LA -> PHX attempt

Gear check

People riding sporty cars burning up your brakes on the Crest: you are making the mountain stinky. Stop it.

Ponies

Holding a potted plant while biking is awkward

This ride was really thrown together last minute. I figured out a couple of days before the long weekend that Phoenix is only around 400 miles from LA, which makes it a similar length to the San Jose -> LA rides I've done in the past. I figured it was worth trying, and short enough distance that it wasn't too big a gamble. I might not make it in one day, but I could definitely make it in 2 if it ended up slower going than I expected.

I quickly threw together a route on RideWithGPS, making some minor modifications where the route looked suboptimal, but without really thoroughly checking everything on street view.

Some time last year, one of my bikes was stolen out of a storage unit. Unfortunately, it also had the bags on it that I usually race ultras. I like to go as light weight as possible (and sacrifice some comfort and certainty), and ended up with the setup that I'd raced ultras on before I discovered Revelate. So, a CamelBak and a medium sized saddle bag from Amazon. It was not a lot, but it was enough. I'd checked the weather in advance along the route, and saw lows in the 50s, so figured I didn't really need to carry winter gear, though I would bring warm gloves, and a mylar blanket and hand warmers (I never plan to use these, but have several times when it got colder than I expected).

I left my apartment a little before 4am. It was pretty warm for that early in the morning. I was trying to get out of the city, or at least the parts that would have traffic, before traffic picked up. It was an uneventful ride in the dark. The sun started to rise somewhere around Fontana. I have only ridden in this area once before, and only barely recognized some of the bike paths. They do have good bike paths out there, but the intersections with roads are annoying. When I got to Redlands, I started recognizing bits and pieces from having been out there for the stage race a couple of years ago.

Leaving Redlands, there is a long, very shallow climb. Maybe 23 miles, at just under 2%, which is just enough to feel flat-ish, but feel like you are going annoyingly slow for something that is not obviously uphill. Around here, the headwinds also started picking up. At first they were the sort of wind where you could tell the air is moving, but you can't tell if it's helping or hurting you. But, by the time I got to Beaumont, the flags were snapping in the wind and palm trees were bending in the opposite direction that I was trying to go. It was also starting to get hot.

Shortly after Beaumont, into Banning, was where I had made a route adjustment to RideWithGPS's suggested route. They had put me on some side streets that took me substantially north, then west, then back south towards the interstate. It looked like I could ride on the interstate, but perhaps there was a reason they avoided it. I had checked out the nearby streets, and found there was one that didn't quite connect to a road I was on, but looked like it had a short dirt path splitting off to get to it. It paralleled the interstate and looked much more straightforward and efficient.

I tried to take the dirt path to that road. It was fine at first. Kind of messy hard pack. Then it gave way to soft sand. Then piles of rocks. I definitely couldn't ride in it, and walking was not great either. But, I eventually got to the pavement. Because it wasn't really attached to a road, it hadn't been maintained in a long time. There were giant potholes all over. Some multiple feet across. But, there was no traffic, so I could weave all over the road to avoid them. The holes got bigger. Half the road was swallowed into a giant hole with standing water in it. And then I encountered one that took out the whole road, full of water. I stopped there for a bit. For a picture, and for a break. Then I carried my bike up the brush covered embankment next to the interstate, and carefully walked along the fence, and back down the other side to the broken road. I would have liked to get on the interstate, even as far back as when the path turned to sand, but there was a fence between the interstate and the broken road. I have scaled fences carrying my bike before, but I try to avoid those with barbed wire, and didn't feel like climbing that one. So, I kept riding on the broken road. It was slow, but at least there was no traffic. And eventually I got back onto normal streets.

From there, onto Palm Springs. It was hot. The headwinds had died down, though. Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert. They actually have a really great bike path here. I don't think I saw any pedestrians on it, and the path is wide and in nice condition. I ran into some other cyclists, but it wasn't too high traffic.

Continuing on into Indio and Coachella, you actually end up below sea level. It got even hotter here. Hotter is relative, though - it would be perfectly fine weather in summer, I was just not really dressed for or wanting to ride in temps in the high 80s in winter.

From here, I got on I-10. This interstate is actually excellent to ride on. Wide shoulders, smooth pavement, not too much debris on the shoulder. The traffic wasn't too bad, either.

It was relatively flat. Relatively hot. Desert. And the sun slowly inched towards the horizon behind me.

A bit after sunset, the route I had took me off of I-10 to ride on a side road. I hadn't bothered to examine this too closely when it was suggested, because it didn't look like it had any substantial impact on distance or elevation, and maybe it would be good to get off the interstate. I don't know why this road existed, it wasn't in any town, and didn't seem connected to anything industrial. It took me away from the highway, into the dark. No streetlights. No houses. No power plants or mining operations or farms or warehouses. The road was worn, and the centerline was all but invisible. The road was full of cracks and bumps, and as it became clear that there would not be a single car on the road, I wove around the road to avoid the constant thunks. For SS508 racers, this was kind of like the road leading into Austin. You know the one. There were clumps of rabbit brush, or maybe sagebrush, on the sides of the road. Occasionally they'd catch the wind and my headlight, and tease at the suggestion of an animal about to run into the road. And then they would bounce and wobble back into their plump little bush shapes. This road got creepy.

Eventually it rejoined I-10. I was glad to get back on a road with cars lighting up more of the landscape, and finally have a smooth ride again. The temperature was dropping.

