It was a nice, cool start to the day, as I turned out of the parking lot and onto the road. What followed was a 27-mile-long brutal climb until the BIG descent started, and boy was that fun!
En route, there was a road closure due to cleanup after a fire. Two young officers manning the closure apologized profusely for not being able to allow me through.
I asked whether they could recommend an alternate route, but there was no alternative that they felt comfortable recommending. I faced a 40-mile detour to rejoin the road I was on only 4 miles further along. Then the one officer said "Hold on, we just need to get him safely through here. They are busy with cleanup, so we could find someone to take him safely through."
He got onto his radio and sorted it for me. We then sat on rocks in the shade and they asked me about the trip, the bike, and the adventure. The next thing a truck pulled up, and the driver and the officers (with a lot of bantering between them) put the trike on the truck. I thanked the officers and climbed on board. Then the driver introduced himself by putting out his hand and saying: "I'm André, who am I talking to?". I was stunned for a second, and replied "André". He didn't miss a beat, and said: "You must be one of the good guys."
He dropped me off at the other end of the roadblock, commandeered the two officers there to take the trike off the truck, and bade me farewell.
What a relief to have avoided the 40-mile detour. Once again - the kindness of strangers!
When I came closer to the Mexican border, I saw the US version of the Great Wall of China 😊, and stopped to take a few pictures. While I was trying to read the screen to take a PANO photo of the wall/fence, a car pulled up. Two Frenchmen, Frank and Philippe, came over, introduced themselves, and asked about the wall. I was not knowledgeable enough to answer all their questions and the conversation turned to the trike, my journey, and my destination. Fantastic folk! Not long after they drove off I noticed a text from them. They had sent the photos they had taken with me.
Cycling through the desert was brutal. The road is fairly flat, there was a westerly wind, and the temperature reached a high of 123.8F (51C) with an average temperature of 104.0F (40C).
My feet are killing me. I'm having trouble with the cleats, and the new shoes don't help much either, so I am going to have to sort this out!
Part Of The Great Wall Of The USA
The French Connection (Frank And Philippe)
Comentários