Tracking around the Rocks in the Desert!
Well, the weather outside (at home) has been frightful, as the song goes. We've been hearing about all the snow-birds wintering in Quartzsite AZ for years and now we've finally tried it for ourselves.
For those few yet not in the "know", Quartzsite is home to a few bazillion acres of relatively flat BLM land upon which one can park, camper, RV or tent, rent free. At least for 14 days, upon which you are required to relocate somewhere else - at least 25 miles away.
Most folks leave colder climes somewhere before the deep snows and heavy frosts set in, meaning for most no later than early November or so. We have other demands on our time so we didn't feel like we could stay more than a couple or three weeks out here. After all, even without space rent, or more likely BECAUSE of no space rent, dry camping involves burning expensive gasoline in your generator, spending big bucks on solar panels and storage batteries, making trips and paying fees to dump "used" water and refill water and propane and gasoline tanks, none of which is all that cheap. Cheaper than $20 to $40-something a night to plug into water, sewer, and electricity in a paid RV campsite, but still costing precious money.
Jacque's still at the house stuffing firewood into the stove to stay warm at home, but she will join me in a few days - weather permitting.
I drove out here with fairly clear weather to start, but with driving rain and wind the last 2 days of the trip.
I took what I thought was the southernmost route, down I-25 to Las Cruces, then west on I-10 through Deming, Lordsburg, Tucson, Casa Grande, Phoenix...... BIG mistake. (Should have detoured via I-8 thru Gila Bend, so the experts tell me). Getting stuck in Phoenix Parking Lot I-10 traffic was no fun whatsoever, and the rains poured in, making it even more frightful. By the time I got out of Phoenix on the west end of I-10 it was getting dark and still raining. I finally gave it up when I spotted a rest area just 66 miles east of Quartzsite. Most rest areas warn against all-night parking but I wasn't the only one seeking relief from driving in the driving rain. Trucks, vans, cars, trailers, RV's, with most of them running noisy generators or diesel truck engines all night, accompanied me. I had a hard time sleeping through all the chugging and popping of all those surrounding engines but I was shot and grateful for a bit of rest AND not having to be out on the interstate with the darkness, rain, and crowded traffic.
Next day, as I drove over the last rise and saw the outline of Quartzsite coming into view, it appeared to be a fairly decent sized small town.... until I got closer and realized I was seeing but very few houses and buildings - but THOUSANDS of RV's and campers, parked willy-nilly and everywhere, as far as the eye can see. There are 2 exits for Quartzsite, and both are clogged with trucks, RV's, cars of every description.... the whole town seems to be an unbelieveable conglomeration of swapmeets, flea markets, and quasi-temporary roadside businesses hawking everything you never heard of for RV's and camping. I was shocked to see a well stocked RV windshield replacement business, operating out of several trucks and RV's , with windshields in stock ready for installation. (I should check out how their prices compare to my recent RV double windshield replacement cost of $1600-plus in Albuquerque).
There are NO "Big Box" stores within 40-50 miles but hundreds of small vendors seemingly selling anything you could imagine, if you can only FIND it.
I got here Saturday, and noticed an LDS ("Mormon") chapel just off the freeway exit, so I attended church next day on Sunday. The congregation here is listed as a "Branch" which normally indicates a small group but there were SIX HUNDRED FIFTEEN or more people attending, wall to wall and packing the hallways.
Lots of Mormon Snowbirds, I suppose, but the locals tell me it's a pretty large congregation here year round.
There's a ham radio event called Quartzfest this week that is totally free and so far, a lot of fun. There is no assigned parking. It's on BLM property so all you do is register for free, select an open space somewhere amongst the rock and greasewood and Sonoran cacti, and park.
I brought my relatively new Catrike Road trike for commuting around during this experimental trip. I feared it might not survive or do well without paved roads - or even decent gravel roads - to ride on. With its tiny narrow street tires I feared they would shred themselves in short order but its been riding surprisingly well. There are NO roads here once you leave the pavement and the ride is pretty bouncy but after 4 days of riding around no tire damage has been noted and the wheels are still round. I do have trouble with the chain occasionally jumping off the cogs, but am learning to keep the chain on the higher gears to minimize slack loops while bouncing over the rocks.
Jacque has fat tires already mounted on HER Catrike Pocket so she will do even better on these rocks when she arrives in a few more days.
Rides Started: 2-3 times each day, going back and forth between groups and gatherings
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5 or 6 miles, a couple or more each day these last few days
I refuse to TRY listing any average speed, crawling over rocks and through gullies
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Unexpected Attack
It's been way too long since I last rode the bike or trike. Lots of stuff has happened, but none of it on a bike. I'm starting to fall back into the trap of being too busy to try staying healthy.
The recent winter weather, making everything soggy and cold and occasionally icy, has not helped my motivation.
I ALMOST took a ride yesterday but by the time I "got around to it" it was already after 3:30 PM, meaning I remembered the LAST time we rode that late and had to contend with heavy going-home traffic on our normally less crowded roads out here in the East Mountains. So I again gave it up for another day.
Today was that day, finally. The sun was out and shining brightly from an almost-clear sky and I had some mail that needed depositing in the "OUT" slot at the Post Office, so I had the perfect excuse and motivation to get off my butt and do a bike ride.
