Day 16

Kingman, AZ to San Diego, CA:

New Tire, Joshua Tree National Park, San Diego, Drop Bike

Original images here.

Today was not the best day of the trip, however there were a lot of highlights. Some great roads, great views, and some great friends at the end of the day. But there were a few lowlights too. But I'll get to those in time.

I woke up, packed up, and as I was packing I noticed that the womans Wimbledon final was on, so I had to watch the end of that. Then it was on the road. A quick blast on I-40, then I jumped off onto Route 66! Yes, it is a goofy picture, but i had to take just one. After that straight part, it turned into a really fun road through Sitgreaves Pass. Then it went into the ghost town of Goldrod then into Oatman, which seams to exist just for tourists. As I was nearing the end of that stretch of 66, with the temps hovering in the 110F range, I came up on a guy just walking, a good 7 miles from town. I pulled over to see if he was ok, he was, he said something I didn't catch about why the hell he was out there, but I offered him a ride into town. He jumped on the bike, sans helmet/gear, sitting on my tent, and I drove him into Golden Shores and dropped him off.

The plan from here was to blast along on I-40, then duck down to the Joshua Tree National Park. I saw a sign for last gas for 90 miles, so filled up. I then checked my rear tire. Now, a little background. I put new 020's on the bike for the trip. I normally ger ~8K miles out of a set, so I figured if I ran them at max pressure, I might make the whole trip on one set. I don't know what I was smoking, but it must have been some good shit. At just 5000 miles the rear was shot. Knowing that I had about 140 miles west to anything that resembled civilization, and that it was a Saturday before a long weekend, I decided I best fine a tire NOW. I pulled into Needles and asked about bike shops. They were all Harley type shops and no one had a tire that fit. One guy recommended that I head up to Bullhead, as there were several shops up there, so that is what I did. It was in the wrong direction, but I figured caution was the better part of valor. The first several shops were also Harley types, but I finally found a shop what dealt with sport bikes and they had exactly one tire my size, a Maxxis. So several hours later and $230 later, I had a new tire.

I then decided I wanted to make San Diego that night, no matter what. So it was back onto I-40, then back onto a very long, straight, flat section of 66 again. 100+mph for a loooong time. I passed Bristol Dry Lake, then i went through the Sheep Hole Mountains. As I came out of those, I could see 2 dust devils down in the valley. Very cool. Pushed on into 29 Palms, then into the Joshua Tree National Park. Some absolutely spectacular views. I then made my way south on 86 where I experienced some of the strongest cross winds ever. I had to fight to keep the bike in line, and this went on for 60 miles. I then turned west onto 78 so I was going INTO the wind. Whoa. Man is the XX thirsty when running in the triple digits. I was only getting ~150 miles to a tank! The end of 78 was fun, as was 79. After that it was onto I-8 into San Diego where I met friends at a Sushi bar.
As we left the bar, I was following the car in front of me. I turned right onto the road and the bike just kept going over. UI have no idea what happened. I think the front tire must have hit a patch of something. Over the bike went. Right onto the curb. :-( Nothing serious, just cosmetic damage. I'll check it out more tomorrow in the daylight. Now, I'm done. 2 days of R & R.

Ending mileage:	73821
Starting mileage:	73289
Miles for day:	532
Total:	5607

	Today was not the best day of the trip, however there were a lot of highlights. Some great roads, great views, and some great friends at the end of the day. But there were a few lowlights too. But I'll get to those in time.
	I woke up, packed up, and as I was packing I noticed that the womans Wimbledon final was on, so I had to watch the end of that. Then it was on the road. A quick blast on I-40, then I jumped off onto Route 66! Yes, it is a goofy picture, but i had to take just one. After that straight part, it turned into a really fun road through Sitgreaves Pass. Then it went into the ghost town of Goldrod then into Oatman, which seams to exist just for tourists. As I was nearing the end of that stretch of 66, with the temps hovering in the 110F range, I came up on a guy just walking, a good 7 miles from town. I pulled over to see if he was ok, he was, he said something I didn't catch about why the hell he was out there, but I offered him a ride into town. He jumped on the bike, sans helmet/gear, sitting on my tent, and I drove him into Golden Shores and dropped him off.
	The plan from here was to blast along on I-40, then duck down to the Joshua Tree National Park. I saw a sign for last gas for 90 miles, so filled up. I then checked my rear tire. Now, a little background. I put new 020's on the bike for the trip. I normally ger ~8K miles out of a set, so I figured if I ran them at max pressure, I might make the whole trip on one set. I don't know what I was smoking, but it must have been some good shit. At just 5000 miles the rear was shot. Knowing that I had about 140 miles west to anything that resembled civilization, and that it was a Saturday before a long weekend, I decided I best fine a tire NOW. I pulled into Needles and asked about bike shops. They were all Harley type shops and no one had a tire that fit. One guy recommended that I head up to Bullhead, as there were several shops up there, so that is what I did. It was in the wrong direction, but I figured caution was the better part of valor. The first several shops were also Harley types, but I finally found a shop what dealt with sport bikes and they had exactly one tire my size, a Maxxis. So several hours later and $230 later, I had a new tire.
	I then decided I wanted to make San Diego that night, no matter what. So it was back onto I-40, then back onto a very long, straight, flat section of 66 again. 100+mph for a loooong time. I passed Bristol Dry Lake, then i went through the Sheep Hole Mountains. As I came out of those, I could see 2 dust devils down in the valley. Very cool. Pushed on into 29 Palms, then into the Joshua Tree National Park. Some absolutely spectacular views. I then made my way south on 86 where I experienced some of the strongest cross winds ever. I had to fight to keep the bike in line, and this went on for 60 miles. I then turned west onto 78 so I was going INTO the wind. Whoa. Man is the XX thirsty when running in the triple digits. I was only getting ~150 miles to a tank! The end of 78 was fun, as was 79. After that it was onto I-8 into San Diego where I met friends at a Sushi bar. As we left the bar, I was following the car in front of me. I turned right onto the road and the bike just kept going over. UI have no idea what happened. I think the front tire must have hit a patch of something. Over the bike went. Right onto the curb. :-( Nothing serious, just cosmetic damage. I'll check it out more tomorrow in the daylight. Now, I'm done. 2 days of R & R.