It was already 90 degrees out this morning setting off from Needles. After the big mileage day yesterday I was beginning to feel like maybe this desert ride was going to be in my wheelhouse. Instead today presented me with complications and a reminder of how deadly this place can be when ill-prepared.
After the 40 mile no services stretch yesterday left me with a bit of water I decided today’s barren stretch would be passable without fully loading all water bottles. This ended up being a huge mistake because this ride was all uphill with a headwind. 15 miles in I was nearly out of water when I waived down an RV and asked them for some water. They gave me two bottles, but they were room temperature and so I chugged one and the other one was pure lava a short while later when I needed it. The last few steeply uphill miles into town I was overheating and talking to the desert explaining my hatred for it. When I reached Oatman I had a good meal with around seven iced tea refills and then some ice cream for good measure. After Oatman only 12 more miles would be needed to make it to the RV Park I was going to camp at. I’ve given up on wild camping out here unless it’s right near a town as cold water is just too precious right now.
On the steepest set of switchbacks I was walking the bike when a truck pulled up asking if I wanted a lift over the rest of the mountain pass. Yup! Very nice family that was headed back to Kingman and they asked if they could just take me all the way there. I thanked them for the offer, but got out a couple of miles later to enjoy the descent into that RV Park. Getting in around 5:30 I didn’t see any tent camping rates posted so I called the number listed as the office wasn’t open. When they explained that they had stopped allowing tent camping I saw myself go through all five stages of grief. The bathrooms were also locked and they weren’t willing to drive over from their home a few miles away to sell me ice. I left them a note in the drop box thanking them for throwing me back into the 100 degree heat with no cold water and then set off 20 more miles to Kingman. I just kept thinking about the family in the truck that I should of taken up on their offer. A little while later a car that was coming towards me began flashing their high beams and pulled up next to me. Amazingly it was the same group I’d seen hours earlier when I was just past Oatman. They had given me a cold bottle of water then when I had full reserves and didn’t really need it, but they insisted I just chug it and hand them back the empty. This time around I did really need it and they loaded me up after I told them the RV Park story. I got to Kingman sometime after 8 o’clock very thankful for all the acts of kindness encountered today. Tomorrow looks to be more uphill grinding with a few more water stops than today.
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