2014-12-11 - Sheephole Wilderness Camp to the Highway 62/177 Junction Then Home to Twentynine Palms

Bike: Tour
Miles: 65.1
Start Time 9:52
Elapsed Time: 9:40:20
Elevation(Ft): 1894
Avg Spd(M): 8.3
Max Spd(M): 27.3
Temp Out:
Temp In:

Above: Packed up and ready to go in the morning.

I got up at 8:00. Like last night I did not feel like messing with the stove so I drank a coke while packing. I got on the road a bit before 10:00 and had an easy downhill 8 mile run to the start of the 4 mile climb up to the Highway 62/177 junction. It took almost an hour to do the climb. When I reached the junction I stopped and had a Cliff Bar and a bottle of electrolyte water. I was not a happy camper. No coffee. A headwind. Rain the next day. Not relishing long nights in the tent. In short I decided to wuss out and come home.

At the Highway 62/177 Junction:

I started back about noon and coasted to the bottom of the hill which had taken an hour to climb in about 15 minutes and started back up the long roughly 12 mile climb to the first summit of Sheephole Wilderness. I stopped for a quick break and to change from my new baggy shorts to the old faithful and more comfortable tight bike shorts at Sheephole Valley Road. From there I ground out the 8 miles to the top with a short break or two. It actually went better than expected and I got to the cutoff to what I call Sheephole Lake which is 31 miles from home at 3:00 PM. After a break there where I drank my second and last Coke and put on a fleece sweater as it was quite chilly in the wind I did a short climb then coasted about 11 miles to the low point of the Wonder Valley and started climbing the last 20 miles back to town. Sometime after sunset I stopped and set up all my lights. I started my phone GPS app and saw I was still 14 miles from home. I had hoped I was a few miles closer but it was what it was and I had no choice but to keep going. I reached the airport which is 8.5 miles from home at about 6:00 and got home at 7:00.

At the airport:

The statistics: I seem to have inadvertently shut off the Strava app recording at Sheephole Lake cutoff coming back. Strava registered 28.1 miles and the statistics above other than mileage are what was recorded and are obviously very incomplete. I computed the days total miles using Google maps.

The bike computer: I found it in the morning in the ditty bag in the handlebar bag. I had no recollection of putting it in the ditty. Old age is swell.

Other Bike Tourists: As I was preparing to leave my stop at Sheephole Valley Road what I took to be a very small woman pulled onto the turnout about 100 yards behind me. I said hello and started up the hill. As I climbed I was hearing noises I thought were coming from the bike. I got off and was looking for the source (it turned out to be the Cliff Bar in my jacket pocket) when a man towing a two wheel kiddie trailer passed me followed by the small female who turned out to be a young girl. I started again and was soon overtaken by a woman towing one of the one wheel kids bike type trailers (it looks like a kids bike but instead of a front wheel it is hitched to the adult bike) with a young girl aboard. The woman had a British accent and told me she was indeed English but that the rest of the family was Swiss and that the little girl ahead was 9. She pulled away and in a few minutes another woman overtook me with a young lad on her bicycle/trailer (maybe a twin of the girl on the other trailer/bike). She chatted with me awhile and I learned they had started in San Francisco and come down through Death Valley to Las Vegas and were headed to 29 Palms to wait out the rain and then were going on to San Diego. They were going twice my pace and I was impressed by their ability to go uphill so fast. I thought most of their equipment must be in the mans covered kiddie trailer. About 3 miles up the hill I came upon a VW bus parked in a turnout with a young lady sitting against it. I asked if she was OK an she said yes, she was just waiting on the family. It turns out she was the group's support team and the bus was jammed to the gills with stuff. That answered a bunch of questions but the speed these people were making was impressive, loaded or not. I saw many motorcyclists but no other bicyclists.

My Load: Since I knew I was not in the shape I was in when I rode over this road in 2013 and was not sure how long it would take me to get to the first water at 95 miles I left the house with 3 gallons of water. That is 24 pounds. In 2013 I carried about 1 1/2 gallons from home (12 pounds) and my bike and load weighed 90 pounds. I had extra winter warm stuff and more food this time so I am guessing the total bike and load was well over 100 pounds. I brought most of the food home but drank about a gallon of water over both days and dumped a gallon on the ground at Sheephole Valley Road coming back.

Scenery at the 62/177 Junction: