Here’s the final blog post from our cross-country cycling trip. The 3,800+ miles that we cycled only required 80 riding days, but we managed to stretch it out into a five-month journey.
After riding out of St. George, UT, we passed through the northwest corner of Arizona on our way to Nevada. The most direct route would have been to cycle on the interstate, but a more relaxing and legal option is to take a northwestern route through the Shivwits Indian Reservation.
After reaching the crest of the climb on Old Highway 91 out of St. George, we were treated to a 17-mile descent.
The long descent also carried us through the northwest corner of Arizona. It was a short stay, though. After only about two or three hours of pedaling we crossed the border into Nevada.
Here’s my odometer clocking the 3,000th mile of the trip. We didn’t know it at the time, but there were just 821 miles (1,330km) between us and the end of the ride…
We rolled into Mesquite, NV at dusk, and low on water. We struck up a conversation with a local, Alfred, who offered to fill our water bottles. One thing led to another, and he wound up letting us camp out on his patio, too. Alfred and his wife were another example of the kind of quality folks we encountered in the western states.
A desert scene west of Mesquite, NV
A desert scene west of Mesquite, NV
The road out of Mesquite was pretty mellow. Most of the traffic gravitates toward I-70, on the other side of the valley. Unfortunately, we were eventually forced to ride on I-70. I suspect there was a minor, unpaved alternative route that we missed.
Apparently we weren’t the smallest and most vulnerable critters on the road. This horny toad lizard was about the size of a dime.
We discovered this lousy stencil when we pulled off the main road for a little break under an overpass.
On our second night in Vegas we linked up with Eyna’s friend from the Philippines, Koji. He was kind enough to drive us around downtown and show us some of the sights.
A chocolate fountain.
An artisanal glass ceiling in a casino.
Boom.
Eyna and I don’t drink, gamble, or dance, but we have a deep appreciation for sweets.
Our time in Vegas coincided with the sprouting of a new branch on the Madrid family tree.
After an extended stay in Vegas with family and friends, we pedaled 65 miles to the border town Pahrump, NV. The following morning we rode into the 13th and final state of our trip.
Our first night in California was spent on public land just outside of Death Valley.
The weather was perfect. If we were passing through in the summer, though, we would have been confronted by temperatures in excess of 120 degrees.
A perfect, secluded site.
A gentile 500 foot climb out of Shoshone, CA put us at Ibex pass.
A resident of Ibex Pass. This guy was easily the size of my hand.
A tarantula with 8.5 legs?
In Yermo, we met a waitress who was from Rockville, MD.
Notice the warning message on the top right side of this bulletin board in a cafe in Boron, CA. A bit disconcerting, isn’t it? There were quite a few towns in the Mojave desert that had been polluted by toxic spills, dumping, or leakage of industrial chemicals.
I had heard such great things about California, but I developed a different impression during our ride. The inland area was post-apocolyptic, and the coast was crowded and commercialized. It was also the only state where we experienced unprovoked hostility from drivers, who beeped at us and even tried to run us off the road in a few cases.
Here’s a vista of an abandoned shop on polluted scrubland. This is a pretty typical scene for the Mojave region.
There were a few stretches where we counted literally dozens of syringes along the side of the road in a span of just a few miles.
The good news is that firemen are friendly wherever you go. The guys at the New Cuyama firehouse allowed us to camp on their lawn and use their shower. They’re a pretty entertaining bunch, too.
Here’s our campsite on the lawn of the New Cuyama firehouse.
Mike seemed to do most of the cooking and cleaning around the firehouse…
Here we are, ready to roll out of New Cuyama. Just a few more days to the coast…
The scenery was more interesting in the hills that flank the coast than in the Mojave desert.
It was along this stretch of road that we met a grizzled old cyclist that had ridden down from the Pacific northwest. He planned to ride to San Diego and then continue on to South America. Before we parted ways he told us, “Don’t stop riding. You don’t have any excuse. I’m 76, and I’m still going.”
OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE OCEAN! To be honest, it was a bit anticlimactic. I imagined cresting a ridge and having the clouds part to reveal a sweeping view of the Pacific. I never imagined we’d have to peer under a railroad bridge at a hazy sliver of sea.
That’s a little better. I believe this is near Santa Barbara.
A moment almost 4,000-miles in the making.
The first Filipino to cycle across the United States?
Aaaaaaand we’re STILL married!!!
Look at my beautiful Irish tan! You can’t get that kind of color without spending four straight months in the beating sun.
The black object in the water is a sea lion.
Pelicans.
We arrived at Eyna’s aunt, uncle, and cousin’s house on Thanksgiving day. Here we are the day after our arrival…
In LA, we clogged Eyna’s family’s apartment with bikes, panniers, camping equipment, and all manner of pads, tablets, laptops, netbooks, smart phones, etc. Then we made an even bigger mess by tearing everything apart and packing it into boxes to ship home. Many thanks to Tito Jun, Tita Myrna, and Migz for letting us occupy their living space for a few days. After everything was packed we sent three large boxes stuffed full of bikes, wheels, camping kit, etc. The cost was outrageous. I spent more shipping our bikes home than I did on our one-way plane tickets back to DC. I would recommend riding a bike with a frame that can be broken down, like the Surly Trucker Delux or the Ritchy Breakaway Cross. The latter comes highly recommended for touring from two very experienced international cycle tourists in Moab, Barb and John.
Statistics:
October 16: St. George, UT to Mesquite, NV, 52.54 miles in 5 hours and 35 minutes
October 17: Mesquite, NV to Moapa, NV, 33.92 miles in 3 hours and 36 minutes
October 18: Moapa, NV to North Las Vegas, NV, 56.95 miles in 6 hours and 3 minutes
October 19: North Las Vegas, NV to Las Vegas, NV, 23.41 miles in 2 hours and 29 minutes
October 20: Las Vegas, NV to Henderson, NV, 19.62 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes
November 9: Henderson, NV to Pahrump, NV, 62.17 miles in 6 hours and 36 minutes
November 10: Pahrump, NV to Shoshone, CA, 27.23 miles in 2 hours and 54 minutes
November 11: Shoshone, CA to Baker, CA, 56.16 miles in 5 hours and 58 minutes
November 12: Baker, CA to Yermo, CA, 51.44 miles in 5 hours and 28 minutes
November 13: Yermo, CA to Barstow, CA, 15.18 miles in 1 hour and 26 minutes
November 18: Barstow, CA to Boron, CA, 39.47 miles in 4 hours and 12 minutes
November 19: Boron, CA to Tehachapi, CA, 52.37 miles in 5 hours and 34 minutes
November 20: Tehachapi, CA to Bakersfield, CA, 53.62 miles in 5 hours and 42 minutes
November 22: Bakersfield, CA to Maricopa, CA, 43.89 miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes
November 23: Maricopa, CA to New Cuyama, CA, 23.95 miles in 2 hours and 33 minutes
November 24: New Cuyama, CA to Santa Maria, CA, 54.48 miles in 5 hours and 48 minutes
November 25: Santa Maria, CA to Buellton, CA, 33.25 miles in 3 hours and 32 minutes
November 26: Buellton, CA to Carpinteria, CA, 54.81 miles in 5 hours and 49 minutes
November 27: Carpinteria, CA to Malibu, CA, 57.59 miles in 6 hours and 7 minutes
November 28: Malibu, CA to Carson, CA, 41.09 miles in 4 hours and 22 minutes
Total Miles: 853.14 miles
Kanes On Bikes 