Oct 24 (Day 297) - An incredibly challenging bout of border biking

I am so glad that I decided to pass on looking for Blue-footed booby this morning. Had I added 15 miles to today's ride, I am not sure that I would have been able to make it. The chances of actually finding the booby were so small that I just did not feel like it was worth it. Booby chasing would have meant I would have left the coast later, and, a result, I would have had to do more riding in the heat of the day. As it was, I really struggled with the heat today, and at one point actually felt as though I was going to vomit in the middle of the road. No matter how much water/Gatorade I drank today, it just didn't seem to do the trick. I was fighting what I assume was a dehydration-induced headache for most of the afternoon. It was not fun.

65 hot, hellish miles today. Over a mile of climbing, ugh.

What really made today tough was the continual climbing. Save for a few downhill miles here and there, I was essentially climbing for the better part of 58 miles. The heat made this ride as exhausting as any that I have done this year. I am hoping that today was the last day of ridiculous climbing that I will see in 2014 (and hopefully beyond!). There might be a few days with tough, 10-mile stretches here and there, but all-morning or all-afternoon climbs like today should be behind me. 

Terrain from today

I climbed up into the lowpoint at dead-center

Unfortunately, since today was so incredibly miserable, I do not have anything terribly astute or enlightening to share with you. I basically just though "Get me the hell out of here" for 6 hours straight. Tomorrow I will ride downhill to the Salton sea. It is going to be almost 100 degrees down there tomorrow. I will be staying in Brawley, about 15 miles south of the Obsidian Butte birding area. Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I will do 1 of 2 things. Option A is to ride the 60 miles to Brawley in the morning and spend the afternoon relaxing. Option B would be to ride to Obsidian Butte in the morning, bird (and try not to melt/die) in the afternoon, and then bike back to Brawley in the evening. To be honest though, biking 90 miles in such extreme heat sounds really shitty. Either way, I will get up early on Sunday, ride to the sea, and bird it all day on Sunday. Sunday is also supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than tomorrow, so this sounds like a much better option that tomorrow. I'll just have to see how I feel as tomorrow progresses.