Day One Blog

      The day started out with clear skies, slightly cool and little or no wind.  This was on the coast, of course, but as soon as we turned west on Highway 166, just before Santa Maria, we experience about a 15 degree temperature drop.  Mike and Tom could relate to the cold, whereas I had to keep finding the switch to the electric vest to turn if off, along with the heated grips… too hot!  They didn’t want to hear about it.

      Highway 166 was a beautiful ride … hardly any traffic and the hills are a lush green.  Nothing prepared us for I-5 at the base of the Grapevine section – the beginning of the wind blast.  The head wind so bad pulling the grade we were practically running full throttle and still slowing down.  We finally turned off on Highway 138, heading west, and the wind was better, along with a temperature upgrade.  The only downside was hitting the traffic lights through Palmdale. We then connected with I-15 heading south, and ran into some traffic.  Everyone was rubber necking a traffic accident on the shoulder. The jam eased up a bit after we got past it and then came the mother of all cross winds.  We had just pulled back onto the highway after a fuel stop when it hit.  Semi’s and cars were pulling over to the right shoulder, which now meant we had objects to hit as opposed to just getting blown off the road. Debris was everywhere.  Mike thought the gusts were up to 40 mph.  We slowed down to about 45 mph just to get through it.  Tom said he always knew when a gust was coming because first Mike would suddenly lean to the right, then me, and then wham!  Eventually we connected with I-10 just after San Bernardino and we were heading west again, and fortunately, no more wind.  The road was straight with light traffic, so everything went smooth from there on out. 

     We arrived in Blythe just after 5:30 and settled in at the Hampton Inn.  The front desk person recommended a steak house on the corner and we indulged … of course, vowing not to do it again. But, steaks and margarita’s around, the manly thing to do on a biker trip!  We promise to do salads from here on out.

On to New Mexico, via Arizona.

Dave

Some stats:

Miles covered - 475

Total time in the saddle – 7 hours 50 minutes

Total road duration with stops – 10 hours plus

Maximum elevation – 4,700 feet, give or take a few