Day 4: Brawley-'Dry Camp', near Palo Verde

This was going to be a challenging day. I had to submit this a day late because I did not have cell access in this camp ground in the desert.It was a 70 mi route but 20 miles along we got strong continual head winds. Though initially flat it saps ones strength to have such persistent resistance, like biking uphill but no downhill. For awhile I was making as slow a speed as I can remember on the level. We crossed over the Algodones Dunes and watched dune buggies scrambling over huge dunes at the Imperial Dunes Vehicular Park. I limped into a lunch stop provided by Wheels, in the middle of nowhere. After an hour break I set off and was relieved that the wind had lessened slightly. There was a roller-coaster terrain that afforded a fast downhill, then momentum uphill which was better than a constant head wind. I rolled into camp at mi 70. The only bathing option was in the adjacent Colorado River. We invited 3 fellow bikers to join us for supper. They were biking cross country, 'self contained' meaning carrying 50 lb of gear with tent, sleeping bag, cooking stove and pots and pans. It made our venture seem so much easier. Never-the-less it was one of my most challenging days of biking. We had a beautiful sunset over the western mountains and a beautiful sunrise over the Colorado this morning. Today was a short ride. We are again camped on the Colortado but in a KOA on the border of Arizona so we cross our first state line in the am.