Yuba Mundo Heavy Hauler Desert Expedition

I thought this was going to be 300+ miles, but.....
I only did 105 miles, and my butt was so saddle sore I called my wife and asked her to come rescue, er, uh, provide logistical support. I used up my entire supply of Goldbond medicated powder (baby powder) trying to cope but it was no use. Temperatures were above 100 and I was just sweating and chafing out of control. I was not wearing bike shorts, instead I opted for basketball shorts under thick cotton cargo shorts.The pockets of my cargo shorts were laden with food and tools and camera etc. Bad idea:nono: I should have taken the bike shorts with the shammy. The next time I make like taco bell and run for the border I will definitely be wearing my bike shorts. I could have maybe rested a day and then continued on to the Colorado river/Califonia border which was my turn around spot but my butt was destroyed and I needed ice cold beer and pizza badly.
My route was mainly the El paso gas line road that runs through Phoenix all the way into California somewhere. It is a pretty rough road in some spots with miles of washboard and ups and downs across alluvial areas. It turns out I did not need quite as much water as I thought, but I was riding into the unknown and was happy to know that my water carrying system worked well. The gear I chose (28/20) worked out great, there were only a couple times I had to dismount and drag the bike through some sand or up a steep section of hill. My single speed drive train was totally trouble free and worked beautifully. I was glad to have the handlebars on my seat post when that happened as they really help in handling the bike. They also helped to secure the load on the back.
Alan the fat Yuba rider (the bike, not Alan) from down under pointed out that the bike might need some weight on the front for handling and he was right. I put an extra couple of liters of water up there for a total of 6. The handling was still not great but presented no real problems as I slid stuff as far forward of the rear axle as I could on the rack. Although I liked how my modified jerry cans worked out on the sides I think I will move to two 36gal Rubbermaid totes on the old wrap-around deck next time because the dual totes really keep the center of gravity low and the bike handles way better. All in all it was a great trip, despite being cut down to 2 and a half days. I left Friday night and called in for back up Sunday night. While I waited at the gas station on I-10 for my wife to pick me up I slammed, repeat slammed, a 40oz of super Ice cold beer and was like moaning and groaning and stuff. My wife had some pot-roast in the crock pot and some cabbage waiting at home, damn it was good. I will try to get some pics up but the site is saying I dont have security tokens or something. Is that like little wooden coins that say "security" on them?



























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