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This was my shortest day. I couldn't leave until around 1pm because the
battery in my motorcycle died. I'm actually glad I had to wait around,
because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to relax take my time drying
off my equipment and getting everything together.
I rode on 33N to ??E to I-5S to 138E to ?? to Lancaster. I rode up over the mountains which were over 4000ft high. When I was planning this trip, I figured I would be going south to warmer weather. Unfortunately I failed to realize I'd have to ride over mountains in the middle of winter to get there. Mountains in the winter are REALLY COLD! I passed children sledding by the side of the road. I rode through slush and it even snowed on me a little! The slush was a pain to ride on - I had to go really slowly and concentrate to not slip and fall. The cold wouldn't have been so bad if I had realized it would be cold and brought the proper equipment - especially a heated vest and winter gloves. In mid-weight non-windproof gloves and a drafty jacket, it was torturous. I stopped at a motel in Lancaster, CA for the night. It was such a relief to be warm! I also took the opportunity to get another flashlight and bulbs for the mini-mag the burnt out. The new flashlight is a head-mounting kind, and it has both an incandescent bulb and a 3-LED array (which you control separately). I had never used either a head-mounting or LED flashlight before, and now I am a total convert. It's so convenient to have light wherever you look! I used the LED light for many hours on the trip and didn't have to change the batteries once! An unexpected benefit of the LED light is that it's very smooth and uniform - it doesn't have artifacts from the reflector like an incandescent flashlight.
 children sleding |