Monday, February 17....55.44 in 4:06....my legs and personality, as well as the quality of sleep I've been getting told me that I had to get out and ride today. I headed north towards Yuma, then east towards the Foothills suburbs, then back to the far west side of Yuma. I saw some new areas, had mainly good roads, but traffic was a headache because schools are off for Presidents Day. The eastern foothill suburbs are about 95% retirement, snow bird related double wides, RVs and park model homes. Some of the neighborhoods were really nice, others just RV parks..... Many RV parks in a row. The Foothills area had strip malls and stores of their own, and could be totally independent of Yuma. That was the new area for me to explore for the day, and the rest were roads I've been riding on, on a regular basis now, 32nd Street, 24th Street, Avenue A, Gila Ridge Road... My legs felt great, and I easily could have done much more, even though it heated up pretty good, probably over 85 degrees. This area is still setting daily records for heat. The ride was followed by a trip to the pool with Pam for a couple of hours and a nice cool down!
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| Rows of different types of lettuce are planted, and then they are cut together to make your mixed greens that you buy in a bag! |
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| On Mike's bike ride, he discovered this old wooden building with a whole lot of fish skeletons! Not sure what they were doing in the middle of the lettuce fields!! |
Feb. 18.... We actually had to drive north, back into California, and then to our destination of Los Algodones, Mexico. We had heard that it was a very nice place for Americans to visit, unlike some other places. It was, definitely cleaner and less poverty stricken than our only other Mexican experience in Tijuana. I would never go back to Tijuana, but I would go back to Los Algodones. It was predominantly dental, optical, and pharmaceutical in nature, geared to the snowbirds who come down for cheap medicine. There were the same types of trinket shops as Tijuana, but there was also some more upscale, touristy stuff. We bought some medications that were still cheaper than our insurance co pays, and a few gifts for friends and kids. The highlight of the day was a restaurant and bar that we went to for lunch. It was an outdoor patio, surrounded by shops and dentist offices. The place was packed with Americans (and Canadians), and a live band was playing. The band was good, but not great, until a girl in a dental uniform came out to perform with them. She busted out an Adele song, then a Whitney Houston song, and covered them very well. Those songs are very hard to do unless you have a GREAT voice, and she did. We stayed around, and basked in the sun while drinking margaritas, eating tacos and fajitas and listening to the music all afternoon. The line to get back into the USA was long, it took about 45 minutes, and that was where the poor people came to sell their trinkets and beg, but it was not depressing, like Tijuana was. I would say that Los Algodones is a well kept secret for the people in the Yuma area, because both towns are in the middle of nowhere.
Feb 19.....67.91 in 4:49.... After a week of wind consistently out of the north, it finally changed to south today. I was wondering if it ever would, because when we leave, I'm going 83 miles due north, and I would love a tailwind. The wind has not been strong here, in any direction, in the time we've been here, and now I know it'll blow out of the south, so all was good on today's ride. I headed south, into the wind to start, and did a loop that I've already done, to San Luis, on the Mexican border. I pushed for some more speed today, even though I didn't race, I averaged over 14 mph for the trip, which is decent for me. I took a few little side trips in San Luis, but basically it was a straight shot, opposite the direction I did the loop last time. I followed AZ 195 south to Mexico, then US 95 through the lettuce fields, back to Yuma. I went up into town to add some miles, and finished the loop into the same south wind that I started with. Then it was to the pool for our little swim, before showering at the pool, where an old guy without his hearing aid in or glasses on, tried to get in the shower with me. Old guys don't 'rule,' like the t shirt says, they just try not to get lost.
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| Looking down off of the bridge at this car burning! |
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| A truck driver stopped and used his fire extinguisher |
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