Day+10

Day 9

[|Day 10 Route]

=Colin's Journal= 10 January 2006 65 miles Yuma, AZ --> El Centro, CA 11 miles run, 54 biked

Woke up pretty on time in the church on a pew. Stephen was on another, and Bill slept on the altar (!). The other three pioneers were in a library in the next door building. We noticed pretty quick, though, that the kitchen was locked, so we couldn't make ourselves ham and eggs, and more importantly, we couldn't get our cooking gear that was soaking in the sinks. It took a few tries calling before we finally got the Clarks, and Jay came down and unlocked the kitchen for us- I made some scrambled eggs, Bill sauteed some ham, and we had a hearty breakfast before leaving.

On our way out of Yuma, we stopped by the Clark's house, and they gave us their copy of the Yuma Sun-Times, which had an article and full color picture on us in the "Local" section. We crossed the Colorado without a picture (in fact, there were no pictures from today), and got on a frontage road next to Interstate 8.

We passed into California much like Anza did: with no sign. We gradually noticed California lotto tickets being sold, and that we were on California I-8, not Arizona I-8. The frontage road was all buckled, with gaps in the pavement every 20feet or so, making for a bumpy, tough fride. It was also straight for miles and miles, so we could see that there was no respite. We planned on only three granola bars for lunch, which I had finished by the second runner, but after the fourth runner went, I broke down and gorged on Peanuttles and raisins. Also, during the fifth leg I had a peanut butter-banana-honey pita.

Before going on, this journal has been a mostly unemotional record of events, but given a positive slant whenever possible. I think today was a valuable lesson in what can go wrong, especially considering it came the day after the best of the trip so far:


 * Everyone was in a bad mood, so our discomfort was magnified
 * No one was communicating, whether cheering on a runner, or making sure everyone knew what was happening
 * I ate much more exotic food than I have been used to yesterday, then had a lot of raisins and dense food
 * The rumbling and bumping on the frontage road troubled my stomach further
 * On my leg, we split up, so I was left alone most of the way after over 50miles biked. My stomach turned on me, and I thought I would have to make it all 14miles to El Centro. It was one of the top 5 worst runs of my life. Near tears.
 * We underestimated the distance, going a record distance for us on low energy.

We did finally make it to a supermarket, bought supplies for two nights, and picked up maps at the Bureau of Land Management office. We then went and set up camp at an RV park nearby, where I took a long, hot shower, and tried to recoup some energy. Bill made some delicious corn, beans and tortilla for dinner, but my stomach hurt too much from the pounding today, and I munched on a little bit of granola. We crossed a dateline today, so we are now on western time.

Day 11