Today’s ride started with a climb right from the start. It was a pretty gentle climb, but continuous. It took me a while to realize I could ride on the two lane road paralleling it that was punctuated by “ROAD CLOSED” signs and barriers for many miles. This made it much less stressful. A couple times it dead-ended, and I had to backtrack to get back on the main road.
Before I realized I could ride on the closed road, I saw a man with several cages of some sort. Some of the cages were already open, doors askew. I guessed they might be pigeons, so I hollered at him to wait while I found a way to reach him. I found out his name is Juan, and he lives in Los Angeles. He was releasing his pigeons to fly home. He loves his pigeons, and I love that he loves them (and I kinda loved them too)! I had an entire conversation with him in my “Duolingo Spanish!” This was really fun.
During one of those sections where I had to switch back to the main road, I saw someone stop their car as they were approaching and walk across the road, and I guessed they wanted to chat, so I pulled over. Dave, a veteran bike tourist (2x Tour Divide, Pacific Coast, maybe more!), wanted to let me know I shouldn’t follow the road, but instead get on the I-15 freeway. I was a little confused by his instructions, but I figured it would be obvious. It was. In fact, the Adventure Cycling route does exactly what he told me to do.
So, very soon, I found myself on I-15. It was busy and noisy, but the shoulder was one of the cleanest freeway shoulders I’ve ever seen. No visible wire, no glass, no chunks of garbage. Aside from the relentless noise, it was a nice climb to the top of Cajon Pass. The only problem I encountered was a stalled semi on the shoulder. There was so much traffic, I wouldn’t have been able to get past the truck in time. I had to take the bags off my bike, heave the bike over the guardrail, walk it around the truck, then reattach the bags.
The descent was pretty incredible, because I now had a brisk tailwind. I didn’t even pedal for long periods! Ironically, the long stretch of Route 66 involved a lot more close vehicle traffic, because it is pretty narrow at times. I suspect there is a lot of extra traffic because it is a long holiday weekend. But I didn’t have any dangerous encounters.
I am trying to figure out what to do tomorrow, and I might take a “zero day.” Not because Barstow is particularly fun or scenic, but because I can’t reach the motel I want to stay at, and it is supposed to rain all day.
My plan was to take a relatively easy ride to the Ludlow Motel, which doesn’t have a web presence or online reservations. It has two phone numbers, and both are dead (“The owner of this phone number hasn’t set up a voice mailbox”). The only other option is camping at Roy’s Cafe in Amboy (a ghost town with no water), but that is almost 80 miles in the rain, and, if the cafe is closed, no way to refill water bottles. So I am considering hanging out here, so I don’t have to ride 80 miles in the rain and camp on wet ground. If I wait until Monday, and the Ludlow Motel is unavailable, and I have to confinue to Amboy, at least I don’t have to ride in the rain and camp wet.
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