Seg #54 US Highway 395 ride (Hesperia to Adelanto, CA)

Start South	Cottonwood Ave W of Hesperia, CA	N  34.44274 W 117.33849	S-N mi 17.3
End North	NW of Adelanto, CA	N 34.69148 W 117.45032	TrlLgth 21 Ride 21mi

Ride hr    2:50     AVS 7.9 mph          MXS 27 mph         DST  21mi       TMP 70-75        KCal 1125

I rode south to north, because prevailing wind trends were

 from the south and there is a 550 foot decrease in elevation 

heading north.

The US Highway 395 ride was the first of several trails Geoff and I rode in Southern California.. After riding with me for about five miles, Geoff would turn around and ride back to the car, load up his bike and drive ahead of me.If I was more than a half hour short of the meeting point, Geoff rode back and met me to ride with me to the next trailhead. It was rewarding to discover I had planned the "Last Leg" of TAvRTO pretty darn accurately. Even, the arrival and departure times were "spot-on". This meant I was getting rest when I needed it and I was able to be timely with meeting up with Geoff. We left from Long Beach just after 7 a.m. and got to the start point south of Victorville, CA a little after 9 a.m. This ride was one of my most dreaded of the seventeen trails planned for the "Last Leg". Primarily because fifteen miles of the ride was on the shoulder of US Highway 395. This was one of three highways I rode of this whole 2,500 mile adventure. At this point I estimate I have ridden about fifty-five miles on the shoulder of bicycle friendly highways where the speed limit was greater than forty-five mph. Highway 395 was bike friendly in that there was a nice four foot shoulder that kept me away for semi-trail trucks. Only a few times did I feel the swoosh of a speeding truck.

Geoff and me ready to ride north. We started on Cotton-

wood Avenue 1.7 miles and then joined up with Bear Valley

Road for an additional 3.5 miles before I pedalled onto 395.

Thousands of Joshua trees grace the desert here and other areas of Utah,

California and Nevada. A type of Yucca, this tree goes back at least

13,000 years when giant sloths roamed the earth and left their seed-

filled poop for archeologists to find

The major challenge of this ride was when we got off the shoulder and rode in a cactus needle strewn dessert paths, our tires were stabbed by with hundreds of needles. Geoff got a flat tire but I was lucky. My bike mechanic at Broken Spoke in Iowa City,  suggested puncture proof tries rather than injecting slime or using a tire/tube liner for the Last Leg,, I never had a flat tire on the Last Leg, in fact I didn't have a flat anytime on TAvRTO. Thank you Michael Chamberlain! In addition the tires were narrow so my average speed was over 8 mph. This was another reason for my staying on schedule. The area was

Beautiful Adelanto, California!--not! Luckily we did not have

to ride in the desert very long. Even with the few miles we

rode, Geoff's front tire was ruined with hundreds of cactus

needles. The next day we found a bike shop to replace the

tube and tire for $30. Can you believe that?. This picture is

of the end of the 395 ride---pretty desolate place, right ?

bisected by US 395 is upland desert with Joshua trees, cactus and scrub brush. I would not vote this area as being the most beautiful land in America. In fact it is more like the armpit of America. Chris worked at a hospital in Adelanto for several months but as soon as he could, he got out of there and moved back to Iowa. After riding to the end point northwest of Adelanto, we loaded the bikes and headed for Bakersfield.