Day 35 - Ludlow to Needles, CA

I ended up taking that sick day in Ludlow yesterday which proved to be the right move. I’d never of made it through today in the shape I was in. There was nothing to do in that town, but that didn’t bother me at all. My time there was spent snoozing or on one of multiple field trips over to the Chevron station to get a free refill of tea. This morning I still had the lingering backend of a cold, and despite one half of my brain lobbying for another day off I ultimately rode out into that June desert heat.

The initial strategy entailed going 70 miles today with only two available water stops. One at mile 30 and the next at the end, mile 70. The first chunk was fairly easy as it was still morning and the road sloped downhill for much of the ride. Averaging nearly 19 mph I arrived quickly to aid station number one. Looking at the elevation profile I knew the next 40 were inversed and would be a gentle upward trend. This meant the most important thing would be keeping water cold for the four plus hours it would take. You see, in 110 degrees having water is only half the battle. Scorching hot water may as well be no water. Of course this little bumpkin store didn’t have ice, and the clerk was kind of a dick about it saying we don’t sell ice now whattaya want? I wanted an Uber, but bought two bottles of cold water before entering no man’s land.

Up next was 5 miles of low traffic riding before the road closed for 35 miles. If I’ve learned anything from Big Sur it’s that road closure is code for bike path. I was not about to ride I-40 the entire way with cars flying by when there was a perfectly good stretch of car free Route 66 in front of me. Right before the detour sign a guy pulled over to ask if I needed anything. He loaded my water stash with ice and tossed me a couple Gatorades as well. That immensely improved my quality of life until aid station two. For the next four hours it was just me, mile long trains, and the lifeless desert. They closed this stretch of 66 in 2015 for rehabilitation, but I will tell you not a single one of the 5 or so eroded bridges have been touched yet. Most of them only had one lane out and so were trivial. One had both lanes sunken, but this is the desert so it was a bridge over sand and I just walked around it. I got to Fenner, the next stop, by 2:30pm and had planned to camp there. After spending $6 for a gallon of water (see picture below) I decided just to press on. I felt better than I thought I would at that point, and figured the heat would only decline. The final ride was 109 miles to bring me into Needles, CA. That means Arizona very early tomorrow! Not sure I’m down for anymore centuries in this heat, though, and will probably let that stand as my personal best for awhile.