I am in Lancaster, CA.
I was born here, but my parents moved back to Ohio when I was an infant, and I have no memory of it. I'm taking a couple days off to see what it's like.
Today was 60 easy miles from Victorville on "The 138". It mostly looked like this:
Sixty miles, no hills, only 800 feet of climb. The last 40 miles was a gentle downhill. The first 40 miles was a tailwind, which became a cool, refreshing headwind for the last 20 miles, by which time the temperature was in the 80s.
I feel great, no cramping, I am hydrating, hydrating, hydrating.
I saw this amazing Fir tree thriving in the middle of the desert outside Victorville!
Oh wait. Never mind.
Why even bother making a fake tree to hide a cell tower out here in the middle of the desert? There are transmission lines everywhere you look.
This was just the first stage of my annoyance this morning. Garmin, you need to work on your auto-routing.
Why even bother making a fake tree to hide a cell tower out here in the middle of the desert? There are transmission lines everywhere you look.
This was just the first stage of my annoyance this morning. Garmin, you need to work on your auto-routing.
It is not helpful to tell me I need to make a U-turn in 24917 miles.
Another milestone for today is I saw flowing water!
First time this trip!
Lunch was at a Thai place in Palmdale. I wolfed down a mountain of Pad Thai before I remembered to take a picture. My appetite is strong, I feel great.
Lunch was at a Thai place in Palmdale. I wolfed down a mountain of Pad Thai before I remembered to take a picture. My appetite is strong, I feel great.
I have an AirBnB for three nights, at only $65/night. It's a room in a house with a shared kitchen and living room, but I seem to be the only guy here except for Jorge the caretaker, who stops by to feed the three huge German Shepherds in the back yard. It's quite a deal.
The farther west I've ridden, the nicer the cities get. Palmdale and Lancaster are almost nice. There is a ton of newer residential neighborhoods west of Victorville. Were these houses built right before the housing collapse in 2008? There are homes in the desert in the 40 miles between Victorville and Palmdale.
Lancaster and Palmdale look fairly prosperous. I believe most of this comes from the proximity to Edwards Air Force Base and the aerospace industry. (Which is why my parents were here when I was born.) There is also a prison in Lancaster.
Palmdale is nicer than Lancaster, which has plenty of street people and homeless. But Lancaster is trying hard, they have named the main commercial strip in town "The BLVD" and it is sort of alive. It has some shops and restaurants and a museum.
The BLVD has a brewpub, so I went to check it out for dinner. It's pretty good. Lots of varieties, not just IPAs, and they even has a Schwarzbier.
Lancaster and Palmdale look fairly prosperous. I believe most of this comes from the proximity to Edwards Air Force Base and the aerospace industry. (Which is why my parents were here when I was born.) There is also a prison in Lancaster.
Palmdale is nicer than Lancaster, which has plenty of street people and homeless. But Lancaster is trying hard, they have named the main commercial strip in town "The BLVD" and it is sort of alive. It has some shops and restaurants and a museum.
The BLVD has a brewpub, so I went to check it out for dinner. It's pretty good. Lots of varieties, not just IPAs, and they even has a Schwarzbier.
I love how the tap handles are random tools welded to the tops of the taps.
I did the corned beef sandwich special, due to the imminence of St. Patrick's Day, instead of wings.
I did the corned beef sandwich special, due to the imminence of St. Patrick's Day, instead of wings.
The food is yummy. I may be back here for wings.
All in all, it was a very easy and interesting day.
Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17747917988
All in all, it was a very easy and interesting day.
Here's the Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/17747917988
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