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2011-02-13 tl;dr: Gah, I am out of shape! 40 miles took me nearly 6 hours. I am finally in 29 Palms, CA for the week. One thing is for sure: I'm getting plenty of sleep. I normally wake up absurdly early. That's all well and good when you can roll out of bed, put on some coffee and start reading reddit.com. But when faced with 2 more hours of dark and 40 degrees outside the sleeping bag I find myself sleeping in a bit.Though well rested my legs still had little to offer. I started slow and by the time I traversed the 40 miles into 29 Palms I was done. Of course my hotel reservation was clear on the other side of town. It looked closer on the map. Fortunately I still had plenty of water. Pro tip: If you haven't done any serious cycling in six months, don't tackle 150 miles of desert all at once. Or at least don't expect to enjoy yourself the whole way. And bring more water. After so many miles across the desert everything was starting to look the same. Except for the snow-covered mountain in the distance. Eventually I came upon abandoned shacks (hopefully) and then some actual houses. My tired legs were gladdened by this return to civilization and I suspected I was almost into town. 14 miles later I hit the 29 Palms "City Limit". Other than the sign claiming as much, there was no other indication of any boundary. As I finally drifted into 29 Palms proper I passed an older lady jogging. In general I would endorse such behavior. But I witnessed her repeatedly crossing herself in a Catholic manner as she gasped for breath. I wonder if that would help me as well. 29 Palms is a military town. I need a haircut. My quadriceps are experiencing a whole new level of sore. They've got a few days to toughen up. Then I start in with the harsh portion of my route. |
 good morning California  I didn't think I'd ever get up here   where's the city? all I see is snow  29 Palms |