Day 70 - Live Oak Springs to San Diego

Tuesday. May 25.

A chilly morning delayed our start, the thought of screaming downhill at 30mph with 40 degree temps wasn't appealing.

After we got going, we passed a wind farm up in the mountains.


A quick downhill brought us to Pine Valley, where we passed yet another eastbound cyclist. Bruce from Oregon was just beginning his journey, and we were admittedly a little jealous.


Climbing out of Pine Valley was a comedy, we laughed and joked, knowing it was our last climb of the trip. It's all downhill from here.

We stopped for lunch in Alpine, about 30 miles from the ocean.

I tried and tried to soak in every last mile of the ride, but they still seemed to go by too fast. The Pacific Ocean was a big tease. I expected to see it somewhere way up on the top of the hill, gleaming as a finish line out in the distance. It wasn't to be. Smaller hills would always obscure the view.

A few miles were through a very cool park pretty much in the middle of suburbia San Diego. The cars were restricted so the biking was great.


The anticipation kept building as we turned onto Friars Road. I remembered this road from the Rock n' Roll San Diego last year, and the familiar location was nice. We were so close!


Soon enough, we could see Sea World, and then we crossed the San Diego River. The sight of the ocean was glorious!


The final ride down to Dog Beach was surreal, and then we hit the sand.





After enjoying the ocean for a while, we met up with friends and had a victory dinner.


What a trip. Wow.
I don't think reality will set in for a while.

Day 70 - 67.76 Miles
Trip to Date - 4015.03 miles
Coast to Coast - 3012.58 miles

Day 69 - El Centro to Live Oak Springs

Monday. May 24.

After a great rest day in El Centro, we were excited to resume riding. With the ocean so close, the end of our trip finally began to seem real.

"Tomorrow? We finish tomorrow?" was asked repeatedly.
Yes, it was true.

The first 30 miles of our riding was very flat, but the road wasn't great. Luckily, we found a bike lane exiting El Centro that isn't on the Adventure Cycling maps, which was very nice to ride on. Once we hooked back onto the official map, the road quality went south. Many people have blogged about this section of road as the worst on the trip. It was bad but maybe not the worst. All this said, I got my second (third) flat of the trip. A staple was able to puncture all the way through the mighty Schwalbe Marathon Pluses.


Anyways, we eventually reached Ocotillo, right at the base of the climb. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe. A hot pulled pork sandwich was a welcome change to our standard gas station food.

We also met a family who was riding bicycles east bound. They had an army of bikes on the back of an RV. One person drove, and the others rode. It seemed like a really fun strategy for touring cross country.


Leaving Ocotillo, we entered the Interstate for the longest continuous climb of the trip. In New Mexico, we climbed much higher but it was broken up by a stay with Shipley in Kingston. This climb brought us from 400 feet above sea level to 3400 feet above sea level in 10 miles.

Up and up we went, and the canyon was beautiful. Not too steep, not too hot, and the shoulder was huge the entire way (excepting one bridge).




It was during this stretch where I saw my first 'border crossers'. About half way up the climb, at least 5 miles from another exit on the highway, at least 10 miles from a building of any kind, there were two guys standing in the shade under a tree. Since we had just left the town, I was full up on liquids. I pulled a bottle of gatorade from a cage and offered it up. They were very, very excited. I tossed it to the ground where they could get it, gave them a wave, and continued on my way.

Near the top of the climb, there was a creek overpass full of 'people'. I don't know the back story to these, but perhaps they are put there by local residents to prevent illegal crossers?


I exited the highway at the top of the climb and got on "old highway 80". Right around this exit, there was a car on the highway completely in flames. I took a few photos and rode a little further. A guy near the fence asked if I could send him the photos, it was his car and most all of his belongings. Bummer.



We rode on and on, coming very close to the border at times. The fence between the countries is pretty crazy.


We stopped at a campground in Live Oak Springs. The camping was expensive and the amenities not so great (no electric, shower/restroom pretty gross), but there was a restaurant next door. We ate dinner, sat around watching TV, and finally went to bed. Up in the mountains, it was chilly. Possibly the coldest night of the trip. Who knew after 69 days, the coldest night would be in Southern California towards the end of May?

Tomorrow is the day. A little uphill, then lots of downhill, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Day 69 - 60.99 Miles
Trip to Date - 3947.27 miles
Coast to Coast - 2944.82 miles

Day 68 - Rest Day in El Centro

Sunday. May 23.

The wind is blowing up a gale again today, so we decided to stay put in El Centro. The NWS forecast for today reads as follows...

