The goal here is to beat the heat and the desert wind, so an early start is a must.

Last night before going to bed, I set my alarm for 3:45 am as I wanted wheels up at 4:30 am, an hour before sunrise. I wake up and look at the clock, i’t 3:30 am. Great, a little extra time to relax and get ready, plus I woke up, not an alarm waking me up in some weird part of my sleep cycle.

I do the three S’s, get dress and head to the office lobby where they have one of those fancy coffee machines where I can make a cup of coffee and add a shot of expresso – I’m my own barista! While enjoying my coffee I load up the bike, attach my GPS’s, start the InReach device and go back into the room to relax a bit. I fill up my thermos with water, I check the fridge for items I bought the day before, and have my Zero sugars, Starbucks Moca Triple Shot as a booster. One last go around in the room, one more trip to the head and it’s 4:30 am, time to roll!

It’s dark outside, 84 degrees and I’m fired up with caffeine. No jacket required as I pull out of Mesquite and enter I-15 south. No planning require here, this is a no brainer, I-15 all the way. 350 miles, tank is full already, I know my two remaining gas stops: Stateline, Barstow, then home. 80 miles to Vegas, 40 miles to Stateline. Then enter California, up the mountain where it will cool down for 40 miles, drop down to the big thermometer in Baker, then another 60 miles to Barstow. Top off then the last push home….

After about 15 minutes into my ride, I see it. Scrapes of daylight. I don’t see it in front of me as I’m heading west, but I see it in my mirrors and I do a head check to confirm. That is when I like to leave in the morning. It is when Scrapes of Daylight start. It’s the period before sunrise, the reverse of a sunset. The sky gets lighter, but there is no sun but the morning gets cooler as the sun rises.

Sunrise is at 5:30 am today and in an hour I find myself in north Las Vegas and its 64 degrees. Of course the road is under construction, but nobody is obeying the speed limit of 55 mph, we are all doing 80 until you get to downtown and it comes to a crawl. Not really a crawl, but feels like it after doing 80, we are doing about 40 mph. Good God, why are there so many people going to work now….

Time for the first gas stop – Jean Nevada as oppose to Stateline – new Chevron super gas station here with a bazillion pumps and a auditorium for a bathroom. Humorous bathrooms too.

It’s a quarter to six as I depart Jean and 10 miles later, enter the State of California. There is the huge solar array to your right as you climb the next desert mountain range and the temps drop to low 80’s for the next 40 miles. 10 miles from Baker you start your descent into Baker and the worlds largest outdoor thermometer. The thermometer is reading 89 as I cruise by Baker, which is the gateway to Death Valley.

You come over another desert mountain range but the temps don’t drop much here in this section, as they stay in the mid to upper 80’s. Those temps are comfortable when your riding and the day is still good with no wind for the next 60 miles to Barstow,

About 40 miles from Barstow, the road basically flattens out and get straight. Here it seems there is just a race. 80 is the standing still and it seem your are passing cars going near 100 as everyone at this time and section has got it pinned.

Civilization appears as you near Barstow and the freeway widens from 2 to three lanes. Take the Lenwood exit to the TA Travel Center, park at the pump, and at this age, run into the bathroom first, then get gas. Hop back on the bike, and back on the freeway for the last push home. The weather has been great – it’s in the mid 80’s here, no wind, traffic is moving and not overly jammed. I’m wondering if I left a tad too early as I might hit the commuter traffic as I descend down into the LA basin.

It’s clear sailing from Barstow to just before Victorville, and it appears they are adding bridges and a lane on the freeway in this ever gowning desert town. It gets a little nutty as it is neck to neck of cars all moving fast with lane shifts and division in the construction area. Are we going 55? No…

The construction site ends and we reach the top of the Cajon pass and we have the great drop down into the LA basin. This mid-range mountain highway dividing the San Gabriel & San Bernardino mountains, with scenic views is 5 to 8 lanes wide and anyone or anything can go fast as it is all downhill. And as you drop down and get closer to the basin you see it – the brown layer of smog in the air that permeates the inland area during the hot summer months.

Once you reach the bottom of the Cajon pass its roughly 70 miles till I get home. I-15 south to State Route 91 to Toll Road 241 to I-5 to home… I pull in my driveway at 9:45 am, shut off my bike, dismount the bike and I get a text message from Rick welcoming me home and commenting on great time.

As I look at my bike sitting on the driveway of my home, the bike was my home for the last 34 days – just two wheels and the outdoors. My bike is hot and dirty, caked with grasshoppers still but it treated me well on this journey. The tires were new when I left, but I will need to get new rubber before our final ride for the summer, The Three Flags Classic over labor day weekend.

My yard and neighborhood always look “different” when I return from a long trip. I unload the bike, start laundry, open up the house and the relax before heading to the store for groceries. I’ll have one more post before the Three Flags Classic with some stats and thoughts of this ride. I also want to thank those who commented and kept the motivation for me to keep the blog up, it was truly, truly appreciated!

The ride home 2023-07-25