Palmdale

I'm writing this from the Ramada Inn in Palmdale; if you guessed that's because (a) I'm tired from riding another 70 miles yesterday, or (b) because there are no places to pitch a tent that aren't going to get me into trouble or (c) I blew another tire and am stuck here until the bicycle shop in town opens tomorrow so that I can get it changed and pick up some new tubes you would be right on any or all accounts. I blew a tire riding into town, close to the end of the day. There's no place to pitch a tent that's out of sight, it's Sunday today so most of the smaller shops are closed, so I'm stuck. I haven't mastered the art of the tire change yet, so I don't want to do it if I don't have to. And even if I could pull it off, which I probably could, I'd be out of tubes and that would be troublesome if I blew another one out in the middle of nowhere, which is where I'm headed. So an unscheduled stop in Palmdale.

Which isn't all bad really. I'm up to date on my blog entries after this one; I was able to do my laundry and give my body a rest. I'm still having trouble believing that I've ridden 600 miles in twelve days. Lots of those miles were spent trying to get directions or locate a road/route, and back and forth in Cambria and here trying to find the laundromat, a hotel, someplace to eat - but still, I'm in Palmdale, a day or two from Joshua Tree State Park. I had my doubts before, but I'm feeling now like I can make it to Florida and go coast to coast at least. Maine might be a stretch, but it's still early, so who knows?

And if I hadn't stopped here, I wouldn't have met the woman who was on her way to Iraq. She was in school (after four years of service, in what branch of the military I can't remember) when she got her recall notice; now instead of going to class she'll be serving as a medic somewhere in Iraq. We had breakfast together after talking in the hotel lobby; funny, we started talking because she was carrying a guitar case. I asked her if she was on a tour or something and that's when we started talking about what she was doing. She seemed a little nervous, as she'd never served overseas before, and well, she's going to IRAQ. Interesting to me, she said that when you join the service these days (was it always this way?) you sign up for eight years, four active and four years beyond which they can call you back. Serving in the U.S. military these days seems more like being shanghaied than anything, good god. I hope she never has to leave the base and that her year's service over there goes by quickly (no stoploss no stoploss.)

Vast change of geography/climate from the previous week. Palmdale is in the desert; a flat plain surrounded by mountains and hot hot, compared to what I've had - 80 degrees yesterday afternoon, and probably mid-60's last night. I drank most of my water and two or three Gatorades to get here, and I probably could have had more if I'd wanted it. Not that I'm complaining; I'd rather be warm than cold - my legs felt good even after climbing some decent sized hills to get here. A good introduction to the real desert just ahead (must drink water all the time, day and night, riding or not - 100 degrees is not far away.)

So, I'm glad for the break - I packed in the food and have been drinking a lot of water and now we're all up to date. I'm ready to get rolling tomorrow - the next batch of posts might be awhile - the desert awaits and there's not much out there.