The beginning of Day 2 included some huge climbs. There was one particularly steep climb around the 3.5 mile mark. That was my first “walk up a hill.” That also impacted my overall mileage and average speed. My mileage is off because I had my Garmin set to auto pause at 6mph. Not a good thing when you are walking or pedaling up hills between 4-5 mph. I thought I had changed that earlier and missed it. I had one more “walk up the hill.” Not as bad as I thought it would be considering the elevation gain today. I’m sure other riders improved the overall average when going downhill for five miles – me not so much. My brakes had a good work out. I was scared silly.
We pedaled on Interstate 8 today because there were no other roads that we could ride on. It was a short distance today, with more miles coming tomorrow on the interstate. We also cycled parallel to the border “wall” for the first time today. We will see more of that in days to come. Being so close to the border, we saw Border Patrol vehicles throughout the ride.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Alpine, CA
End city: Jacumba, CA
Miles: 42.5 (actually 44.5)
Total miles to date: 80.85
Pedaling time: 3 hours, 39 minutes
Avg. speed: 11.7 mph (probably closer to 11.3)
Feet climbed: 4,265
Fatigue factor: 8 (out of 10) Not as tired today, but definitely more difficult
Wind: WNW 3 mph
Road condition: 4 out of 5 (shoulders were not good in places)
Temperature extremes: 47 at ride start, 56 at ride finish
This is what a typical breakfast line looks like.
The first trip onto Interstate.
We will pass by more wind turbines tomorrow, but this photo also shows the lousy shoulder and a "mild" uphill with Janet closest to the camera.
The road down into Jucumba. One of the two long downhill segments.
The first time we were this close to the border "wall." Mexico is so close.
For my postal friends out there....I can't help myself.
