Bike: Winspace/Microshift Gravel/Road
Miles: 24.51
Start Time 2:52 PM
Moving Time: 2:59:37
Elevation: 2064> Avg Spd: 8.2

Temp Out: @85

First ride on this route sonce 2013 or 2014. I am pleased that I made it.

Bike: REI Co-OP Adv 2.3 Gravel Bike
Miles: 40.09
Start Time 12:49 PM
Moving Time: 3:25:01
Elevation: 1273
Avg Spd: 11.7

Temp Out: 78
Temp In: 61

Avg HR: 113
Max HR: 133

Above, at the Airport. A Beautiful Beechcraft King Air. A Rare Sight at the Little Used 29 Palms Airport.

I started with the intent to do a loop of about 21 miles to the airport and return. On the way back to town it was going well so I decided to stop at the JTNP HQ and fill my water bottles and attempt to add a loop to the west to Lear Road with a return via Pole Line and Indian Trail Roads. I had several bail out points fixed in my mind in case I decided the addition was too much. Any of them would have limited the ride to about 25 miles max. Once I went over the summit on 2 Mile beyond Encillia my fate was sealed. I was committed to continue. It was easier to finish the loop than to climb back up the grade on 2 Mile Road.

Above, a Beautiful Afternoon at JTNP HQ

I considered rerturning directly on Indian Trail from Lear Road. Lear and Indian Trail are the truck and primary backroad car route to the Marine base main gate from the west. There was enough fast traffic on Lear to convince me to continue north on Lear to Pole Line Road which leads to a lesser used base gate on Morongo Road. The traffic beyond Indian Trail was decent until I got back onto Indain Trail at the Morongo Road intersection. The remainder of the ride home was busy, especially Mesquite Springs Road. I obviously survived but had some uncomfortable moments with vehicles passing me too closely. Too many are willing to risk killing me to avoid pulling over or slowing down for a few seconds to wait for oncoming trafffic to pass. Some probably think that I have no business riding on "their" roads. The law is on my side but will not help if I am dead.

Above, the Church at 2 Mile and Sunrise Roads and the Junction of Pole Line and Morongo Roads with the Marine Base in the Background

This is my first ride of more than 35 miles since Febraury of 2016. It has taken me well over a year to grind myself back into shape to ride this far. I am pleased with the progress.

As for the gravel bike. I bought it in hopes that it could be my all around and only bike, road and off road. The gravel bike is almost 10 pounds heavier than its predecessor, the carbon road bike I gave my oldest grandson as soon as I got the new bike. At first I was unhappy with the extra weight and larger 40mm tires. I bought a set of carbon wheels and fitted them with 25mm tires. This helped somewhat. Over the few months I have owned the bike I have learned to love it. I recently discovered that the factory wheels and tires work well on the road if I overinflate the tires slightly. I did two dirt road rides in the mountains near Yosemite during Thanksgiving week and the bike worked very well. The gearing is low enough for all but the steepest climbs and the larger tires handle soft dirt well. This may not be a single track trail mountain bike but it is certainly more than adequate for pavement and most dirt/gravel roads.

Walk with Daniel in Yosemite Valley

A very nice day to walk in Yosemite Valley. The crowds were very light perphaps because of a fire well outside the park which the media has represented as being "near Yosemite".

Yosemite Falls on 5/01/2021 and 7/15/2011:

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Random photos of the day:

Bike: Nashbar Frame Touring Bike (stripped)
Miles: 18.85
Start Time 2:50
Moving Time: 2:28:12
Elevation: 577
Avg Spd: 10.0

Temp Out: 70
Temp In: 70

Avg HR: NA
Max HR: NA

A relaxed and enjoyable ride on a beautiful nearly spring afternoon using my touring bike stripped of racks and fenders. The average speed is low but it is OK, I traded speed for duration and disposed of almost 1K calories. When I left home I did not intend to go so far but took a second water bottle just in case. I am glad I did.

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Native plants at JTNP HQ look healthy:

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Tortoise Rock Casino and namesake:

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A beautiful afternoon at Knott's Sky Park:

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A very nifty van setup parked at Knott's Sky Park:

2018-03-03 First Full Airport Loop for 2 1/2 - 3 Years!

