Thursday, July 15, 2010

Gunghy Bike Trip from CA to TX (I)

Tuesday, Day one. From between Palm Springs and the Arizona Border. The dominant feature is the Joshua tree.

Still day one, but in Arizona. The dominant features are the Cholla cactus and the Saguaro. By this time, the temperature was over 105, on its way to 114.

Day 2, passing through New Mexico. At least the yucca was in bloom. The clouds are the edge of Hurricane Alex. The benefit was the temperature never exceeded the 92 in Phoenix when I left at 7:00 in the morning. The downside was the 25 mph headwind I fought all day.

Wednesday Day 2, East of El Paso. I rode an extra 4 hours trying to beat the storm. The weather channel said it would hit Thursday afternoon in San Antonio. It hit at dark with 30 miles to Fort Stockton and a 'no fuel' light on.

Thursday, Day 3, about 8:00 AM. Just east of Fort Stockton. As a side-note, when I entered the freeway leaving Ft Stockton, my GPS announced, "Prepare to merge left in 301 miles."


Thursday, Day 3, 8:30 AM I parked under an overpass to don rain-gear and wait out the hail. This is just 30 minutes after the last picture. Note the small waterfall coming off the embankment. An easy 5 hour cruise turned into a 9 hour nightmare. I have no idea what that area looks like.

Note: Gunghy finished 13 miles short of 4000 in 11 days in his Yamaha Raider.

No comments: