17-04-10 Day 03

Barstow, CA to Ludlow, CA

Wow! What a difference a day makes. And what a relief to finally have the wind at our backs. Karen and I started out early with an anticipation of yet another struggle. Much to our surprise, and after some uncertainty as we made our way through town to the outer city limits of Barstow, a gentle, yet constant wind, began pushing us east. As the morning progressed we were delighted and somewhat giddy to experience the wind pushing from behind. At times we achieved 20+ miles per hour without one turn of our peddles. Big smiles from both of us.

But of course the day would not be without a challenge or two. Our map set cautioned us of poor road conditions for a long stretch along our route. The road sign that read "Rough Road Ahead next 9 miles" was our next clue. After a brief discussion we decided to forego these signs and forge ahead. Yep, you got it. A bad idea. Lesson learned. We encountered terrain that was well suited for an off-road mountain bike but certainly not our heavily packed road bikes. Determined not to turn back we next encountered a road crew attempting to resurface at least one mile of the nine we were committed to ride. The resurfacing materials spanned shoulder to shoulder for one mile. As a result, we were forced to ride this next mile in the soft gravel berm adjacent to the road work. Once past the road work it was clear the road sign and the map set should not have been ignored. Our first opportunity we pushed our bikes through a thirty to forty foot wasteland island separating us from route 40. This was the alternative route suggested by our map set. A newer section of highway with a large forgiving shoulder provided a safe, smooth, and speedy ending to our day.

Once we arrived in Ludlow we were greeted by Nate, Karen's oldest son, who agreed to SAG for us for the next few days as we pass through the Mojave Desert. Nate had our room ready and assisted us getting settled in. Thanks, Nate!

As about additional item, I spoke to my amazingly wonderful daughter today, who is knocking it out of the park as a pre-med student at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and her friends have been asking how we keep up with our calorie demand during our rides each day. Well, we try to eat a healthy breakfast each morning. You know,eggs, toast, bacon, etc. We then supplement our ride throughout the day by snacking on beef jerky, Cliff bars, trail mix, fruit and nut bars, Hammer supplement drink mixes we add to water, gels, etc. It's a small but constant consumption of many items all in an effort to keep a steady fuel supply to the body and muscles. And of course, plenty of water.

Ludlow Motel, our fine accommodations for the evening. Ludlow, CA, population 10 (we are unable to confirm this), one gas station, one cafe, and of course the Motel are real.