Day 04: Tuesday 3/08/16, Calexico, CA to Yuma, AZ

Day 4 distance: 65.5 miles

Total miles: 202.5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1113 feet

Map of today's ride:

Unknown planting about 10 miles east of Calexico, California.

I started today's blog with the picture above to show you what a beautiful day we had today! We woke up to blue sky and much warmer temperatures which reached 76 degrees by the time I arrived in Yuma, Arizona. It was very nice to be able to bicycle in normal temperatures for this area for this time of year, and we all have already forgotten about the last two days fighting of cold, rain, sleet, and high winds!

The 65 mile ride today was very pleasant and mainly uneventful. For most of the ride we had a good tailwind to make the ride even more pleasant. The only issue we faced were some very rough roads. The first section of extremely bumpy road was along most of a 20 mile stretch on the shoulder of Interstate 8. About every 8 to 10 feet, the road's shoulder was split open as wide as 4-5 inches with lips projecting upwards on both sides of the split a couple inches high. Then, about 20 miles from Yuma, we rode a 4.5 mile stretch of Araz Road which was full of cracks and pot holes. For most of that section of the ride, speeds were limited speeds to just a few miles per hour. The following is a picture taken of the Araz Road surface. Of course on any long ride one should expect sections of rough roads so one just accepts it and rides on!

Road surface of Araz Road, 20 miles from the end of today's ride.

 

Following are a few miscellaneous pictures from today's ride:

Fellow Coaster Tom Coe looking at a crop of corn that had just been flood irrigated near Calexico.

Interstate 8 crosses the All-American Canal near Yuma. This is the life blood of the desert.

The Imperial Dunes Recreational Area as seen from Interstate 8.

The Church of Felicity at Felicity, California, also where the Center of the Earth has been legally declared.

A twenty foot section from the Eiffel Tower, now located in Felicity, California. It was purchased in 1989 when the original stairway was replaced. This monument is called "The Stairway to Heaven."

This driver was driving on the dry Colorado River at the border between California and Arizona at Yuma. The back end of his pickup apparently sunk in the sand.  It looked like he had a hole dug in the sand about 2 feet deep by one back wheel, but the effort was looking hopeless.

I was riding alone as I entered Arizona so I had an opportunity to try out the selfie stick I bought for the ride. The stick worked although it appears the picture taker did not want his picture taken. :)  Also note that my name on the vest is not only for strangers but also comes in handy for me once in a while.

I was cramp free last night so I am assuming that my normal early ride cramp episode is behind us just like the bad weather!

LINK to Day 4 of my 2015 C2C blog.