The Home Stretch......

Well hello everyone!

surprised I'm writing again so quick? You gotta love internet access at the Holiday Inn Express! Let's see, so I've climbed and descended about 4,200 feet since last time. That was quite the ride!

Brawley to Julian
The start of the ride was pretty slow and uneventful, I think I was still a little worked from the 90 mile day before, the legs just weren't in it to win it. We left town right after sunrise and worked our way out to a farming kind of area, it was a really pretty ride. I rode ok in the beginning and then after mile 20 or so I was kinda tired. Too early to be tired! We took a sharp left and headed towards mountains. Oh dear. They didn't get bad until the very end though. I remember sitting at the van at mile 50 or so, changing a slow leaking flat, and the hills didn't start to show yet. After I left the van my tire went flat again, right at the 1,000 ft elevation sign. Awesome. Failed patch. So I switched it one more time, my tires were getting pretty worn too. Switched out the tube, stopped at the dropped water spot and slowly I felt more tired and more tired because the incline was so unnoticeable. As the scenery got more beautiful, I noticed I was working my way not only through the mountains but along side of them. The road was kind of part of the side of one mountain, it was really cool. The landscape changed from desert and sand to a variety of cactus to TREES! yes TREES!! Oh my gosh, I never thought I'd be so happy to see a tree before! No more desert! There were also mountains of rocks and boulders that were real purty too. So like I said, as the scene gets nicer and nicer the hills get bigger and bigger. Then they come and don't stop, it's just switchback after switchback going up, up, up! I made excuses to stop along the way... as my legs get heavier and the air gets thinner. It was just pretty, I had to take pictures, right? :) You have no idea what a relief it was to see that 4,000 ft elevation sign! After that I got reacquainted with gears again! How fun! I rolled down into Julian and went to Julian Coffee House, ate a wonderful breakfast/lunch/dinner... and finished out the last 3 miles (all uphill!! Grrrr) to the campsite. Slept ok, it was actually chilly, so I got to use my sleeping bag right off the bat!

Julian to San Diego
Sooooo remember all those climbs/hills from yesterday? Yep, FUN TIME! I'd say about 70% or more of the day was spent descending. SO much fun! I rode down the first 10-20 miles and hit my 4,000 mile mark. 4,000 ft one day, 4,000 miles the next! How cool! The ride into San Diego was a lot of long, beautiful descents, even after we got out of Julian. There were at least 2 super bomb climbs that were completely unnecessary, but whatyougonnado? I was playing leap frog with Brian all morning and as we worked our way down closer to the coast and SD we stopped in to see his sister at her office. She took us out to eat, and it was cute to see the brother-sister interaction, makes me miss my big bro and sis :/ She was super nice and she and a couple friends came out to our event last night. We stayed at the International Hostel right in downtown, and that was probably the coolest place we've stayed at the entire trip! It was extremely unique with bright, vibrant, varied colored walls, tons of natural sunlight pouring in from windows and sky lights, and 3 floors! There were couches, sofas, and comfy chairs in every nook and corner. The kitchen on the third floor was massive as well. I'm beginning to become a fan of hostels......

San Diego to San Clemente
Today's ride wasn't all that great for me. It was actually really cool all morning and I was breaking into a cold sweat, so I had that lovely sickly feeling and I was cold for the first 40 miles. Ugh. But it was super gorgeous to see the COAST! The Pacific Ocean! I've never seen it before. Still haven't touched it yet. I'm saving it for tomorrow! It warmed up a little later, and I did see more bike riders today then ever before. There were bike lanes galore all day, and we rode through Camp Pendleton. The headwinds were not nice through Pendleton. I was going a good 10 mph, not feeling so hot. We cut onto a "bike path" immediately after Camp Pendleton, aka an old runway? It was about 3 lanes or so wide and not a soul in sight! Just the occasional rider. I saw a dude on a SL2 and rode with him for a little and chatted, he was asking about the ride and what have you. After we chatted for a while I told him not to let me hold him back, I was just cruising it out today, so he took off. The road took an S-curve and then he was out of sight. Must be nice riding that 15 (or less) pound bike! One day Francesca, one day. The rest of the ride was easy breezy after the bike path, and when I thought I had arrived at the Holiday Inn Express, I turned a curve to see a good 18% or more grade climb to the top by the hotel. Thanks for that! It was short though. But still, really? Really Holiday Inn? You couldn't have put it at the bottom of the hill? Today I packed up all my camping gear and some extra clothes and shipped them home. I'll beat them there though. I ate pizza at San Clemente Pizza Cafe: delicious. I'm gonna go finish it now that I think about it.... it's sitting in my fridge. Mmmm. Well folks, I do believe that's alls I gots for now. Tomorrow: LA, aka finish line! Whoop whoop!!! Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow though, I gotta pack up Belle and get her ready to ship out too :( I'll miss her! But I'll see her back in PA, I'm sure she'll like a rest day too.

Ride on!
Francesca