. He’s a veteran (navy, Vietnam) on motorcycle, joining an annual rally ride to Washington DC that starts in San Francisco. 1500 bikers … Continue reading Brawley, CA<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[18,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pididu.com\/wordpress\/bike2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}