Day 3: Amboy into the desert

Posted by: Arin

A sketchy night finds us hidden behind a small hill, about 17 miles northwest of Needles, AZ. Dusk was falling, so we decided to hide under a train bridge off the side of the road. We made some mac-n-cheese and lounged around, started to set up camp. As we finished our food, a truck rolled past us on a dirt road near the bridge, then circled around, stopping for a moment near the entrance. Brad and I crouched to try to hide and the guy circled around once more, stopping just out of view of the entrance. We sat still for a moment, hiding near the back of the bridge; was he calling the cops? What was going to happen? Meanwhile the driver of the truck was still periodically flashing his lights into our little tunnel. We decided to make a run for it, so we packed up our stuff as quickly as possible and lugged our bikes out the backside of the bridge. Slogging along through inches of sand with 90 pound bikes, we made our way down a dirt road as quickly as possible to where we are now.

Other than that, today mostly consisted of riding. We were running pretty low on water as we rolled into Essex on Route 66, but there was a guy there outside his auto shop who has a line to well water and let us stock all the way up (water we're still drinking now). He was outside building a small boat for fishing out on Lake Mohave. If you ever find yourself bike touring through Essex, get some water from this guy and ask him about a Swiss guy who almost rode his bike around the world.

Days 1-2: Riverside to Indian Cove and Indian Cove to Amboy

Posted by: Arin

Life on the road is now life for the next few months.

I'm laying on my sleeping bag on the ground of what used to be a motel room. Some of the windows are broken, but we have a roof over our heads. This is Amboy, a desolate town comprised of a small post office and a diner/gas station/rundown motel. One woman works at both the post office and the diner, and she is the person who let us sleep in the motel. She says it's only used for movie sets now, so they let cyclists sleep in the rooms if any come by. After two days of dragging ourselves through the desert, this is a godsend; but let me get back to day 1.

Our first day was brutal. It was 100 miles that included long uphills, near heat exhaustion, and slogging our way through sandy fire roads. It was all pretty straightforward until we got to Morongo Dr., which is apparently closed to through traffic. We had to backtrack and look for a road that would connect us to Cabazon. As we stood on the side of the road, a Scottish man pulled up and asked us if we were headed to Cabazon. "Follow me!" he told us. He said the reason he helped us was because "a Dutchman, an Englishman, and a French woman" had been trying to find their way through the same area for half a day before he steered them in the right direction. He pointed us down a dirt road and off we went.

A couple hours later we found ourselves at the base of the 62 towards 29 Palms.  We had a little over a bottle of water each and a daunting climb ahead of us with at least 20-30 miles of no water.  Luckily we passed a couple construction workers on the side of the road who were happy to fulfill our request for more water (note:Construction workers are your friend if you're bike touring.  They always have water).  After many more miles of riding through the desert, we finally got to Indian Cove (in the dark) where we made camp and slept.

Day two was hot! We did a lot of riding through empty desert roads. We came across a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, but it was closed. We stayed there for a little while to savor the shade, and a car rolled up to throw something away in the dumpster. We asked the driver if she knew where we could find any water.  Not for 40-50 miles she told us, but luckily she was an employee of the bar and sold us 10 cold water bottles for 5 bucks. After quenching our thirst and stocking up on water, we rode 40-50 hot and grueling more miles to Amboy, where we are now.

Two spots allowed us some shade; here they are.

Leaving Riverside... tomorrow morning

Posted by: Arin

Tomorrow is the big day, we're leaving.  Our plan is to ride from Riverside to the Indian Cove campground just outside of Joshua Tree to camp for the night.  Check back in later to see how we fare.  These months will be the longest either of us have ever been on the road.

Much love to everyone who has already supported us (spiritually and financially)!

Bike Check

Posted by: Arin

This is the bike I'll be using as we ride across the country.  The frame is a 56cm Surly Long Haul Trucker in smog silver and I have it built up with a combination of SRAM Rival, Force, and X9.  

Rather than go the traditional touring triple route, I took some influence from mountain biking and went with a 2x.  My gear ratios are 50/34 in the front and an 11-36 in the back.  I find that this requires less work than a triple and also allowed me to use several parts already in my possession.  The gear range is also fantastic, with smaller gears than many traditional touring setups.  

The cockpit on my bike features many of my favorite parts, including 44cm Salsa Cowbell handlebars, a 110mm Niner stem, and a zero setback Thomson Elite seatpost.  Handlebar tape is Fizik microtex with Rav x bar gel underneath.  My saddle is a Fizik Aliante (the only saddle I use on all of my bikes).

The bike has SKS p45 fenders with mudflaps and both racks are made by Blackburn.  I bought them because they were extremely cheap but I would not recommend them.  Both racks required large amounts of modification (sawing, welding) to work in a way that I am ok with.

My wheels are 32 spoke Velocity A23 rims built up with Circus Monkey hubs by Hermes Sport, a local wheel builder from San Diego.  Tires are 35mm Panaracer T-servs.  The pedals I will be using are currently on another one of my bikes, but they are Crank Bros Candy 2's.

Thanks for checking out my bike and remember to follow us as we ride across America.  Feel free to comment if you have any questions and donate if you're feeling generous.  We appreciate everything!

Introduction
posted by: ARIN

A couple weeks ago, Brad and I (Arin) quit our jobs to live out a dream of riding bicycles across the country. This blog will follow our journey.

We're set to leave Riverside, California on April 7th with our final destination being Brooklyn, New York. Stops along the way will include, but are not limited to: The Grand Canyon, Denver (CO), Boulder (CO), Omaha (NE), Chicago (IL), Detroit (MI), and Toronto (ONT, Canada). The majority of our sleeping will be done outdoors; we want to live simply and well.  

proposed (rough) route

However, since we're not leaving for a few more weeks, here's a little bit about us. 

Brad and I first met in kindergarten, but didn't become friends until fourth grade when I moved across the street from him. We've been doing stuff (not quite) like this together ever since.  

 Arin:

23 years old, male, born and raised in Riverside, CA. I got seriously into cycling in college at UC Riverside and I love skateboarding. Trained in the art of bicycle maintenance and WFR certified. The hardest part of this trip for me will be not seeing my girlfriend Prany for months.    

Brad:

24 years old, male, also born and raised in Riverside, CA. Mountain biker at heart. Moved to San Francisco after high school before coming back to Riverside a year ago. Since then I haven't wanted to settle down, and I'm using this trip as a way of finding something new. New York might not be the end for me. I also really like skateboarding.