Am sitting in the lobby of the hotel, which the name escapes but I assure it is not a chain. This shit is straight out of the 20's...but in an amusing cool 'we have a story to tell' kinda way. First, the lobby is littered with old country stars and John Wayne. They REALLY like John Wayne here. In fact, its even the password for their wifi. We have no private bathrooms...Roly is taking a shower as I sit here.
Everything went unnervingly well getting here, re-assembling the bikes and so forth. And Jet Motherfuckin Blue is the business. Two big thumbs up from me. I've flown on every airline that has service in the US many times over the past few years and all I can say is that they are without a doubt the most bang for your buck. Direct TV in every seat? It's on. They serve actual water, the seats are actually comfortable and the people actually seem like they enjoy their jobs. Shit, even manuevering through LA was fairly painless and that has NEVER happened to me or Roly. We lucked out and got a big-ass Nissan full sized truck for 5 bucks more than we would have paid for a compact, which kind of sucks because I wouldn'thave packed my car rack if I knew that was going to happen. But it's good because, well, we don't look like lame-asses rolling into town in a Saturn. I guess the cycling gods are smiling on us. We stopped at a shop in Long Beach to pick up some last minute supplies. Roly decided to forgo purchasing a camelbak, which I suspect he'll live to regret.
Lone Pine is the absolute epitamy of a two-horse town. We are literally out in the middle of the desert surrounded by mountains. It's absolutely beautiful. There's even a Jake's! Except this place is called Jake's Saloon and it has those old western saloon style doors out front. ...Nice
We just got back from a cycle just to make sure everything works and to get a feel for how it is out here. I will say this, it is WINDY. But not a dense wind like Chicago (I think that's the proper way to describe it). You can cut through it a lot easier than the shit in the midwest. Maybe the lack of moisture in the air has something to do with that. The major downside is that instead of moisture, you have dust. And in the brisk 10 or so miles we rode, you DO feel it. That's why I think Roly might regret not having the Camelbak (plus he told me as much).
We're off to get some food, have a few beers @ Jakes and do god-knows what. Our ride doesn't start until 4 tomorrow so it's not like we're on a schedule or anything. Man that's nice.