Brawley, California

Winds during the night had to be 60-70 mph. Fine dust blew right into our tents covering us with dirt. We just got into our bags and held on. Didn’t have flies on. Don’t think it would have helped. Couldn’t sleep for the chaos. My knees were in excruciating pain. It was a miserable night.

Started out in the gale-force winds—right in our faces of course. 3-4 mph riding. Short rolling hills with short sight lines and moderate traffic, but the traffic was very fast. In two and a half hours we did 13 miles. I stuck out my thumb. A Mexican couple picked us up in their very small pickup. We huddled in the bed of the pickup with our bikes and stuff for 50 miles. My knee was hurting and we never would have made it to a campsite. I gave them $20 for gas and took their picture. We rode 4.5 miles north on Best Road—the world’s worst road—with a 40-50 mph crosswind. Turned east a mile and a half (all off route) to campground. 19 mph without turning the cranks once!