Day #4 - Indio to Brawley, CA

Indio, CA to Brawley, CA

79 mi, 500ft gain, 55-98F/sunny

Today’s ride was relatively flat and slightly less length.. but it made up for in 45 miles of rough roads. The first 26 flew by, with averages of nonstop pedaling and low light signals. It was great. That brought us to the Salton Sea, where we got to go walk out to the shoreline. I’ve been to Death Valley many times, this felt very similar. Below sea level and all! (-228 ft) If the road had been a little smoother, this would’ve been my favorite day!

The 40 miles to Brawley had us riding along farm and cattle land.. in the middle of the desert. Ironically part of the reason there is the lake, as well as why it so heavily polluted. Read more on it.

Local Bike Infrastructure:

We biked along bike lanes with separation by rumble strips. All cars and trucks really gave us space, I was pleasantly surprised!

Road conditions:

Great until it wasn’t. Ha

Plants:

Date palms, pepper plants, corn, alfalfa, and many desert plants. (Creosote, bristle brush, etc)

Human history:

It’s crazy to think about how this area was irrigated with CO river water, the channel broke, and created a lake. Then it was a fancy area to play in the 50-60’s. Huge boat ramps for water skiing and all. Currently it looks more of a ghost town. Particularly now that you shouldn’t swim in it. Yes there’s prior history of a lake 5x’s the size, but we missed the most recent time period by at least 300 years. Maybe next time.

Total mileage to-date: 253.5

Total elevation gain to-date: 2,575 ft

Choosing to keep this a little short, longest day of the trip tomorrow at 114mi. Night!