Have you ever seen swans kiss? I have...

Here was today's expected riding itinerary from Brawley, CA to Yuma, AZ.  See Glamis, CA, when I make a right turn towards Yuma?  Remember that spot on the map because when I get there, it's lunchtime!

The itinerary displays an easy and flat 66-mile ride after the 120-mile ride yesterday from San Diego, CA.  I left at 8am and rode into sunny, 70 degree weather.  The day started off optimistically enough, just like this political campaign banner.

You have my vote, Ron Paul (you have for the past 30 years)!  After 3 miles, the optimism multiplied as I rode past a palm tree farm!  What's more optimistic than a palm tree farm?!  Aww, look at the baby palm trees!

I rode 30 miles on a smooth road and arrived into Glamis, CA at 10:02am.  I bought a ham and cheese sandwich and chose to eat outside to enjoy the sights and sounds of Glamis Beach!

 

Wait, you don't see a beach?  Don't worry, there isn't one.  But I did spontaneously squirt my water bottle on the sidewalk to mimic the serene sound of waves crashing ashore on jagged rocks.  After several minutes of meditating to the rhythmic squawking of the seagulls (they were lost), I heard a rumble in the in the distance, but this time it wasn't a wave.  It was a ferocious motorcycle gang and they rolled up ready to shoot!

Ready to shoot pictures of this super bad-O dune buggy, that is!

It turns out they were a group of 20 tourist from the Netherlands!  They were headed cross country on a wide array of sweet motorcycles!  And they were all wearing tank tops, jeans and Napoleon Dynamite approved boots, just like the guy in the picture above.  After chatting with the gang about how cyclist are viewed around the world, I hopped back on the saddle, embarking on the last 35 miles of my day- so I thought.  So far, the ride was a piece of cake as I looked for the right turn that would lead me into Yuma, AZ.  After riding a mile, I arrived to the right turn (or lack of).

Yep, there it is.  Apparently, I was supposed to hitch a ride with a dune buggy into Yuma.  So I re-routed on my GPS.

I was suppose to ride through the diagonal line of small towns straight to Yuma.  Instead, I had to take a 30-mile detour through the sand dunes.  Ok, no sweat!  I started down the detour but was quickly met with a 30 mph head wind!  Ok, SWEAT!  As I rode down the sand covered road, each passing truck bringing a sand storm, I struggled to keep a 8 mph pace.  I rode for 2 hours and covered 15 miles.  I ran out of food and water, with more than 30 miles until I reached the next gas station.  After pedaling my little heart off for 2 hours, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw the heaviest Shell sign in the world!

So heavy, it had to be held up by three poles!  Incredible.  After gulping a 89-ounce lemon lime Gatorade and scarfing down three frozen burritos, I set off on the last 19 miles of my ride down Interstate-8.  After a grueling and exfoliating day, I finally arrived into Yuma, AZ!  And lucky for me, the most luxurious resort and spa in all of Arizona had sponsored my tour stop in Yuma! 

The staff here at The Best Western Coronado is simply incredible!  Wait until you see the inside of my room!

What was the first thing you noticed?

The kissing swans??  Me too!  And now, every time the ride gets excruciatingly tough, I will think of kissing swans.  Dang it!  WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT SWAN?!