Friday, April 4, 2008

Quartzsite, AZ to Redland, CA. 2795 to 2977, 182 miles.

After riding 25 miles in the morning, and crossing into California, I got a flat tire. As I was repairing my tire, a bike rider by the name of Steve came by on his bike and trailer. He was carrying some dead weight in his trailer, preparing for a ride with his uncle from Coos Bay, Oregon back to Southern California. He offered me a ride to Indio, and even though that wasn't the route I was planning on taking, I decided to take him up on his offer of a ride. He had to go to Costco to replace a tire for his truck, and he and his wife were going to go and visit some friends while they were there. They even took their tandem bike along, and there was still plenty of room for my bike and trailer.

After we ate some hot dogs at Costco (waiting for the tire to be replaced), they drove me on to Redland, California, at the start of a great bike trail that follows the Santa Ana River from Redland to Hunnington Beach.

It was getting dark, so I spent the night at the Quality Inn, right next to the start of the trail.