Around and Up 08/31/2012

Miles: 29.8
Time: 3:06:26
Elevation: 1317
Average Speed: 9.6
Max Speed: 41.0

At Park HQ

This ride was one of my usual loops with a climb to the JTNP North Entrance Kiosk tacked on the end. I left home about 11:30. It was 90 out. I went north on Adobe Road to Valley Vista then east to Pinto Mountain Road, east on Amboy Road, south on Goodwin and west on Highway 62 to Utah Trail. At Utah I turned south and went about 1/2 mile to JTNP Headquarters where I took a break and drank 2 bottles of water. I left HQ with the idea in mind of riding up to the entrance kiosk with the option of bailing out to the west about 1/2 mile up and going home by a route through the west side of 29 Palms which would add about 8 miles to the usual loop. As I started to climb I felt fine so decided to go up to the Kiosk which I did, arriving after about 45 minutes of grunting and groaning and sweating.

At the top I turned around and had a nice coast home. Sadly I neglected to apply sunscreen and go a fairly nasty burn. It was 97 outside when I got home.

I will comment that the east end of Valley Vista Road and Pinto Mountain had a lot of dirt cover, so much so in one place I had to unclip from the pedals to keep from going down. Obviously there had been some significant rain in the area in the previous day or two even though it had not rained at my place. I have noticed that before, dry as a bone at home and flooded intersections and mud and dirt across the road a couple of miles away to the northeast.

When I got to Highway 62 it was closed east of the junction undoubtedly due to water damage. There was a man towing a boat with a pickup sitting at the junction blocking traffic while trying to decide what to do. As I approached he asked me if I knew the area. He was going to Lake Havasu and asked me how to get there given the closed highway. I told him that going through Amboy and Needles was about the only route that made sense. He did not like that news. I left him to decide and rode on.