Day 4- Winterhaven

 Back to back 70 mile rides means a break in my posting. I barely had enough energy to write a blog post each night. But I’m back on track! Here goes with day four.

Today started at 5:20 AM with breakfast set up after a night without a ton of sleep. We had 71 miles ahead of us and as we headed out of El Centro it became clear that shade would be a hot commodity.

Now is a good time to talk to all of you that say “yeah, but it’s dry heat.” I’m throwing the BS flag right on to the 50 yard line on that one. When it’s over 100, it’s hot. Hard stop.

As it has in the past the scenery made several changes. We headed out into farmland, seeing many hayfields and large walls of the biggest hay bales  I have ever seen. They must weigh at least 150 pounds each.

We rolled into Holtsville, home of the Carrot Festival, and stopped to stock up on water and ice. From here we had 25 miles, mostly on a slight grade uphill, to make it to the water station. The landscape slid into rocky desert, then green shrub desert. I felt like I was in a cartoon with a background that just looped around and around and around. It is very strange to ride with no landmarks.

I worked at drinking a lot today but I arrived at the water station both famished and thirsty. We stayed about 45 minutes. At this point it was about 103°. This is a whole new ball game.

After our rest, we took off for the Chevron station 12 miles away. At this point it was Sue, Anne, me, and Matt. Ann and Matt went on ahead. Sue and I took a more leisurely pace as the sun continued to beat down unmercifully. Our water quickly got hot, but we drank it anyway. It was the longest 25 miles ever. (I think I may end up saying that a lot!) The road was absolutely horrible; patches of pavement, dirt, debris, and nothing but bumps for about 15 or 20 miles. I’m sure my internal organs were completely rearranged by the time I got to the Chevron station.

I also realized that despite my efforts I was not drinking enough water or eating enough food. I felt weak and nauseous and was beginning to have the signs of heat exhaustion. At the station I went right inside and sat down on the floor along with several other people from our group. We were all learning a very important lesson  about hydration needs in the southwest.

After cooling off and re-hydrating I felt good enough to continue the last 20 miles. Had I known how bad the roads were going to be I might have faked a few more symptoms! We were good for about 5 miles and then we went onto an Indian reservation. I am embarrassed to say that our government is not taking care of the roads and they were beyond decrepit. I hated everything about my life, I was whiny, and if I could’ve had enough energy to cry I would have. We reached the Salamander RV park shortly before dinner time. It was an exhausting day.

And to top it off, as we were getting into our tents and turning out our lights, one of the residents decided it was a great time to let the dog out. Said dog felt the need to protect everyone from us and barked for an hour straight. When the owner finally brought the dog in some cats started fighting followed by a donkey braying. It was a long night.