Day 169 : 32.71 miles, 2:58 hours, Long Beach to Herman's house, Irvine
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My first day's riding. Bored me to tears. Why did I start this again?

Day 170 (Rest day): 31.56 miles, 2:19 hours, Herman's house, Irvine
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Got a new rear wheel built and two new tyres today. Old tyres are down to the third threads. Am thinking about how I should ride into Mexico, my favourite idea is riding down to Baja. As long as it's warmer than here.

Weighed my bike fully loaded with water and then all the panniers. I'm now of course sans 12-string acoustic guitar, I'm missing it already.

Me..................73 kg (161 lbs)

Bike.................26 kg (57 lbs)

Front panniers...17 kg (37 lbs)

Rear panniers....19 kg (42 lbs)

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Total (including bike): 135 kg (297 lbs)

Still can't work out why I keep destroying my rear wheels...

Day 171 (Rest day): 0 miles, Joshua Tree National Park
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Herman and I drove out to Joshua Tree in the afternoon. It was too cold and not very conducive to exploring the park.

Day 172 : 97.18 miles, 6:51 hours, Stealth Camp on Hwy 62
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A few too many red wines around the campfire last night. I woke up with Herman wishing me all the best through my tent flap and then all of a sudden I was alone. Alone with a hangover. Cold.

I think Herman left while I was still in the semi-conscious state between dreaming and waking because he knew my hesitation about starting this trip again. He probably realised he'd be driving me back to his place again if I'd had time to think about it.

I rode to Twenty Nine palms to stock up on two day's worth of food and water. Somehow, in the time between last night and this morning I'd decided to head East across the desert. No idea if there was a reason behind it.

I passed two other cyclists during the day who were heading to the west coast. Both avoided eye contact with me when they talked. They both seemed like weird loner types. Maybe it's the effect of the desert. I hope I don't give off the same sort of impression to people. The second guy was sixty-six years old and mentioned he'd just got out of hospital yesterday after being treated for dehydration. Said that he could pinch the skin on his arm, and the skin would hold the shape of his fingers. I hope I've got enough water.

I camped the night at the side of a dry creek bed. There was a flash flood warning sign before it but it was the only place with decent tree cover that I'd seen all day.