Day 68: El Centro, CA – Live Oak Springs, CA

We got a decently early start this morning after Jon and Liz decided they didn’t need to wait for the bike shop to open. They were down to one spare tube but waiting until 10 to start biking across the desert would have made it rather miserable.

Once on the road we deviated slightly from the ACA route because passing cyclists had told us the road on the map was in poor condition, so we headed straight south instead. In the town of Calexico there was a Walmart so we stopped for supplies. While there, another touring cyclist pulled up. His name was Matt and he was headed from Phoenix to San Diego before going up to LA. He decided to join our little troupe, bringing the member count to five.

The elevation was about minus two hundred and even at nine in the morning it was incredibly hot. We pushed westward towards the town of Ocotillo for lunch and the mountains that separated the desert from the sea loomed closer and closer. The farmland gave way to dirt and shrubs as we entered the Yuha Desert.

In Ocotillo we stopped at a gas station for food and took and extended break. Ahead of us was the last big climb of the trip – about 3500 feet up – and the signs and tales of fierce headwinds added to the dread of proceeding onwards. After a while of discussing how terrible it would be we finally just decided to do it and headed out.

The road merged onto I-8 and there was a well maintained roomy shoulder on which to ride. Once the climb started in earnest I turned on my music and broke away from the pack. After a couple miles my pace slowed to about 7.5 mph as I ran out of my initial confidence. The sun was beating down unrelentingly and sweat poured over my entire body. Along the road there were bridges over canyons where the shoulder all but disappeared and cars would pass by at uncomfortably close distances. There was probably a nice view of the canyons too but I was too focused on getting up the hill to much care.

After 5 miles I stopped in some shade for a break. Andrew showed up less than a minute later but the rest were five or ten minutes behind. After a little rest we continued upwards and I stuck with the pack this time. The road began winding a fair amount and there were brief periods of shade. The miles went on and eventually we reached our exit from the highway. Matt had lagged behind a fair amount – since he had only been on the road a week he hadn’t become as acclimated to these long climbs as us.
It was just another mile uphill before reaching the top. All the fuss about the climb was pretty much for naught and we coasted down to a town for a well deserved rest.

Unfortunately, we had set our sights on the town of Live Oak Springs and a couple more large hills to go. The road wound up and down through the mountains and at one point took us just a few hundred feet from the Mexican border – as indicated by a large fence that would randomly stop and start.

We eventually arrived at the tiny town, got a private room in the restaurant and ate massive quantities of food before retiring to the campsite next door.

Today’s mileage: 68 miles.
Total mileage: 3736 miles.