Riding in the desert is mostly a question of water. I carried eight litres on this trip, which makes a loaded bike feel like a small car, and still refilled at every spring the map promised.
The days had a simple rhythm: ride from first light until about eleven, find shade, sleep through the worst of the heat, then ride again until the rock turned red in the evening.
Sand is the real climb
The climbs were never the hard part. Deep sand was. Wide tyres at low pressure helped, and so did accepting that some sections would be walked however strong I felt.
At night the sky is so dark that the Milky Way throws shadows. That alone is worth the water weight.