Tilting with windmills...crossing a desert
 

Hey all, just some pics from a recent trip (this past week). Rode from San Bernadino to Banning (KOA campsite) to Pioneertown to Joshua Tree (through the park) into Palm Springs. Check it out!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3613/...3ec296e448.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/...d99e555aec.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/...8416d08d4a.jpg

For more, check out the flickr set.

Russ
http://epicureancyclist.blogspot.com
http://russroca.blogspot.com

Awesome, sustainable energy meets sustainable travel.

What great pictures! I just rode past those wind thingies a month ago. First visit to Palm Desert for business, I came a day early and rented an excellent racing bike and rode 80 miles out through the desert, ending up at those wind things. Turned around and rode back rather than go through Palm Springs, because I didn't want it all to be over. Best day of my winter so far!

Matt

The first picture is fantastic.

Very cool! Would you post a route?

It looks like some mountain bikes, some narrow tires? How did the various bike perform on that route?

Or perhaps just bird-blenders meet squirrel-blenders.

But only the suicidal birds who fly into the blades and the suicidal squirrels who dive between the spokes. :D

George Bernard Shaw once said:
“Must Christ be crucified in every generation for the benefit of those who have no imagination?”

I'd love to see the route also. Was that a 3 day trip?

Lovely!
I hereby second BlueToe`s request for info on how that heard of very different bikes behaved and third Phantom`s request for a route, if possible. I visit the Palm Springs area from time to time, but really don`t know the area well enough to plan a bike route down there.

Hey all..thanks for the interest...i'm working on a better write up of the route...it was a 6 day trip.

Overall, the bikes performed really well. Surprisingly there were no flats or broken spokes on the mixed terrain areas. This is pretty amazing considering some of the stuff we were riding on and the load on the bikes. The Surly LHTs with the wide-ish tires performed well. I had the widest tires of the group and was able to keep on the bike longer on the loose stuff.

Of all the bikes, the Bianchi had the toughest time. Probably because it wasn't set up for this particular style of touring (mixed terrain). The 28mm proved to be a little thin in some areas and Bern fell a few times.

3 of us just rode in platforms ( 2 pairs of MKS touring pedals, 1 Wellgo mountain platform). Bern rode in egg-beaters.

Here are the bikes used:

Laura
-Surly LHT 56cm with 700x38mm Panaracer Paselas, Jannd Rack
-no problem over mixed terrain, performed perfectly, had to walk through some soft sand

Russ (me)
-Surly LHT 52cm with 26x43mm Panaracer Paselas, Tubus Rack
-no problem over mixed terrain, performed perfectly, had to walk through some soft sand

Jenny
-Trek 4300 - 26x32 Michelin City Tires - Jannd Rack
-no problem over mixed terrain, performed perfectly, had to walk through some soft sand

Bern
-Bianchi Strada with carbon fork - 700x28 - ?
-had problems over mixed terrain, tires sank into gravel, lots of falls, had to walk through soft sand