Day 6 - February 14, 2010 - Coast to Coast

Day 6 - February 14, 2010 - Coast to Coast

From the Stoker:

Happy Valentine to All! We drove back to the dunes to pick up the bike route and took a couple more pictures before we took off. Unfortunately, the first 30 miles were climbing with very strong headwinds. The climb was moderate but the winds made it seem severe. We were sandblasted the whole time we were biking along the dunes. The last 16 miles were suppose to be downhill. It was downhill with many, many huge dips (down and up). I guess each up was at a lower elevation therefore classified as a downhill. We never had a break from the wind all day and we are toast tonight. We are staying at an awful campground in Palo Verde, CA. We can’t even thank anyone for their support because there is no one here. We just put money in an envelope and drop in a box. We can’t blame Carol for this one. Every day is good, some just better than others. Tomorrow will be better.

Impressions from the Captain:

Woke up last night with heavy winds blowing. Hoped they would be tail winds but no such luck. The legs weeeling fatigued after only a short time so we thought we would be lucky to make it half way to Palo Verde but as the ride progressed we got into thedownhill and the winds started to ease we realized we would make it.
We ran into a another tandem on the route and made some new friends, Don and Marilyn. They are from Colorado and this is their second trip across the US. They went from San Francisco to Virginia. It was good having someone to ride with to keep your mind off the uphill and stiff wind.