Bike: Nashbar Frame Touring Bike
Miles: 23.23
Start Time 10:55
Moving Time: 2:28:12
Elevation: 499
Avg Spd: 8.8
Max Spd: 18.3

Temp Out: 64
Temp In: 64

Avg HR: 102
Max HR: 134

I set off about 11:00 on a cool and sunny day into a mild West breeze on Amboy Road with the intention of completing a very easy and relaxed airport loop with the option to turn for home at the 10 mile point and make it a 14 mile ride. I rode north on Adobe Road to Valle Vista and started east. The winds were capricious all the way. I had a mild tailwind most of the way to Pinto Mountain Road. The breeze was mostly Southerly on the leg south back to Amboy Road, Westerly going east on Amboy and Southerly on Goodwin to Highway 62. When I got to the airport on 62 the wind was picking up and was varying from South to SW. I knew from experience that the closer to town one gets on Highway 62 the more Westerly the wind tends to become and I was expecting a slow and not so fun slog back to town. Fortunately I got over the steepest part of the leg before the wind became more consistently South-Westerly and picked up to about 10-15 MPH. Even a partial headwind of 10 is plenty on a 38 pound touring bike. It took about 45 minutes to cover the 5.5 miles from the airport to Utah Trail. I was happy to finally get to the corner and turn north with at least a partial tailwind back to Amboy road. The last 1/2 mile to the West on Amboy was into a 10-15 gale was not fun. I was glad to get home.

Looking west at the junction of Valle Vista and Pinto Mountain Roads:

The wind made the ride much more strenuous than planned but it is probably good practice for a real-world tour. The head and cross winds made the effort required more closely approach what it takes to push a loaded bike around.

At the Airport:

The airport windsock pointing south. A minute or 2 later it was SW, then S, then SW, etc:

I recently got interested in watching/tracking my exercise heart rate again. It is a useful training tool. I dug out my old inexpensive Timex HRM watch and chest strap. It was dead. Either the watch, the strap or both were defunct. I have never liked wearing a chest strap anyway so I decide to buy a new armband type unit. After reading many reviews and checking specs, price and so on I selected and ordered a Scosche Rhythm+ HRM a few days ago. It came yesterday. I set it up per the guide and could not get it to work with the GPS tracking app I use on my phone and Pebble watch. I finally got a subset of the app which tracks HR only to run but only on the phone and not concurrently on the watch. Yesterday was a walking day so I set out on the usual 3 mile walk at the Luckie Park with the app running on the phone and displaying HR. About 1/2 way through the walk the Scosche lost connection to the phone and would not reconnect. I was frustrated and disappointed and thought I might have to return the device. When I got home I rebooted the phone and the entire setup, HRM, phone and watch all started working. I wore it around the house for several hours with no glitches and it was flawless on the ride today. It is helpful to have the HR on my wrist. It gives a more accurate measure of effort than how one feels. In 2014 I could hold 135 BPM, 90% of the theoretical maximum for my age, and make 10-15 MPH on the 1 1/4 mile uphill stretch from the airport driveway to Pinto Mountain Road with no problem. Today I could maintain around 120 BPM and about 5 MPH. Two different bikes but still I have some work to do.

A brief break at Luckie Park:

The Scosche HRM on my forearm:

2018-01-22 - Touring Bike Ride to Knott's Sky Park

Bike: Nashbar Frame Touring Bike
Miles: 15.47
Start Time 2:13
Moving Time: 1:46:55
Elevation: 555
Avg Spd: 8.7
Max Spd: 26.8

Temp Out: 62
Temp In: 60

Sky Park

Sky Park

Sky Park Dog Area

An enjoyable ride on a chilly winter afternoon. After brief stops at Luckie Park and JTNP HQ I ground up the hill to Baseline Road and around past the casino to Sullivan and Hatch Roads and made a visit to Knott's Sky Park which I had not visited previously. This land was donated to the city by the Knott's family of Knott's Berry Farm fame. The park is much larger than it appears on the map. After a pit stop I crossed the highway onto Larrea Avenue and came home via Two Mile Road and Utah Trail.

This is the longest ride I have taken for some time and it felt good. In deference to my lack of conditioning I have replaced the double sided mountain bike/platform pedals with metal all platform pedals in hopes that it will promote a more relaxes riding style. The idea is to go out on a tour when the days are a bit longer and warmer with no particular plan other than to head in a general direction and take my time and go as far as feels good each day. My days of putting in relatively big days are over I fear.

New Platform Pedals

2016-05-04 - JTNP HQ, Home via Split Rock and 2 MIle

Bike: Nashbar Carbon 105
Miles: 8.9
Start Time 6:51
Moving Time: 0:51:02
Elevation: 238
Avg Spd: 10.6
Max Spd: 30 .9

Avg HR:
Max HR:
Temp Out:
Temp In: 82

An uphill slog against a brisk South wind to get to Park HQ and of course it mostly died out by the time I turned south to come home.