I'm biking across the country

This morning we were in no rush to get started. Having climbed out of the desert the temperatures wouldn’t be reaching almost a hundred anymore and the change of scenery from desert shrubberies was most welcome. It was to be about twenty miles of hills before a long downhill towards the ocean. After slowly packing up camp, pumping my tires, and grabbing some water we hit the road.

The first few hills were followed by a decent climb of about a thousand feet. I approached it thinking that it would be difficult after the long day yesterday, but it was over very quickly. In fact, Jon took a wrong turn and kept on going uphill, thinking there was more climbing to be done. I was chasing him, trying to tell him to turn around, but he figured it out before I caught up.

We took a quick break and then proceeded onto the long descent. Just a few minutes in we were greeted by a thick fog. It was a lot of fun cycling through it and luckily we had a wide shoulder so there was little danger of being hit. We raced downhill towards the town of Alpine for lunch as the fog turned to a light rain.

A quick meal later and we began suiting up as the rain had increased in intensity and the temperature seemed to have dropped. I bundled up in most of my remaining warm clothes and we continued downhill. We were now entering the suburbs of San Diego and the map route had us take many turns to stay on roads with bike lanes as we sped down towards the ocean.

The route was pretty scenic and took us through a nice park with steep hills on both sides before dumping us onto a main drag that ran towards the coast. Not many pictures from this timeframe due to the rain, but it did let up as we approached the end.

Riding past Sea World we took a wrong turn and went about a mile out of the way but managed to turn around and get back on track. In the final stretch it was Andrew and I racing down a bumpy pedestrian filled bike path to Ocean Beach. We ran our bikes onto the beach, stripped off our clothes, and jumped in the water. We had arrived.

Jon and Liz joined us in the ocean and we got some photos before finding a motel, having a nice victory dinner, and hanging around celebrating.
It’s crazy to think this touring lifestyle will be coming to a conclusion. It has been an amazing journey and even though I had been ready to finish since the Rockies, It’s now sad to see it end. I still have to make my way north to Anaheim next week before flying home on the 24th.

Stick around for updates for the coming week (perhaps not daily) followed by a post-mortem of the trip including a much more comprehensive photo gallery.

Today’s mileage: 75 miles.
Total: 3811 miles.

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.

Andrew and I got a decently early start, heading out of town towards the town of Palo Verde for an early meal. These morning miles went by quickly and before long we arrived at the sole shop in town, where Jon and Liz were having a meal. They made introductions with Andrew before taking off.

After a quick meal of packaged food we followed and passed them before too long. The road was nothing but rolling hills and some of them were quite steep but we were able push on, resting at a border patrol station for a bit. Another hour or so took us to the town of Glamis for Lunch.

We arrived just after Jon and Liz and stopped in the only store in town. It was extremely expensive so I only bought a little for lunch. There were lots of people in dune buggies driving around town because of all of the sand dunes. After a break we headed off into the dunes which were awesome looking for the few miles they lasted, but unfortunately the shrubby boring desert soon returned.

The four of us headed on to the town of Brawley and before long my pace slowed due to my lack of food and I got left behind. Pulled over for a quick snack and continued on. It was in the middle of the afternoon and was extraordinarily hot out – probably about a hundred. Arriving in town, we took relief from the heat in a fast food joint while waiting for the temperature to drop a bit.

After about an hour we left, heading south towards El Centro where we were going to camp for the night. Pulled into the RV park after dark and set up camp.

Today’s mileage: 102 miles.
Total: 3668 miles.

My alarm clock in my motel room was off by an hour, so I slept in and didn’t get on the road until 9:30. I didn’t have a good idea about my destination for the evening but I wanted to make good mileage.

The miles went by while listening to my audio book when all of a sudden I hear a voice. It was a British couple and they were the first tourists I had met going the same way as me. We chatted for a bit before they told me where they were eating lunch and passed me.

A little while later I pulled into the lunch place and talked to Jon and Liz. They were awesome, doing wheelies up the hills but their tires were shit. But that’s just how they described themselves. They were from Guernsey and had started in DC, taking a surprisingly similar route to mine that included cutting the same corners off the ACA route. They are blogging on fittraveller.com and like me were heading to San Diego. After our meal they headed off towards California and I followed a few minutes later.

Before hopping on I-10 I pulled over to drink some water only for them to show up again from behind. Apparently I had passed them at a store and they had just caught up. We discussed where we were each stopping for the night before they went ahead. I didn’t learn this until the next day but apparently later this evening they had almost caught up to me after another break and were literally (please read that in a british accent for maximum enjoyment) about 4 feet away from catching up when Liz got a flat and they had to stop.

As the sun was setting I reached the Colorado river and crossed into California, the last state of my trip. I rode to the town of Blythe and started looking for a motel when another cyclist hailed me from behind. At first I thought he was a local cyclist but as it turns out, he had come from Atlanta and was headed to San Diego as well. Amazing that I went 65 days of static and finally met other tourists almost at the end of my trip.

I suggested we go grab dinner and he agreed. His name was Andrew and he was 19 and was traveling ultra light – hardly any gear. We agreed to stick together until San Diego and he wound up crashing in my motel room.

Today’s mileage: 117 miles.
Total mileage: 3566 miles.

I started off the day late due to staying up late, ruining my chances to beat the heat. Yesterday, my bike computer had fallen off my bike in traffic and gotten run over so I had to run to a bike shop to get a new one. Brock was kind enough to drive me to a store and Mara kept me company while I installed it. I bid them farewell and headed off into the heat.

I was going back to Wickenburg, where I stayed a few days ago. My path would diverge from my previous route there and head west.

I wound my way out of Phoenix, taking a dirt bike path and then a paved one. Stopped for lunch and a wave of lethargy overtook me and I had to stay and rest a bit. Luckily it was to be a short day and I made it to Wickenburg pretty early but not after stopping by a ghost bike for a bit.

Today’s mileage: 58 miles.
Total: 3449 miles.