I hadn't brought arm or leg warmers, but I did have sun sleeves (for my legs as well as arms), and had put those on, and a wind jacket. I put a neck gaiter around my neck, and a not-very-warm cap on my head. Warm winter gloves. It was enough, but wouldn't be for too long.

It got colder.

The windchill is a bigger component than the still ambient temperature. If you can stop the wind, you don't actually need a lot of insulation. One very lightweight/small improvement you can make is putting bags over your feet. They keep your toes warm. I had brought produce bags and put them inside my shoes for this reason. I also happened to have decided last minute to bring a pair of leggings, so that I'd have something to change into after the ride. Those went on over the other layers on my legs.

It was cold. Probably in the low 40s.

I ended up stopping a few times throughout the night. I think when I get cold, and it's dark, I have a harder time staying awake than if I'm warm enough. I ended up pulling out my mylar blanket and a hand warmer. It was warm enough with those, and every time I stopped, I napped and was able to warm up. I napped at rest stops. It was the middle of the night, and the only interaction I had was some guy coming up to tell me he was impressed that I was riding out there and going so far. He asked about my route. He told me he wanted to be able to do things like that. He asked me if I wanted to warm up inside his car. I said no.

As much as it was warm enough under the blanket, getting out of the blanket and getting back on the bike again was so hard every time. It would take me about 10 minutes to get back to a comfortable temperature once I was riding, and that was 10 minutes of shivering and telling myself that it WAS going to get warmer, eventually, really, and it was not that cold at all and it would all be fine. And then it was. And then after another 2ish hours, I would pull over at another rest stop to take a nap as it became difficult to concentrate on the road. And then I would get warm, and then very cold, all over again.

I passed the Welcome to Arizona sign in the dark.

Finally, the sun started to rise, but it was still cold. I looked for somewhere that might have hot chocolate, or tea, or something that would warm me up. I think it was somewhere around Quartzite that I stopped. I had found a Starbucks on the map, but ended up stopping short at a Love's Travel Stop that was more directly on my path. They didn't have anything hot aside from coffee. I bought some food, and asked if I could have a cup with hot water. I burned my tongue on the hot water, but I think it helped. I got back on the road.

Not too long after, I took an exit off I-10 to get on Hwy 60. This goes to the northeast, and would bring me into Phoenix from the northwest corner, hopefully avoiding some of the messier downtown areas, and avoiding traffic. This road was all kinds of bumpy. First, it was the bumps that you have when the road has a hundred tiny cracks all over it. Then it was rough like chip seal. Then it had big, hard bumps where the weather had pushed and pulled on road cracks to raise them above the surface. bumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbump. I could ride on this. I would be able to ride on this better if I hadn't spent so much time on that uncomfortably bumpy road in the dark the previous evening. I could ride on it, but it hurt.

I took out extra padding I had to put in my gloves. bumpbumpbumpbumpbumpbump. Sometimes the cracks gave way to flat sections for a bit, and were replaced with the hard BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ from the rough surface. Sometimes the bumps were too hard and I had to slow down for them. I rode out of my saddle to mitigate the constant bumps, but I didn't have enough stamina in my legs to keep it up for more than a few minutes at a time. I slowed down to try to make the bumps hurt less. bumpbumpbumpbumpbump. So many cracks. Maybe they would go away eventually.

30 miles into this road, it had not gotten better. There were some sections towards the centerline that were ok, but I was not about to ride my bike in the centerline of a highway. I stopped, and pulled out my phone to investigate the rest of the road on street view. It didn't look like it got better. Or, maybe it would get better, but it was hard to tell. Was it worth gambling on? I had another maybe 100 miles to go, maybe 60 on this road, and my average speed plummeted with the road conditions. I thought I would get to my friend's house by 5 pm. If this kept up, and if I had to keep slowing down for comfort, I might not get in until midnight. I did not want to ride at 8 mph on bumpy flat roads for the next many hours.

I let some air out of my tires. I run 25s, so didn't have a ton of wiggle room there for low pressure. It did help. It was less bad. It was still bad, but substantially improved. I suspect if I had been running 30s, I could have gotten it to a point that it was ok to ride on. Squishy tires, but a much smoother ride. But, I didn't have those.

I ended up messaging my friend that I ended up on a pretty rough road, and was looking at options for bailing. She offered to come pick me up, but had to finish some errands first. So, I kept riding, slowly, and she met me a few hours later.

When she got there, she was confused about what was wrong with the road. It looks like a normal road. And it's fine on a car with normal suspension. But, the chip seal vibrations, the thousands of cracks, the uneven surfaces...

If I had to, I could have made it the rest of the way. I had food, water, and I wasn't too exhausted. But, it didn't seem worth it, given that it wasn't a race or other event, and I didn't want to disrupt my friend's family by getting there too late at night. I expect that if I had stayed on I-10, I would have had to deal with more annoying traffic and unfriendly streets, but I would have gotten there. But, I had no idea. I didn't research these roads in advance. A lesson for the future.

The big takeaways I had from this ride were:
1) Take more warm clothes. Be prepared for it to be colder than the weather predictions say.
2) Stay on the interstate. Every time I got off the interstate, I regretted it. Interstates are more direct, better road conditions, you have more distance from traffic. If it's windy, the big trucks will give you breaks from the wind. And sometimes, you can catch a draft off of big trucks without being anywhere near them. They just create that much draft.

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Kym Louie

LA -> PHX attempt

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LA -> PHX attempt

Gear check

People riding sporty cars burning up your brakes on the Crest: you are making the mountain stinky. Stop it.

Ponies

Holding a potted plant while biking is awkward

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