Cold air sinks into the valleys at night. I learned that in college, or was it kolige? In the desert, sinking cold air means waking up & it's 34F. The fact that the wind is blowing DOWN the valley means climbing 40km into a wind for 3:45. Not a good pace when there's 100km to go and only 6-1/2 hrs of daylight. The only good part of the morning was riding toward Volcan Las Tres Virgenes a volcano that looked like a smaller black version of Mt Rainier. Then came the downhills!
The second had police at the top telling motorists to slow down. The speed limit was 40kph (25mph). So I was doing 65kph when I passed the semis. I would have gone faster, but I wanted to have a margin of safety. Or at least what I consider safe as I bomb down a winding mountain road at 41mph.
Once down to the deep rich blue Sea of Cortez, my weary legs had been renewed. A short detour into Santa Rosalia to see the metal church designed by Eiffel (of the Paris tower fame). It was wonderful with the afternoon light coming thru the stained glass windows above the alter. The ceiling curved like cupped hands about to close in prayer.
The rest of the day was spent on more level ground with a tailwind. Because I was tired of the jarring from the chip seal pavement, I put my bike into its highest gear and stood on the pedals. I could let my weight drop and keep up a speed of 18mph. I would alternate pedaling & coasting . . . then cookie power took over. I started pedaling faster and faster. The people I passed were as surprised as I as I steamrolled by at 22-25mph. I was flying. The ride organizer, Tim Kneeland drove by in the other direction. He pointed me out to the people in his van and rephrased what I had been telling him for days. "See that guy - #7? That's Bruce Tiebout. This is the 12th day of the best year of his life."
I'm having trouble with people sending e-mail. I'm getting much longer messages than people are intending. If you hit "reply" please delete my original message before sending. If you can learn how to send "plain text" vs. "html rich", that cuts the message length in half. (AOL is plain text only.) Send change of address notices to the list address, [email protected]. Send personal messages (no generic mail) to me at [email protected]. If you have questions for my brother, the listmaster, his e-mail is [email protected]. At least by using local calling cards, I'm doing a LOT better because I'm able to get thru (and saving a LOT of money) compared to those using MCI, ATT, etc. One spent $97 e-mailing from her hotel room.
To a touring cyclist in Baja, one of the best salutations is, "buenos banos" or "good bathrooms".
Happy Trails,
Bruce