Reflections from the first 1000 kilometers

Reflecting back on the first ~1000 kilometers... Wow! It has been quite a ride so far. Starting right off with the Elephant Trail in the Santa Rita Mountains, then riding along the Arizona Mexico border on Ruby Road, through Tohono O'odham land, then El Camino del Diablo, crossing into California, then north to Slab City, the Salton Sea, transecting Imperial Valley, and then the abandoned Carrizo Gorge railway. There was catclaw, major "hike a bikes", "illegals" running by in the middle of the night, big hills, border patrol, sand, sand, and more sand, and did I say sand, highway riding sucks, so much trash, farmland smells really bad, so much wind, train tracks, and then "the border crossing."The weather was much hotter when we started than what we had wanted, consistently over 100°F by a few degrees. I went through a lot of homemade electrolyte salt mix, a lot. I was so hunger the first week. My thighs we're so tired. My hands hurt. My arms hurt. Now I feel strong. I can pedal uphill longer. I'm not as hungry. And nothing hurts. Our Advocate Cycles Seldom Seen bikes are great, super tough, light, and roll over anything. Long story kept short, we're having an awesome time, and are really loving journeying on bicycles. As a side note, I've added a gear page to my website. You'll find it in the main menu.________________You can sign up to receive The Redheaded Nomad’s blog posts in your email inbox; sign up at the bottom of any page on my website: theredheadednomad.comYou can also follow me on Instagram @theredheadednomad and on Facebook @redheadednomad_________________Because maps are cool. Here's where our first ~1100 kilometers took us from near home in the Santa Rita Mountains of southern Arizona to the border town of Tecate, BCN, Mexico. zigging and zagging along the Mexican border from Arizona to California, and into Tecate.____________________We stopped by to see an old friend, the Pacific Crest Trail southern terminus, on our way to Tecate._________________We had a hard time finding a wild camp on our last night in the U.S. But we found this abandoned old stone building, squeezed passed a gate, and had long discussions about our trip so far and what Mexico might be like...________________Easy border crossing. The immigration officer sold honey and hot sauce for US$2, from his desk drawer. We bought hot sauce, and a six month tourist visa._______________After pushing our bikes up very steep steps into a cheap hotel room, we enjoyed a round of ceviche tacos. Then we bought some Tecate beer, and reviewed our planned route through Baja.