Hot

I got up and was on the road out of Ventura by 5am, 2 or so hours later I was clear of LA and heading towards Palm Springs. Starting so early was pretty successful, the roads in and around LA were busy but kept moving, as I rode across the city and suburbs, criss-crossing as I went, it really depended on whether I was heading towards the downtown area or away as to the amount of traffic I encounted. As you are probably aware the motorways here, like the M25 around London, can have up to 7 lanes, the inside lane is perhaps the most busy as this is where vehicles arrive and depart the motorway, coupled with undertaking being legal it is good for keeping focus on a small motorbike.

It's getting hotter, 'air-con' stop on route to Pheonix

As I left the city behind the desert began to take over, just past Palm Springs civilisation began to receed. I had decided to head towards Tucson, Arizona, via Pheonix and cross into Mexico at Nogales, from there head down to the coast again. I thought hard about Baja and looked into the times/cost of the ferry that would be needed to get from there to mainland Mexico. It was difficult to get information from the Ferry website, in the end it seemed worth while experiencing Arizona and then heading south without the worry of the ferry and also to miss the border at Sand Diego/Tijuana. 

Desert

Across the desert, along Interstate 10, I got into a survival rhythm, stop every 70-80 miles or where there was a truck stop, head into the nearest fast food joint, buy water and stand in their air-con, I would drink half the water and then pour the other half over my head, in my jacket and fill-up my helmet. I realised that I might as well head to Pheonix and stay the night there, it was too early to check-in to a Motel, in all I rode 440 miles that day, the temps reached 110F, around 43C, don't think I will be doing that again in a hurry. I listened to local news and heard they had warnings out for the heat, advice 'stay in doors'. However, I needed to be in Tucson as I had the bike booked in for a service, that meant just a shortish ride the following day.

Motorway rest stop, Arizona style, protect those pets. It may have shade but that was not enough, air-con is a must.

I made Tucson in good time, I left Pheonix at 12 (the latest I could check-out) and went via a Burger King, arriving in Tucson in time to check-in to the next motel. The service went well at the Performance Cycle Center (http://performancecyclecenter.com/content.asp?page_id=1), new oil, two new Avon Gripsters which should get me into South America and a chat with Doug who told me how a 'Mexican National' had tried to rip him off for parts ' ..I followed him to his car and made him empty everything, at the end he owed only 4 cents'. Needless to say I paid up and rode back to the motel/air con via a Starbucks.

Performance Cycle Center, don't try to rip them off

So, due to the heat, I decided to stay put in Tucson for a couple of days, no rush to get to Nogales. When I did leave it was again only a short run down. I booked into a motel on the USA side of the border to organise bike insurance for Mexico and get some pesos. That evening a strange thing happened, it rained. Apparently this is what everyone has been waiting for, the 'monsoon rains' that appear here end of June/early July. They are hoping this will bring the temps down below 100F, so far I think Tucson has had 30 consecutive days of +100F temps, the record is 39 days. Great to see the rain, it did drop the temps a couple of degrees but also brought with it some humidity, just an amazing place/climate to live in.

When it rains in Nogales ......

All ready now for Mexico, will cross the border in the next few days.

Final note, really tragic news about the 19 US fireman who died in Arizona. The storms, when they arrive, come with amazing thunder and lightning and it appears that was how this fire was started, you hope for rain but it does not come alone. Thoughts go out to their family and friends.