Tuesday, May 22, 2012

SCT: A Windy Rest Day 5

Out of Palmdale and into the wind to cross the valley towards Tehachapi. It blows and we do 6 mph on a flat road. Then we turned north and with the side wind our speed increased to 13mph! But soon we started climbing towards the ridge covered in wind turbines and found out why they built them here. The wind velocity exceeds 50 miles per hour and it seems lethal to swerve on the narrow road shoulder while being passed by eighteen wheelers.
I got too scared and decided to walk the bike up to the pass for 6 miles. At one point, I had to put the bike on the ground flat and push down on it with all my body weight and strength to prevent it from being blown down the hill.
After couple of hours of hike a bike in a hurricane, I made the summit. We descended in saddle to Tehachapi, riding at a safe speed of 15 mph down a steep hill without using brakes. These 50 or so miles took us too long to continue onto Lake Isabella so we camped at a nice hotel where I also await delivery of a new tire to replace the shredded one.

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