Sorry about the lack of updates, we have had no internet for the last 2 days and today I had no signal the entire day...
We are close to a city call Hollister, CA in the Silicon Valley! We have stopped to drink some milk, eat some bread and rest before getting there. We have also exchange our clothes and put some gloves because the temperatures are really low right now.
This is quite a day! We have crossed many mountains are now finally reaching some flat stretches where we can ride a little faster!
Tomorrow is the big day when we should reach the coast, but the truth only ends in San Francisco on June 20th.
This day we had in mind wake up early and then ride towards Needles, CA. This destination was about 90 miles away, but we thought waking up really early would enable us to get there in one day. We woke up 6:00 am and by 7:00am we had taken our breakfast already. However packing, lubricating the bike and adjusting the tire pressure took a while and we ended up leaving the hotel 8:30am.
Right of the bat the temperature was high. We had not checked the weather forecast for that day, and we soon discovered we would go through some heat but we thought that would be nothing major.
We crossed Las Vegas in order to each the road that would take us to road 95, the one that goes towards our planned destination. The first hour riding in the urban area was difficult due to the high temperatures, but we managed to get to the road intersection. We found a bridge from where we could see the road crossing the desert. Road 95 cuts through a long stretch of nothingness, the kind of desert ground that doesn’t have even a tree, or a large cactus making shade.
Under that bridge we stopped our bicycles and eat half of a large sandwich we had with us. Our water bottles were so hot that I had to be careful when drinking due to the high water temperature. From below the bridge I contemplated the road that was waiting for us and felt a sort of a chill in my stomach knowing that road meant trouble.
We finished eating, had some more water and then started our descent towards the desert. The hot winds were blowing strong and dried out our eyes and mounts quickly. Right after entering the road there was a long decent, about five miles long. As we speeded downhill I started questioning our ability to reach any destination before getting into trouble. I then stopped the bicycle and questioned that with my uncle, but he though we were fine to keep going. I was not sure, but decided to give it a shot.
As we moved forward the temperatures kept rising more and more, and the need for water became constant. After about just three more miles I started feeling dizzy. The heat was really starting to affect my ability to think straight and I also started questioning if the amount of water we had, about two gallons total, was enough. Then I stopped and shared these concerns with my uncle. Without further options, we decided to go back.
We were already about nine miles into the desert, and the first five miles were now a long hill to be climbed. I was worried about not making back under the bridge safely, but due to the fact we had no other option but to try I kept quiet. There wasn’t even a small shade to cool off, so in an attempt to keep myself cooler I took one piece of underwear from my bag, soaked with water and placed in my head, under the helmet.
It took us about an hour to get back to the bridge. Once we did I laid down on the floor that was cool from the bridge’s shade and rested for a few minutes. My uncle also took some time to relax. Then we decided to head back about a mile more to reach a nearby casino which would certainly be equipped with AC. And so we did.
Once we got to the casino we parked our bicycles outside and tied one to another, then headed in. We found two couches which were free and faced the front door. From there we could see our bicycles. We decided to stay there until temperatures started to drop. My uncle bough us some chocolate milk and ice cold soda, and I got the laptop from the bicycle bag.
We spent the whole afternoon seating on those couches. I wrote a few daily summaries, and organized pictures and videos from previous days. My uncle accessed the internet and called Brazil. This way time passed and before we knew the sun was setting.
We used the restroom, packed our things and prepared for a ride in the desert during night time. We had no idea yet, but that night would be quite an experience.
Since we had seen the first half of the Vegas strip in the previous day, our plan was to go the middle of it and explore the second half. We had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant and took off towards Caesar’s Palace.
The day was very hot and even getting there, a short 4 miles long ride was difficult.
Once we got to the parking lot we realized there was no bike rack anywhere around. An employee of the casino told us to go straight to the employee’s section and tie our bikes there. So that’s what we did, we passed straight by the security guard as if we were workers and tied our bikes in a rack in the back of the building, then entered through the employee’s corridor.
Once we got into the casino we started exploring the place. Caesar’s Palace was one of the most impressive casinos in the region, very well taken care of and with tasteful Roman-styled decoration. Next we walked further in the Vegas Blvd passing through other resorts such as Treasure Island and Mirage. We got in the Mirage hotel and had some nice coffee in a local Starbucks.
Then we walked all the way up to the Encore, and started returning through the other side of the street. Once more many casinos and hotels in our way, but what caught our attention the most was the overall look of the city as a whole. That is an incredible place, with many buildings and hotels interconnected by corridors and passages. The new Aria complex was amazing as well, with a very modern decoration and glassy walls.
Our timeframe to explore the city was limited due to David Copperfield’s show which we had tickets to. The show was at 7pm, so we had planned to get back to our bicycles by 4pm and go back to the hotel to shower and exchange clothes before the show. However, we also decided to walk all the way back to a Subway not close at all from our bicycles and ended up spending much more time there then we should. Once we got back on the street we had to walk as fast as possible to get to our bicycles. That was quite a walk, with very high temperatures and the hot sun not helping much.
Once we arrived at Caesar’s Palace we then got our bikes and pedaled fast back to the hotel. We dressed with the clothes we had purchased in Ross in the previous day and took off to the show. Of course using a bicycle to get there was not an option: we were dressed with jeans and long sleeves and temperatures were around 100 F. We got into a bus and in a few minutes arrived in the MGM Grand where the show was about to take place.
The theater was very small which was good. Even being in a back row we were able to see the stage very closely. David’s show was incredible as expected, with illusions that defied our sense of reality. At some point he made a car appear on stage out of nowhere right on top of two volunteers from the crowd. He also managed to make thirteen people from the crowed disappear from their chairs and appear in the back of the theater, amongst many other tricks.
After the show we walked to a nearby food court and had a pizza for dinner, then headed back to the hotel. But we were not ready to go sleep just yet. Then we went out to party! We tried to go to a bigger party, but most of the clubs were closed due to the fact that was a Wednesday. We found an opened lounge on the top of the THEhotel called MIX lounge. We got in and had a lot of fun!
That was another great day that will stay in our memories as one of the major highlights of this journey.
