Category: Pedal Wheels

El Cajon, CA to Bankhead Springs, CA
Date: 01/03/2013
Distance traveled: 55.87 miles
GPS tracks: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/257721656

The view at 3,000 ft from “Vista Point” on I-8, looking toward San Diego.

This was the longest and hardest day that I have ever spent on my bicycle. This was the hardest anything that I’ve ever done physically. And I think I would do it again.

About to get on the interstate… and climb.

55.87 miles. 6,200ft of elevation gain. It took about 10 hours to complete the ride, with about 8 of those hours were actually spent pedaling. It was a lot of ‘sit and spin’ – low low gears and slow slow going. My average speed was the slowest I’ve ever had on a ride, mostly because I spent the majority of the day going 3-5mph crawling up hill!

The hills were expected. The wind was not. Oh my the wind! There was a wind advisory today that almost made me not ride today. 20-35 mile per hour winds with gusts of 50mph were predicted on the passes. Luckily it wasn’t that bad or I would have turned back (per Margaret’s rule not to do anything she wouldn’t do). But that did mean I had wind in my face pushing me backwards for large chunks of the ride.

Sometimes I couldn’t tell if it was the incline, the wind, or exhaustion that was making me go so slow. Likely all three. I got to my destination 1 hour after usable daylight had disappeared. Glad I brought good bike lights! (Riding in the dark on strange roads is probably against M’s “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”, come to think of it.)

The road ahead of me, heading into Pine Valley.

Before I left I was talking with M about how I was worried about my physical preparedness. She told me “You’re tough. You’ll do just fine.” That’s probably one of the factors that pushed me to go so far today. My decision point was Pine Valley, which was about half way. I could have called it a day and gotten a $60 hotel room… I’m glad I didn’t.

My hosts for the evening (David, Tina and their kids) were outside and waiting for me when I arrived in the dark. Dinner was served not long after I arrived. I’m amazed at the warmth and openness of the Warm Showers hosts I’ve had… David and Tina are no different. It was fun hanging out with them tonight and I would recommend anyone passing through to stop in.

As an added bonus, David and Tina were hosting a family who are riding cross country raising money for Susan G. Koman. Mom, Dad, teenage daughter & 8 year old son! Father & son are on a tandem, mom and daughter get their own bikes. I got to spend a lot of time talking with Rob, Gail, Dakota & Luke which made my evening – they were absolutely delightful. You can see their blog here: http://fourtheroad.com/

 

 

 

San Diego, CA to El Cajon, CA
Date: 01/02/2013
Distance traveled: 33.39 miles
GPS tracks: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/257328062

Setting out with the bike box strapped to the back rack.

I was all over the place today, mostly because I wasn’t in a rush. I didn’t have far to go and the elevation was minimal which made for easy riding, so I took my time. After saying goodbye to Walter and Pam I rode up the street a ways to grab a bite to eat at Panera Bread Co., wander over to UPS to ship the bike box, and then make a stop at Sports Authority for fuel for the camp stove. I think I was done with all of that by around 10am… and with only 30ish miles to go I had some time to kill.

I really should have gone for the 5 beer taster, not 8.

Killing time is where the San Diego Brewing Company came into play. They were along the route and Walter and Pam spoke highly of them. I would have rather gone to some of the breweries that Nate suggested, but unfortunately they were just a little too far out of the way. I had a relaxed tasting and lunch at SDBC, and even got to chat with Jeff the brewmaster for quite a bit – I think I was there for 2 hours total. :) I highly recommend the Infinitude IPA – it was spot on.

Mission Gorge was the highlight of today’s ride.

The ride was nice and mostly uneventful. Lots of urban and commercial districts with wide shoulders and low traffic. The highlight of the route today was Mission Trails through Mission Gorge. It’s a short but scenic stretch with nonexistent traffic. It also has a nice lil historical landmark along the way.

Old Mission Dam – Built in the early 1800s

Tonight I’m staying with Brittany, Jacques and the adorable 8 month-old Roman in El Cajon, CA. They have been incredibly warm and inviting and we had lots to talk about over dinner. It’s so nice to have folks to spend time with in the evenings. It has made the beginning of the trip so nice. Jacques and I spent a lot of time talking about family, bike routes, and his own incredible trip across the US to raise money and awareness for Beautiful Gate South Africa. Beautiful Gate is a non-profit organization providing care and support to vulnerable children and families in Cape Town, South Africa, many of whom have been infected by HIV. Brittany and Jacques have a real heart for this kind of service work – it’s inspiring. You can see an interview from Jacques’ ride in 2010 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyzT_R6H8ac

Walter offering encouragement, support, tools, conversation and beer.

After a slightly rushed breakfast at Serious Biscuit, M and I said our goodbyes for the month and I hopped an uneventful flight to San Diego. I got to watch them unload my bike from the plane. They didn’t do a half-bad job handling it despite dropping it on its side pretty roughly. Good thing TSA repacked it reasonably well after they were done rifling through it.

Upon my arrival, Pam and Walter – who are awesome – picked me up from the airport in their VW van and we headed to their home in the northern parts of San Diego. With a Laqunitas IPA in hand, I set about reassembling my undamaged Kona Sutra. After getting it put together, we sat down to dinner, talked about biking, relationships, more bikes and biking. Pam & Walter had done a 100mi ride that morning (a tradition). Pam works at a local bike shop (Leucadia Cyclery – leucadiabikes.com‎) and teaches bike classes. Walter is an engineer after my own heart with an equal love for biking. My favorite quote from the evening goes to Walter – “our mission is to teach racing bicyclists that biking can be fun!” (in reference to bike touring). I loved looking through their collection of amazing bikes in their garage! Mountain bikes with 29’ers, ultralight weight road bikes, etc., etc. Color me jealous.

Pam and Walter are great hosts – the ride from the airport, the use of their tools, the delicious salmon dinner, the comfortable bed, the lovely conversation, and the great advice on how to navigate my way out of the city – I couldn’t have asked for more! They even had good advice on which breweries were along my route that I shouldn’t miss. Pam spelled backwards is ‘map’, and that’s no joke. She knows the area forwards and backwards and put me on a super easy route out of town. I couldn’t thank them enough for all that they did for me.

The assembled bike, ready to be loaded down.