July 24, Sunday - DAY 1 LA to Yucca Valley

I can't technically say I'm "driving" the Ride For 9-11 so much as supporting the driver and riders ( I don't think they trust me to drive the gigantic motor home with trailer attached and to be quite honest, I don't think I trust myself to drive). The ceremony yesterday, MC'd by fellow driver Mike Ketaily was amazing and truly an awe-inspiring thing. Riding out of LA, with our LAPD escort and then with old Engine and Squad 51 to the city limits got us out of LA at a reasonable pace.
Around the outskirts of Palm Springs we realized that our so-called "road" was more of a dirt trail along the 10 freeway, and that our only viable option was to get on the 10 for about 2 miles. Sketchy proposition, especially as we passed the "no bikes or pedestrians" sign on the on ramp. I mean, what sign?!
We were forced to get BACK on the freeway after yet another discovery that our route included a road to nowhere. Trust me when I say you haven't lived until you've trailed a pack of weary cyclists on the 10 hanging out the window of a class A motorhome. A hair-raising experience.
As we made the turn onto Hwy 62 into Yucca, we started up what I will affectionately call "the grade". This isn't some wimpy grade like what you might have found in the hills of Malibu, oh no. This is a pair of twin beasts, somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 - 17%. Jorge now refers to it as "quite similar to chair 15 in Mammoth". I think it's an appropriate visual. We collected weary souls as we made our way up the grade. After all was said and done, at 9:30 at night, Jorge, Scott Hambly, Marv, and Scott Smith represented their Ride for 9-11 brothers as they reached the top of the mountain. Oh, and Jorge almost got eaten by a coyote.
Yucca Valley was such a welcoming host for our first, overly ambitious and exceedingly intense day of riding. The coolest part was (literally and figuratively) they let us sleep in their museum, with AC!
After all the twists and turns and route-altering, the mileage tally is at 140. We finally turned in at midnight, with another long day ahead.