Miles: 68.4
Time: 6:37:00
Elevation: 4,245
Average Speed: 10.3
Max Speed: 40.5
I got a late start on today's ride because I decided I wanted to Clean the chain on the road bike using the new Pedro's Chain Cleaning Kit generously given to me by my good riding buddy Doug. I knew the chain was a mess but I did not realize how bad it was. It took me over an hour to clean and wax it. I had to put Pedro and the kit degreaser on it twice and use a bunch of elbow grease and the special brush that came with the kit along with my Dollar Store Degreaser and Tub and Tile Cleaner. I finally got it to look decent and let it dry and then applied some of the "Ice Wax" from the kit.
By the time I finished the chain and got myself together it was noon, I got away at 12:02.
The ride down the highway to Joshua Tree was ugly. It was hot with erratic winds and the motor vehicle drivers seemed extra aggressive and rude, even the professional truck drivers who are supposed to know better. The rule seems to be that if you are on the shoulder than you are not entitled to any room or courtesy. It is not so bad in the few places where the shoulder is 8' wide but where it is 6-12" it gets a bit scary when these 2 or more ton monsters come by at 70 MPH inches away from my left arm. I actually get better treatment if I move out in the traffic lane but I do not like to do this if it is not necessary because all it takes in one person who is not paying attention to turn me into instant road kill. There are some stretches with absolutely no usable shoulder where this is the only option but I will not do it otherwise even though I am legally entitled to. Being in the right dos not help a dead person much.
I finally made it to the community park in Joshua Tree where I took a 10 or 15 minute break, ate a granola bar and drank 2 bottles of water. I started up the hill towards the JTNP West Entrance Station. I was not so happy at first, the heat, the wind, being a bit rattled from riding the highway, all played on me but after a few miles I got a bit of shelter from the South wind, it cooled of a some and of course the traffic was considerably thinner, all of which added up to me starting to enjoy the ride. I stopped at the entrance and drank 2 more bottles of water then started up the hill onto the park plateau. Once on the relative flat of the plateau I started feeling much better and started toying with the idea of taking a side trip to Desert View which would add 10-12 miles and several hundred feet of climbing some of it quite steep.
I stopped at Quail Springs and ate a Cliff Bar then got going again. At the road to Desert View I decided to go for it and stopped about 1/4 mile in at Cap Rock to drink some water and rest a minute or two. I started up the hill to Desert View. It went well. It took me about 45 minutes to get up. I parked and took a couple of pictures and got a passer by to take mine then got ready to descend. By now I had about 45 minutes of daylight left and 30 miles to go to get home. I migh have made it, barely, except that I still had about 4 miles of climbing to do to get over the two small passes between the road to Desert View and the beginning of he serious downhill back to town. Fortunately I had my small battery powered headlight with me so I put it on the handlebars and took off. I got to the top of the last climb near Jumbo Rocks just after sunset and made it almost to the North Entrance Station before it got really dark. My little light served me well the last 7 miles.
I arrived home about 8:00 tired and hungry but well satisfied with the afternoon.
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