* WINDS: SUSTAINED WINDS FROM 20 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 55 MPH.
STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THROUGH THE BANNING PASS...THE EAST-WEST
PASSES OF SAN DIEGO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY...AND IN THE SAN DIEGO
COUNTY DESERTS.

* VISIBILITY: BLOWING SAND AND DUST WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES TO
LESS THAN A HALF MILE AT TIMES IN THE DESERTS.

* IMPACTS: HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES TRAVELING ON INTERSTATES 8...
10...15 AND HIGHWAYS 74...78 AND 247.

A few weeks ago in Texas, we departed from a super nice accommodation and decided to challenge the winds. It didn't end well, and we spent many restless, windy hours in Kent, a town with one building. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us again, shame on... We won't get fooled again! We are going to enjoy all the amenities Marriott has to offer, including the warm breakfast, hot tub, TV, and most importantly, enclosed walls keeping us out of the winds.

We are going to watch a movie this afternoon and hopefully get a jumpstart on tomorrow.

Two days of riding left... So close!

Day 67 - Blythe to El Centro

Saturday. May 22.

Whooboy! Long day.

We left camp by 7am, and once again headed West. It was about 25 miles to Palo Verde, a small town which would be our last services for quite a while.

During the first 25 miles, we crossed paths with two more riders going East. One was an older gentlemen who was ultimately going to the Florida Keys. The second was a guy named Tim, who was riding for a cause. Tim was riding light and fast, just like us. Best wishes to them both!


In Palo Verde, we stopped at a gas station, then backtracked to eat some home-made breakfast burritos to make sure we were properly fueled for our ride. Pretty good stuff and worth the backtrack.

Unfortunately for us, the winds picked up earlier than we had hoped. It was a long slow ride starting about 30 miles in. Usually, we hope to reach the halfway point early enough in the day where the second half can be slower without too many problems. Not today.

At least the riding was still pretty.


At the half way point of our 'empty stretch' we hit a town called Glamis. This town is on the edge of the sand dunes. We've heard horror stories of crazy expensive food/drinks, but I can't say I blame them. They are out in the middle of nowhere, and don't have much of a season. They are only open from October to May, and we got lucky to arrive on the second to last weekend of the season. Yes, things were expensive ($3.50 for a 32oz Gatorade) but we gladly paid the money.

We met a number of riders who were enjoying the sand dunes on motorbikes and ATV's. They were all pretty impressed that we were riding all the way across the country. I was impressed that a 8 year old (+/-) was riding one of those ATV's.


Today was cooler than yesterday (90 instead of 100) but the sun is still a strong beast. We sat in the shade and drank our expensive liquids. The winds had really picked up by now and going 8mph was challenging. The next town, Brawley, was 27 miles away. On a great day that is 1.5 hours away, today we were figuring on three.

Just as we were about to get rolling again, a young lady cruised in on a bicycle heading Eastbound. Audrey was from Alaska and didn't really have a destination in mind. She left her truck in San Diego and started riding. She is going to the Grand Canyon and then wherever the winds take her. Best of luck to her, the trip is great.

These next 27 miles were as brutal as anything we've encountered. Super slow riding, and constantly getting pelted by sand from the dunes made for a very challenging afternoon. It was pretty though.


(note the windy shirt)



After we got out of the dunes, we entered the Imperial Valley. It's all below sea level, and has more water than most parts of California. There wasn't anything to block the winds, so we continued to get pummeled all the way into Brawley.

Brawley was 93 miles into our day of riding. We were wiped. The hotel options weren't so great in Brawley (as we were warned by the guys a day earlier), so it was frustrating. The Best Western wanted $100 for a room. We tried another place but they wanted $55 for a room with one bed that smelled awful. I was exhausted but didn't want to stay there. I also made the mistake of looking up Marriott's. There was a Fairfield Inn in El Centro, the next town down the road.

Now my mind was fixed on having a nice room for potentially free. I called my friend, Alan, and he did some searching for me. He had enough points to get us a room, all we had to do was get there.

I justified in my mind that we would be riding South instead of West and that the wind would be better. I told Jake I wanted to go for it unless he objected. Off we went, and within a mile I started regretting my decision. The crosswinds were just as aggravating as the headwinds. Instead of going 7mph, we were going 11mph but constantly getting pushed into traffic.

If you're going to be dumb, you gotta be tough.



It was another battle at the end of a long day. We pulled into El Centro just as the sun was setting. The Marriott was so glorious. Two beds, no smells, pool and hot tub.

We relaxed for a while, then ate a ton of food at Chili's.

What a day!

The winds are forecast to be even stronger tomorrow. We've made the decision to hang out in El Centro and rest.

Day 67 - 111.59 Miles
Trip to Date - 3886.28 miles
Coast to Coast - 2883.83 miles