I started riding in the morning and I had a headwind. The weather was sunny and the temperature was good for riding.
The road was long and straight and climbed steadily. I reached Sierra Summit at 4000 feet and the sun had gone down.
The last 10 miles before Needles was all downhill. I was cruising at 22mph through the darkness. It was intense because I had to stay on the shoulder of the road. I came over a hill and I saw city lights. I coasted down to Needles and I had not yet talked to my CouchSurfing host, Amanda.
Needles had a population of 5,000 so I figured I could ask around to find Amanda’s number. I asked people at Carl’s Junior and Dairy Queen. The girls at Carl’s Junior said they had had Amanda as an english teacher, but they didn’t know her number. One lady at Dairy Queen made a phone call to someone that would know of Amanda because she was also a teacher. I don’t know what kind of phone tree ensued but after 30 minutes they told me they had her number and I called her. Amanda told me how to get to her house.
Amanda was a cool host. She had lived in Las Vegas. We had a beer and I showed her pictures from the trip. Then I went to sleep in the guest room.
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| I camped right next to the highway. |
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| Camping in the desert. |
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| Riding in the desert. |
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| Good weather for biking. |
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| The pavement on the shoulder was rough. |
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| Smooth sailing. |
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| I hit 5,000 miles. |
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| Empty desert. |
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| Colorful sky. |
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| Flat road. |
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| Colorful sunset. |
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| Pink sky. |
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| Sunset. |