Of course, the tires were a bit saggy when I dragged the bike out of the shed, so I used the wonderful huge Craftsman air tank and topped them off. It took a bit of poking around to find my favorite bike helmet, but I finally got going about 11-ish. Our goat-path mile of mud and rocks from the house to the pavement had firmed up somewhat, so I was able to get to the pavement without getting coated with mud.
I always have to dismount to push the bike up the last 20 feet or so to the pavement up the slight hill, and as I did so I realized I was in TROUBLE.
Faithful readers are surely aware that bike-riders have basic bodily functions as much or more than those unlucky enough to NOT ride bikes around the countryside. Sometimes when "the Urge" hits there is time enough to wait for a "legitimate facility" and sometimes disaster happens. Today was disaster.
Sparing the Too Much Information segment, suffice it to say I'm grateful for thick juniper trees so close to the roadway. And, if you are ever blinded by a sudden flash of white from inside some trees or bushes along a bikeway, hopefully it won't be MY fishbelly-white backside at fault.
Then, after escaping that episode, I felt safe enough to continue the leisurely ride to the Post Office, short though it may be. Trouble is, the WIND was gusting strongly and very cold, almost blowing me and my trusty recumbent bike over or off the road several times. The chain jumped too many gears on the way up and on the way back, requiring me to stop and make adjustments on my knees to both release the chain from the bound-up cassette on the rear wheel AND to adjust the limit screws to try to keep the blooming machine from doing it again the NEXT time I up or down-shifted.
As usual, the trip TO the Post Office was the hard part, since it's uphill most of the way, AND the wind was eastbound and REALLY in my face, with the irregular gusting this way and that just to keep me off balance more than usual. Coming back was mostly downhill, with most of the headwind now at my back, until of course I turned into our goat-path and bounced off the pavement and rode/walked the last mile to the house.
Amazingly enough, I've noticed feeling more energized and less foggy all day after the ride, proving again that the results are well worth the discomforts of getting going, even on a hardly ideal day. Even though, as usual, I'm way out of shape again.
My GPS-Radio tracker did not make it to any receivers today. My 50 foot ham radio tower fell down in 75+ MPH winds on Christmas Day and thus there is no local Igate to pick up the stray cyclist with handlebars full of electronics widgets.
Ride Started: 11:04 PM Ride Ended: 12:39 PM
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.54
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.5 MPH 6.1 MPH 32.3 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 35 mins 54 minutes 40 minutes (Thanks to Road Repair Stops)
The recent winter weather, making everything soggy and cold and occasionally icy, has not helped my motivation.
I ALMOST took a ride yesterday but by the time I "got around to it" it was already after 3:30 PM, meaning I remembered the LAST time we rode that late and had to contend with heavy going-home traffic on our normally less crowded roads out here in the East Mountains. So I again gave it up for another day.
Today was that day, finally. The sun was out and shining brightly from an almost-clear sky and I had some mail that needed depositing in the "OUT" slot at the Post Office, so I had the perfect excuse and motivation to get off my butt and do a bike ride.
Of course, the tires were a bit saggy when I dragged the bike out of the shed, so I used the wonderful huge Craftsman air tank and topped them off. It took a bit of poking around to find my favorite bike helmet, but I finally got going about 11-ish. Our goat-path mile of mud and rocks from the house to the pavement had firmed up somewhat, so I was able to get to the pavement without getting coated with mud.
I always have to dismount to push the bike up the last 20 feet or so to the pavement up the slight hill, and as I did so I realized I was in TROUBLE.
Faithful readers are surely aware that bike-riders have basic bodily functions as much or more than those unlucky enough to NOT ride bikes around the countryside. Sometimes when "the Urge" hits there is time enough to wait for a "legitimate facility" and sometimes disaster happens. Today was disaster.
Sparing the Too Much Information segment, suffice it to say I'm grateful for thick juniper trees so close to the roadway. And, if you are ever blinded by a sudden flash of white from inside some trees or bushes along a bikeway, hopefully it won't be MY fishbelly-white backside at fault.
Then, after escaping that episode, I felt safe enough to continue the leisurely ride to the Post Office, short though it may be. Trouble is, the WIND was gusting strongly and very cold, almost blowing me and my trusty recumbent bike over or off the road several times. The chain jumped too many gears on the way up and on the way back, requiring me to stop and make adjustments on my knees to both release the chain from the bound-up cassette on the rear wheel AND to adjust the limit screws to try to keep the blooming machine from doing it again the NEXT time I up or down-shifted.
As usual, the trip TO the Post Office was the hard part, since it's uphill most of the way, AND the wind was eastbound and REALLY in my face, with the irregular gusting this way and that just to keep me off balance more than usual. Coming back was mostly downhill, with most of the headwind now at my back, until of course I turned into our goat-path and bounced off the pavement and rode/walked the last mile to the house.
Amazingly enough, I've noticed feeling more energized and less foggy all day after the ride, proving again that the results are well worth the discomforts of getting going, even on a hardly ideal day. Even though, as usual, I'm way out of shape again.
My GPS-Radio tracker did not make it to any receivers today. My 50 foot ham radio tower fell down in 75+ MPH winds on Christmas Day and thus there is no local Igate to pick up the stray cyclist with handlebars full of electronics widgets.
Ride Started: 11:04 PM Ride Ended: 12:39 PM
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles: 5.54
Overall average speed Moving Avg Max Speed
3.5 MPH 6.1 MPH 32.3 MPH
Total Trip time Moving Time Stopped Time
1 hour 35 mins 54 minutes 40 minutes (Thanks to Road Repair Stops)
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