Day 4: Porterville to Barstow 340km

Sorry folks but fresh snow at the Sherman Pass means we won't be riding through the mountains. It's raining, too.

But let's get on the road and find out where it takes us.

The road takes us through orchards at first and then into the foothills of the Sierras and then we pass through lush green farmland and one small settlement, Glennville. Cattle are being loaded on to trucks near the road side.

There is no other traffic for almost two hours on this wonderful winding road. The temperature drops to 41.7 degF 5degC - colder than yesterday. But it is not snowing so we ride on.

Just through the rolling hills the rain stops and the landscapes becomes dry and barren. We come upon a valley populated with many oil pump jacks near Bakersfield. Pipelines and power poles connect them together in a 3D puzzle.

The roads around Bakersfield are a maze of freeways but the gps keeps us away from the city. We stop for lunch- Subway salad this time - looks good and it was.

Through the hills to Tehachapi which boasts that it is the wind energy capital of the world. Big ones and small ones all gracefully rotating on the hillsides.

We are soon in the Mojave desert. The trucks all keep to the right and we cruise on through. Along the way I spot many large commercial airliners parked up in the distance. This must be the mothballing location. Rocket testing sites are signed and we pass by a Rio Tinto boron mine at Boron which is near the Edwards Airforce Base. There are lots of things going on in this desert region.

We ride into Barstow and find a place to stay on Route 66.

Pump jacks - a farm filled with these earners.
Wind turbines at Tehachapi.

 

Jumbo aeroplanes parked in the desert.

 

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