First Three Days of the Ride

Day One: Jeremy and I left Dog Beach in San Diego Easter Sunday morning on March 23, 2007, at 7:30. It was a cool 52 degrees when we left, but the temperature soon rose to 80 by days end. The ride today was extremely difficult and challenging. There were a couple “nice” hills prior to Santee with a nice decline coming into Santee. However, after Lakeside it was all up hill the rest of the way. To make matters even more challenging, the Santa Anna winds kicked in around 10:00 and were with up all the way to 4,000 feet. After hours of whining and asking everyone we met how much higher the hill we were climbing was, we reached Alpine around noon. At Alpine we made a big mistake and ate a very large Mexican lunch which stayed with us the rest of the day. Prior to Alpine the decision was made to try for Pine Valley without a clear understanding of all the climbing that was involved to make that destination. The high point of the ride was 4,000 feet so the one mile cruise down hill to Pine Valley was a welcome relief. I got a couple cramps at 3,000 feet at mile 42, but was able to make it into Pine Valley okay. Both Jeremy and I ran out of water at mile 43. We arrived in Pine Valley around 4:15 p.m. very tired, but very satisfied with our progress. Monday offers more hills for about 30 miles and then a big ride down hill on the Interstate into Ocotillo.

Day Two: We left Pine Valley at 8:30 this morning. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky and the temperature was 56 degrees. Since it was a little chilly we left with jackets on. After riding about a half mile in the wrong direction we decided to leave our jacket at the motel when we went by the motel in the right direction and headed in our favorite direction, up. We climbed to over 4,000 feet twice before reaching Live Oak Springs. Along the way we met Ron who rode with us to Jacumba. Along the way Jeremy almost ran over him, but only ended up hitting him with his break level and ripping his bike shirt. There were a lot of hills today, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Coming into Jacumba Jeremy hit a section of uneven pavement and did an outstanding job keeping his bike up. Great move on his part. Just out of Jacumba we said good bye to the mountains and enjoyed a 10 mile decent down Interstate 8 to Ocotillo where Jeremy and I enjoyed a really nice lunch. Our goal was to make it to El Centro, but it was 95 degrees and we were not sure we could make it that far. Once we headed east out of Ocotillo it was flat, but the road to Seeley was really rough. We did make it to El Centro around 4:45 p.m. While going through Seeley Joyce made contract with one of most wonderful and caring person any of us have meet in a very long time. She provided us with supper and a motel room and even made a donation to Jeremy’s Ride. Meeting people like her is what makes a ride of this nature such a pleasant experience. Our total distance today was 74.1 miles.

Day Three: We left El Centro about 8:00 in the morning. It turned out to be a rough day. About eight miles out of El Centro, Jeremy blew a tire. We had extra tubes, but no extra tire. Joyce was still in El Cento so she brought out my old Raleigh that was brought along to use as a back up. Jeremy road my bike and I rode the Raleigh. Outside of Brawley we were actually below sea level. We also meet a guy from New Zealand who was skate boarding from Key West, Florida to Los Angles and then was heading to China to do the same thing. Things were going fine until we reached the sand dunes, just a little before Glamis, and I had a flat. I happened to be at a place that catered to motorcycle and sand dune buggies so I was able to fix the tire fixed and get some air and be on my way. It was a very lucky break. The sand dunes was one of the most interesting sites I had ever seen. The Chocolate Mountains in this area, but were not very impressive. Jeremy rode ahead into Glamis, not knowing I had a flat, which cause some tense moments. It wasn’t as hot today as yesterday due to some cloud cover. Even with the tire problems we made it to a camp ground in Palo Verde (236 population) which was a total distance of 82.2 miles for the day. We had a few small hills, but the terrain was mostly flat. Jeremy and I had some hot wings and two very good sandwiches in the local bar in Palo Verde for supper. If all goes well we should reach Salome, Arizona tomorrow evening. However, according to a couple other bikers heading west, there is a very nice campground in Hope, Arizona so we may stop there.