I just returned last night from a couple of weeks in San Diego, where I had mostly sunny, but colder than usual weather for down there. I visited with my cousins on my Dad’s side for four days or so, then met up with a group of cyclists in Chula Vista, which is right at the edge of the developed area of San Diego County. We cycled east into and over the mountains and down into the Anza-Borrego desert area, where we spent three days riding and hiking before climbing back over the mountains again to our starting point. The weather was kind to us, with no rain or snow, but it was very cold in the mountains and very windy in the desert. Most of us were pretty hammered after our first day of riding – we climbed 7000 feet in 50 miles, and the campground had 3 inches of snow from the previous night. I was really spent once I got off my bike and into camp – luckily, we were able to round up some firewood and we made a nice campfire to warm up by. The next day was a big payoff – after 20 miles of rollers we came to the place where the road literally dropped us into the desert basin – 8% grade for 10 miles of winding, twisting turns through a steep-sided canyon… I tucked into the turns and screamed for much of the way down… I felt like I was 10 years old again!

I spent the following day hiking with my new friend Ursula, from Calgary, Alberta. We hiked up into a place called Palm Canyon, which was beautiful – a small stream trickled through the rocky landscape, which was covered with giant succulent plants and blooming wildflowers. I love the aloes and agaves and cacti – they are so sculptural, simple and grand in scale- I fantasize about what it would be like to garden in these climates. As we neared the end of the hike, up at the headwaters of the small stream, there was an oasis of palms and many small pools to soak hot feet in. I saw a couple of big-horn sheep up on the escarpment above us, and a few pair of quail & a jackrabbit, along with many small lizards and lots of birds. That night I sat in the hot tub under the starry sky and slept really well in my tent, all warmed up and cozy in my flannel lined bag.

I got back on my bike the next day for a short 38 mile loop ride up a mountain pass and across a long, flat expanse of desert. The headwinds were howling at probably 20mph at least and it was slow going for half the ride. There’s nothing as de-moralizing as riding into the wind, which is such a relentless adversary to a lone cyclist. Thankfully, at the top of the pass, I turned a corner and then the wind assisted me with another screaming descent back to the desert floor – Yahoo!

Back to camp for another night of fun with some of my group. This ride was through a company called Adventure Cycling, a non-profit organization which promotes cycling for people of all ages – they provide the best maps available for cross country cyclists and are advocates for trail & route development all across the US. This was my second tour through this company, and they do a top notch job of organizing these rides to ensure a great time for the participants. Kathy, the wonderful cook who travels with us is from just down the road from me in Lake Stevens. She is a master of her craft and everyone is so happy to have a great meal (3 a day, in fact) to fuel the riding engines. We all eat like gourmet stevedores on these tours!
A bit of info about our riders – there were 40 of us, mostly from the northern states & Canada, as is common on these early season tours… everyone is itching to get outside and be warm, or at least, get out of the snow! There were many riders from New York City – at least 6 or 7. One woman, Dolores – from Brooklyn, is 67 years old and last year she rode across the country alone on her Bike Friday. Most of the riders are in their 50’s & 60’s, but we had a nice young couple, Anna & Olivia, also from NYC, who were just 29 & 30 – our youngest riders. The oldest rider was Paul, who was 71. These are tough people, committed to staying fit for life. The two strongest riders were up in their upper 60’s and very, very fit. It’s such an inspiration to be among these elite athletes who just refuse to sit down and quit life!

The next day was time to climb back up into the mountains – into 40 miles of headwind. Yikes! I bailed out on the camping after learning that it was going to be 26 degrees that night and we would have the option of lodging indoors in the little town of Julian – famous for it’s apple pie. After that long climb (at about 5 mph, much of the time) I came to a place called, ‘Mom’s’ with a dozen familiar looking bikes leaned up outside, so that was clearly the pie-refueling station. Quite frankly, I could teach these people a thing or two about crust – but it still went down nicely with a cup of coffee. Which I regretted at 2am – but at least I was warm, in my room shared with a brother & sister traveling together from Boston.

Our last day of riding was the longest for this tour – 65 miles. We climbed Mount Laguna, which is up there at about 6500 feet on the road – it looks a lot like eastern Washington, with pine trees and open forest. The Pacific Crest Trail goes right through where I was riding – since I do a lot of hiking on the northern end of the PCT up here, so it was neat to cross it at the other end near the Mexican border. Once I reached the top of the climb, guess what? Another eyelid flapping descent! This time I had really good visibility through the twists & curves, so I got my little Bike Friday up to 43 mph. What a thrill! We stopped for lunch in Pine Valley, where we ran across a man just beginning his cross country ride on the Southern Tier. He was loaded down with panniers and headed for the climb I just came down. I think he was probably about 65 or so, and he planned to make it across the US in 30 days – that is about 100 miles a day. Whew! The rest of the day was mostly down hill, and it was surprising to see how much greener the west side of the mountains had gotten since I left a week before. I was sad to enter back into the suburbs of Chula Vista and see the ride end, but right before I came over the last little rise, about a half mile before I got off my bike, a big coyote came right out onto the road in front of me and we shared a gaze. It was a nice end to a great week of riding in an alien place. I rode 305 miles on this trip.

My cousins were so gracious to host me for this visit, and it was wonderful to become familiar with another branch on the family tree. Just before I got onto the plane to come back home, My cousin Judy took me up to Point Loma, to visit my Aunt Gayle’s grave. She is buried with her husband, Marvin, in a sea of white tombstones overlooking the San Diego Harbor and the city where she spent most of her life. The view from up there is stunning, with the city on one side and the open sea on the other. I’m glad to see her rest in such a beautiful setting.