The Hammerin' Wheels Road Bike Club
http://www.mtnhighcyc...
Spectacular tour of Joshua Tree National Park area! No traffic, no signals, and the pavement is pretty darn good!
Starting just past the last signal light in 29 Palms, traveling west on 62, early in the morning, we stay on flat roads with a slight breeze (not headwinds), through four desert cities. The city lights are usually green this time of day. Downhill in Morango Valley, across a flat valley, then up a short hill and down fives miles to a left turn off towards Palm Desert. Here you have a climb which takes you further out into the desert, and includes some fun little dips, stair-stepping to the summit, then down, and around towards the last signal light of the entire ride.
From this huge truck stop, and your rest stop, you will ride east on very wide shoulder of the 10 freeway, which RAAM has used several times in the past. Always a tailwind, this ten mile gentle climb seems easy. For those who want to turn it into a Double Metric Century, turn off at the Joshua Tree National Park sign, and head north, up a thirty mile climb in the desert to the T and then left, all down hill back to the finish.
The Double Century Riders will stay on the 10 for about another 10 miles, which is flat, with rises, to another turn off onto a very remote road heading west. There are no gas stations out here, no stores, no trucks, no cows, no birds, no fences...but there is a well paved road that heads all the way back to the finish! This road, unlike the arduous climb on the double metric, is an easier, stair-stepping type climb, with little jaunts that require you to gear down and stand to the top, then flat for awhile. It's a gradual climb, not a mountain climb, not steep roller coasters, but stair-stepping to a summit, and then the road curves left, the only road out there. There is no shoulder on this road, but then there's no traffic either. A rare truck may come from the opposite direction, but I've never encountered a car or a truck passing from the direction we are traveling. There might be a rare motorcycle. After the left turn at the summit, there is more climbing, but these hills are a little higher and undulating, still in the desert of deserts. There is a climb near the end, that seems to drag for about three miles, but then you're at the top, and it's actually flat to the end, before any signal lights!!!
It's a terrific Double Century through the beautiful California deserts. This time of year is when the desert flowers are out, and usually the winds are breezes, not headwinds!
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 - USA
Saturday, March 16 at 4:30 AM
Attending: 3
Details: http://www.hammerinwheels.com/events/100404822/