things you outta know:


Days complete: 40 of 40

!!!!!!!!   WE ARE IN NEW YORK    !!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, for all your love, encouragement, prayers and support.  We will continue to update about our New York adventures and will arrive back home on Tuesday morning.

e-mail: tourtheus@gmail.com


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Indio to Blythe...the kind of ride you wish you'd never chosen to take!

Day 3 – Indio to the last rest stop before Blythe, CA – 80 Miles

The Trip
Our dad’s were right…the desert is hot.  In fact, the desert is too hot.   Realizing that it we left at 3:30 am and immediately began climbing to Chiruco Summit, which took about three hours.

Tire Snakes
Lots of heat. Lots of nothing. To entertain ourselves, or possibly because we were becoming delusional thanks to the heat, we started naming the debris in the road after various animals. 

At one point, Aaron make the comment, “I feel like we’ve been riding past that forever.” While he was referring to a particular mountain range, it was clear that the observation could have been made for any number of things in the desert. Again, nothing is in the desert, except a few walrus-shaped tire treads.

Our Hero – Today we met, were saved and wildly blessed by Freddy of Phoenix, AZ. We never got a picture of Freddy, but perhaps that was fitting. The last thing Freddy said to us was, “If you don’t remember me, that’s okay. But if you don’t remember Christ, you’ll wish you had.” I think we will both remember Freddy for some time, but we will heed to his admonishment as though our lives depend on it – they do.

The Amenities
We got hooked up in Wickenburg at this sweet Karate Dojo. (Special thanks to Buck & Drake).


Just before the sun rose in the hills just past Indio, Monday morning.


This is Desert Center, CA.  Water was 70 cents a cup because "apparently" they have to fly their water in rather than having it come through a pipe.  Here's les indulging in his over-priced magical water.


#1 9:07am

#2 9:20am

#3 9:22am
yes, that was three flat tires in about 15 minutes!


Here is us going into "survival mode."  We created a bike-tent at a rest stop 20 miles from Blythe to attempt to avoid the blistering 112+ temperatures.

We stayed the night in a Karate Dojo in Wickenburg, AZ!

how cool is that?!

ps--Scott Atkins and Jessica Howen take the prize in answering the question correctly from our last blog.  Way to be witty, guys!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

how on earth did you manage to stay in a karate gym!

lokate said...

wow guys! i'm already so impressed that you guys biked all the way to arizona! and in that heat...

Alli said...

Aaron, I can't believe you had three flats in one day, maybe you should lay off the carbs for a while. Ha, just kidding.

Anonymous said...

love the bike tent!

Becka_Bo said...

what denny said - the bike tent was amazing.

Brian said...

Dang, you guys stayed in a karate dojo?!?!?! Far out!

Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz) tours the country too! But why?

Please think about supporting Don and his team as they tour the country and raise funds for wells in Uganda.


Click here to follow/support Don on his tour