L7 - 50.295km - Ripley, CA to Quartzsite, AZ

Hot, dusty deserts keep life to a minimum in this area of the United States. From the news, I have read that the temperatures in this area are hovering in the upper 110+ degrees F! Could you imagine riding in those temperatures? The heat reflecting off of the aspault or concrete would probably be able to cook your bicycle tires, and your water bottle would turn into a hot water kettle that starts to whistle with boiling water at 9:30AM as you ride. From my web searches, numerous pictures show a desert landscape with lots of RVs. Who in their right mind these days would pay for gasoline to drive an RV around the southwest US? Sure, the Baby Boomers have some money, but paying for gas should not be on a priority as they enter retirement. But beyond that, this ride has a nice little climb over 1,000 feet around the California and Arizona border. Then again the climb takes about 15 km to complete, so I am not really worried about having a huge 10+ percent grade for 10+ km. From what I have been told, no major roads in the United States have road grades over 6 percent. Local roads on the other hand may have grades past 10 percent. I have ridden a few in Utah. Yawn. So, riding like this reminds me when I was in college and routinely rode about 2 hours every day. I am liking this. I feel tired when it is time to go to sleep. I feel better. Why not exercise?

A non-RAAM ride today

In my little quest to ride across America using the same general course as the true RAAM, I need to use topo software made by DeLorme and co-developed with Racermate to add all of the good elevation changes, turns, descents, and other general road features. Supposedly, this software will arrive tomorrow thanks to UPS. Then, I will take up the course again. Today, I was a little tired. I have changed my level of intensity over the past month and a half. I rode under my anaerobic threshold for that period of time. Sure, the benefits abound when you don't feel tired from the previous day's ride. But I think there are some drawbacks wherein you lose the same type of power and just feeling as you ride. I have made adjustments to my pedals as well. Speedplay pedals and cleats wear out. Period. End of story. In the past year, two sets of Zero CroMo pedals ended up on eBay because they started to wear. So, to offset the high costs of replacement of cleats (which wear out quickly as well), Shimano pedals, the Ultegra RD-6620 series pedal, became my main pedal. I hope to use these pedals a long time. To make the personal decision to stay with the pedals, cleats were on sale for $12.00, and I picked up 4 extra sets. First thing, let me say these pedals ROCK! Sure, the adjustments are still being made to compare with the position of the Speedplay pedals, but I feel secure in how my foot and shoe grip the pedal. Lateral movement or a rocking moment is nil. Speedplay pedals made this feature an unheadlined negative. Who cares about cornering when you are riding on a CompuTrainer when it is 95degrees F and 100% humid outside? Not, I. Once the UPS man arrives, I will install the software and get the courses made. Enjoy riding my friends.