Our hot springs adventure
Tuesday, April 7th 2009
Leah here! Us riders have started to get tanned and toned, and we’ve started to face our share of challenges as well. This ride challenges us on so many levels, the physical challenge of cycling across the country of course is very apparent, and I think this has proved to be greater than even the most experienced of us could anticipate. I think many of us have been impressed by our hidden powers of sheer will and mental preparation in overcoming the physical challenge! Emotional challenges arise, as we adjust to living day to day with new friends, and as old conflicts with ourselves bubble to the surface in the calmness of our endless pedal strokes. There is also a nearly continuous flow of logistical and environmental challenges that we face. And we surely had a taste of them today!
The riders rode through Death Valley today, and it was pretty much what you’d expect; a desolate landscape with intense sun and heat. The 75 mile ride seemed to go well for everyone, (we stayed well hydrated!) but when we arrived at the Tecopa Hot Springs Campground things got a little more complicated. Steve and I were the first to arrive in Tecopa, a town that seemed to be defined only by the presence of natural mineral hot springs (which apparently is the 2nd purest in the nation!) After seeing no sign of human life for about 50 miles, we turned into the hot spring and campground that appeared at the proper mileage, assuming it was the place. An eccentric man showed us where to set up camp, and seemed as though he was expecting us. After the rest of the group arrived, Christian, who had ridden with last year’s group for this stretch of the route, pointed out that we had set up camp at the wrong place! It turned out that there was another campground another couple hundred yards down the road that held our reservation, and had an almost identical name! So we packed it all up again and moved, and Steve and I felt more than a tad bit guilty, arghh….
As this whole debacle was unfolding, the wind started picking up. By the time we arrived at the new campground, we were fighting off corneal abrasions from blowing dust, and even struggling to keep our balance at times when the gusts came through! It became apparent that pitching tents and cooking outside would be quite a challenge. We approached the campground manager to see if we could use their inside facility for cooking, and he replied, “No. This is what you do when you camp, you suffer.” I was so impressed with how high our morale remained as we created a wind blockade with our vans, ate a sand coated meal and struggled through an hour long session of tent-wrestling. I really think this speaks to our resilience as a team!
The silver lining to this situation was that all of this happened at a hot spring. After packing our gear away, the most of us headed into the gender separated hot pools (no bathing suits allowed!) for a much-needed, relaxing soak.