Welcome to my blog. I plan to do occasional posts before I set off and then every
few days on the trip.
On May 12th 2012 I will be dipping the rear wheel of my bike
into the Pacific Ocean
in Los Angeles and heading for the Atlantic in Boston.
I am funding the trip myself, however I am seeking sponsorship for The Multiple Sclerosis
Society. Please consider supporting my sponsorship by clicking on the "Sponsor me " link.
Note all of your donation will be going to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I am looking forward to this great challenge and hope you find my blog of interest.
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Thursday 17 May 2012

The second desert day 115 miles

Well here we re in wickenburg Arizona .
The longest mileage day at 115 miles and temperature about 105F

For some reason the heat did not seem as bad today,maybe I am getting more acclimatised.

We headed out of town and back on the interstate for some 30 miles.

We crossed the Colorado river and entered arizona.







-There was around 18 miles of climbing today although the incline was fairly gentle.

My problem was I suffered 4 punctures, which really saps the spirit in this heat.

The first three were early on and we think there was a metal burr on the wheel. So that was taken off and new rim tape fitted. The fourth was towards the end of the day and was a real puncture in that some debris entered the tyre.

The road side is strewn with tyre debris and glass.

Fortunately the last 5 miles in were downhill, however I did not get in until nearly 6pm after getting on the road at 7.15 am. I probably lost an hour and a half sorting out tyres. I was riding with Harry who had a split tyre so another delay.




The countryside is arid desert, long straight roads.

We had dinner at the golden nugget and sat at dan quayles table. This town really is Cowboy land.

Managed to speak to heather when Harry's tyre was being repaired, last night it was too late as we are 8 hours time difference.

Tomorrow the miles are much less however there is a lot of climbing and assuming I dont have flats should get to the hotel at a reasonable time.




I have had great assistance from rick and Tracy of the team on my breakdowns. The picture above is the wagon with ice and water etc ,at one of our stops.

The support team really are amazing.

That's it for tonight.


Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:S Valentine St,Wickenburg,United States

1 comment:

Jan Lewis said...

Two years ago I only had one flat tire the entire trip. I attributed this to the fact that I was the slowest rider on the road so everyone else picked up all the garbage in their tires as they rode through. Only time it pays to be slow.