I was taking my time at breakfast so Samuel went on ahead of me and we had plans to catch up with each other later in the day. The farm road through Plaster City the map took me on was very rough and worn out. I ran out of water halfway through the first leg of the day and was happy to finally spot a gas station where I-8 met up with the road in a small town. I downed two Gatorades and discussed the road conditions with the workers at the gas station. They said the road only got worse. I had to get on I-8 for awhile later in the day and they advised to go ahead and get on it now. After about 5 miles I hit the bottom of the last mountain I would have to climb on this journey. While pedaling up it I realized it was the steepest mountain I had climbed yet. I started at sea level and would have to climb over 4100 feet. About 1000 feet into the climb I spotted three guys with binoculars pulled over on the side of the highway. They were looking at the rock formations and said one of them formed what looked like a goat. They tried to point it out to me for a few minutes, but I finally relented telling them I was too dizzy to spot it. They gave me some extra water, an energy drink, and two energy bars. One of them gave me a bandanna to wet with water and put around my neck to keep my core temp down. This mountain was supposed to be easier than Emory Pass according to other cyclists, but combined with the desert heat it seemed much harder to me. I continued climbing for hours on end and stopped at the radiator bins on the side of the mountain every mile to wet my bandana. I finally reached Old Highway 80 and was glad to get off of the interstate. I stopped in the first town near the top of the mountain and got some lunch. I asked if I was done climbing yet and they said I still had more to go. Continuing on I got a text message from my family saying they had landed in San Diego and were picking up their rental. The plan was to pick me up to hang out with them and drop me back off at the exact pick up point the next morning to finish the last bit of my trip. I told them to head east on I-8 and call me in about an hour. Pedaling on I saw a highway patrol on the side of the road. He told me I had one more 500 foot climb after a small downhill ride, but after that it was mainly downhill/flat to San Diego. It was getting dark and I was worn out from the day. I rode for about another 10 miles until I received the phone call from my family that they were in the area. I gave them directions to my location and a few minutes later they were yelling out the window at me. They couldn’t believe I was pedaling down this dark country road alone and I told them I had been doing this same thing nearly every night of the trip. I had them meet me at the next mile marker so I could pinpoint my location for the next morning. We loaded my bike up in the car and enjoyed the rest of the evening near San Diego.

Apr 16 2010 in Blog Jon Tallent No Comments »