"Tour de' California - September 2010" Thursday, September 16th, 2010
On Wednesday evening I make sure that I have everything packed and staged in the garage ready to go as soon as I get home from work on Thursday.
Thursday arrived and I did not want to go to work... but then again I never want to go to work. Why can't I win the Powerball so I can retire & ride my motorbikes whenever and where ever I want to?
I head into the office dreading the long a$$ day that it will be. Shortly before lunch that little light bulb went off in my head... why not ask to see if I could work from home in the afternoon. This would save me the 40+ minute commute home in rush hour traffic and get me on the road quicker. I send off the email to my boss already expecting the answer to be "No"...
Tick, tick, tick... why isn't he responding... ???
Ding... you have mail... the answer is... "Sure, just make sure you are available if we need you"... Sweet! Of course I will be available. I'd grab the laptop and the rest of the items that I will need in order to work from home and fly out the door. I get home and get setup to start working. Wouldn't you know it, it was a very quiet afternoon. I'd kept checking in to make sure I'd didn't miss anything... also to let work know that I am indeed online working. Watching that clock... tick, tick, tick...
Shortly before 5:00 the miss’s calls to see when I would be home after work and if I would be around for dinner or if I would be taking off as soon as I get home. I'd explained that I was already home and would be leaving soon. She asked if I could hang out for dinner & leave afterwards since she wouldn't see me until late Sunday evening. Sure why not, I'm just heading over to LA for the night and have nothing planned for the evening. As I wait for her to get home, I go out to load up the bike.
Packed and ready to leave... time to leave yet?
The miss’s arrives soon, we eat dinner and BS a bit about the ride. I make sure she has the basic route that I plan to take, the cities that I plan on stopping in for the evenings and agree to check in nightly so she knows that I am ok. I even suggest that I could send her a text from each gas stop... I need to look into picking up a SPOT device so she & any of my friends can check on my location when they feel the urge.
She can see that I'm getting antsy to get going since I'm riding over to LA... so we say our goodbye's. Yippee!!! Bike Trip!!!
As I leave Phoenix I am treated to a decent sunset. Too bad there aren't any clouds in the sky...
I jump on I-10 West and point the bike toward the sunset. I know this partition of the ride will most likely be the worst part of the ride for I've made this part of the trek many times, both on a bike and in the cage. It's still quite toasty out, even after the sun set's and I'm out of the Phoenix metro area. I am thankful that I've decided to make this leg of the trip after sunset for it is miserably HOT. I could not image how hot it would have been during the day although if I had left on Friday morning it would have been at the crack of dawn. I did not bring my Camelback for I didn't think I would need it for this trip. Boy was I wrong...
The ride to LA was uneventful. I'd stopped off in Blythe, CA for fuel and something Cold to drink. Jumped back on the bike to continue on. As I approach LA, I'd use the GPS to locate a hotel to stay in for the night. I ended up staying in the Best Western across the Freeway from Magic Mountain. The hotel attendant was nice enough to give me a room back in the far corner away from the freeway & noise. I unload the bike, finish my water, watch a bit of TV before going to sleep. The fun begins in the morning!
>>Friday, September 17th, 2010
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