Author Archives: cinnicrew

Longest day in the saddle. 6:23. Brawley to Palo Verde CA Started out pretty simple rolling thru the Imperial Valley farmland. Good shoulder, some truck traffic. After about 15 miles we climbed out of the valley and into the desert To the left we’re the chocolate Mtns and straight ahead was the Imperial Sand DuneContinue reading “Day 5. 67 mi. 2000 ft climb. Long, scary day”

Taking Dave’s advice ( see Dave day 2) we took the Interstate 8 for 10 miles to cutoff about 12 miles. It was a rough bumpy shoulder, similar to Montana frost heaves. A butt killer for sure. A border agent helicopter was flying low along both sides of the interstate for several miles. Back andContinue reading “Day 4. The Imperial Valley ride”

Today was a really good day. I hope/wish they will all be like today. But…it’s not my first bike ride! Curt had a really good day so we are thrilled! He had to walk a few steep sections but he was thrilled and we didn’t see him until lunch break. He is encouraged that hisContinue reading “Day 3 Up, down, up, down, up, down, down, down”

26.8 mi. 3926 elevation gain. AIS (ass in seat) 4:07 Predominantly all climbing today. Weather was cooler, not sunny. Good for climbing really. Occasionally raining but we lucked out and were eating lunch at Albertsons so we missed most of it. It was a rain jacket off and on type of day. Off for climbingContinue reading “All uphill”

32 mi. San Diego to Lakeside CA We officially started riding today. The start point on the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Beach, San Diego. But first we had to ride from our hotel to the beach. Within the first 4-5 blocks we had an extremely steep hill to get up and over. I would haveContinue reading “No more planning. Today we ride!”

Easy plane flight to San Diego. Mia (Curt’s wife) gave us a early early ride to the airport. We were at the airport 4:20 (6:10am flight), no line. With our 3 large bike boxes the Delta desk crew had some work to do! First time they had bikes (or so it seemed). They had toContinue reading “Arrived San Diego to sunshine”

Flying to San Diego on Saturday Leap Day 2/29. Launching from the ocean shore in San Diego on Sunday March 1. Preparations are wrapping up. Panniers are packed and weighed. It’s like a puzzle… organizing the gear by usage and then packing for weight distribution (side to side and front to back). We’ve been toldContinue reading “6 days to Launch”

Overall I’m pretty much there, just fine tuning. Late in getting here, Jim and Suzy have been way ahead in getting ready just as I expect they will be for the rest of the way. Getting in good riding shape will have to happen along the way. I can blame January and February in MontanaContinue reading “A Pause in preparations for the ride”

It has taken a few months to collect the necessary gear for this trip. We have it all assembled and sorted by usage. Bike clothes, non- bike clothes, bicycle tools and accessories, miscellaneous items, camping gear, minimal cooking gear. Next step is to load the panniers for weight distribution and balance. Figuring about a /60/40Continue reading “Sorting and Packing”