A nice arrival to Borrego Springs and to realize that your equipmentdoesn't work

November 15, 2014 Longboard Lady 0 Comments

Wildflowers in Anza Borrego
We left the flat roads and hot area of Salton Sea, placed me, my longboard and the trailer in a fair distance from Borrego Springs. Right in the middle of the huge Anza Borrego desert. While I was organizing my stuff the local sheriff pulled over and asked us what we were up to. Daniel explained the purpose of the unusual outfit while I made myself ready to go, tried to eavesdrop and finally included myself in the conversation.

The sheriff expected me to be one of the more adventurous longboarders going up for the steep hills to find the speed down. Dangerous and not my cup of tea, I explained. "Well", the Sheriff told me, "If you are continuing with those crazy ideas you have to place yourself on the other side of the road. From now on you are not a bike, you are a pedestrian."

All my efforts to make my trailer visible from behind was for nothing, my red back light and my orange little flag wasn't needed anymore but I really didn't care. To continue on the other side were going to be a totally different feeling but I would be a lot safer in that high speed traffic I was surrounded with.

I expected the upcoming miles to be easily ridden but, I was wrong again. The road was even worse than earlier and for every push I did the board lost its grip. Couldn't really figure out what was wrong but the balance seemed lost in a way, it couldn't be the road condition by itself that made the difference.

Slow as I was I gave the desert some attention as well. Wildflowers were blooming, not in large quantities but still, I was surprised. I knew the area had had even less water than expected recently and to see life in this inhospitable climate was nice.

The last mile was excellent. Smooth road which was so much nicer to my asphalt-smelling wheels and when I reached the green and lush Borrego Springs I had a good feeling again. I asked Daniel to have a look at my equipage while I was pushing and he confirmed my apprehensions. I was to tail heavy, at least with gallons of water attached to the trailer and it didn't match with my pushing style. How to take care of the problem in the middle of the desert was however still an issue.

We had another amazing camp among snooping coyotes and a bright moon. In the morning Daniel had a call from his work who asked him to come in as fast as possible. My choices were between to be by myself for many days on board with an equipment that didn't work or to join right then, no stops. I was happy for Daniel who had been waiting for that call to come but realized that I had made myself dependent on him or at least some help when I started my trip in the desert without knowing my longboard's pros and cons. I left the desert and the beautiful mountains of Anza Borrego for Los Angeles traffic but also skateshops around every corner.

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