Dolly's Bike Blog

March 10, Live Oak Springs to Brawley, CA:

With Daylight Savings time starting overnight, it was dark when I rode away from the Live Oak Springs resort. The sunrise at least assured no rain, but the temperature was just 33 degrees.

When I arrived at the Boulevard Motel, my fellow cyclists were already gathering snacks. Sometimes we have the breakfast served by the motel, other times our cook prepares breakfast. Each day we have a snack table so we can take fruit, nuts, cookies and the like for the road.

We started the day with about 750 feet of climb. We had been warned that the 10 mile downhill might be quite windy, especially crosswinds. What a blast! It was quite cool at the top, but by the time we descended over 2000 feet it was quite warm – lots of extra clothing left in the truck for the remainder of the day. We finally left San Diego County and entered Imperial County.

Sadly the wind at the bottom was stronger than on the descent, and was mostly in our faces for the remainder of the day. We biked 20 miles through the Yuha Desert.

For about eight miles we endured strong headwinds and some miserably rough pavement. Lots of crops along the way. One gentleman told us they grow lots of Bermuda grass for seeds and for feed supplement.

After passing through El Centro, our final leg was some 16 miles again into a headwind, passing by a sign confirming all of the elevation we had lost today.

Note Sea Level mark on side of silo.

Our overnight stay in Brawley is a new Best Western Motel, a pleasant change from the “resort” last night. My roommate tonight is Susan Gillies, one of the strongest cyclists of the group. She is from Alberta, British Columbia, and ‘prepared’ for this trip by traveling to Nepal last October and November and cross country skiing.

Total miles today 78, plus the extra 4 miles early in the morning.

March 9, Alpine to Live Oak Springs/Boulevard:

There was the possibility of snow overnight up further in the mountains, so our departure was delayed until 9 am. I was in the last group to leave, as my suitcases were to be among the last to load (explanation to follow).

We started right off with a 5 mile uphill along a frontage road – definitely time to use my Granny gear.

At times it seemed we were climbing into the clouds.

I caught up with Judi from Missouri who was having trouble shifting her gears. Ultimately she was picked up by the van and trailer rather than ride on the freeway. We had about 3 1/2 miles on I-8 going over a pass at 3,000 feet.

Everyone had raved about the pie in Pine Valley, so that was the lunch target for the day. As luck would have it, due to Judi and her gear problems and Flo and her fall (couldn’t clip out when stopping), I arrived after the crowd of cyclists who had engulfed the diner. Did enjoy the chicken noodle soup and apple crumb pie, before heading back on the road.

As I was crossing over I-8 (we had been riding on Old Highway 80), I noticed the elevation sign!

After meeting up with 3 fellow cyclists who were fixing a flat, we rolled mostly downhill. Because of the size of our group, four of us are staying at the Live Oak Springs Resort. The others are 6 miles further downhill in Boulevard (population 1400, 2 liquor stores and not much more). I think the pictures speak for themselves (a bit rustic to say the least).

Total miles today 36. GPS readings showed almost 5,000 feet of climb.

My roommate in the Honeymoon Cottage at the Live Oak Springs Resort is Moira Drennan, a petite woman from central, rural Scotland. She is one of the sag drivers, so will take Monday off to support the rest of us. She loves knitting and is a dog walker back home. She took the Womantours tour of the Mississippi River last year, and has also been a guest at Buckingham Palace!

March 8:

Overnight there was a big storm with high winds. Sadly that was not the end of the rain or the wind. Our breakfast had to be served indoors, as the threat of rain was too great. We also had to have our luggage weighed – 2 bags allowed, total 50 pounds with no one bag over 30 pounds.

We gathered before 8 am to ‘parade’ to the beach. The sun was shining….

It was 3 miles from the hotel to the beach, with considerable commuter traffic, such that our group became divided between traffic lights. Within a mile of the beach, the rain began. That didn’t stop us from trooping through the sand to dip our rear wheel in the surf.

We zeroed our computers and took off down a bike path. Gladly the rain had stopped, for the time being.

Riding in morning traffic was nerve-wracking, with merging traffic, turn lanes and on ramps for several miles. We were glad to get away from most of the cars until we faced more than 3 miles of uphill on Mission Gorge Road North. Just as I arrived at the sag stop at mile 13, it started to rain again, with increasing intensity, plus wind.

After the sag stop, we climbed further then a step downhill in driving rain, the rumble of thunder, and then we biked out of the city of San Diego.

With the rain and wind, I was quite chilled and stopped at a Circle K where I bought and microwaved some soup – warm on the inside if not on the outside. The rain had stopped for the moment. I also stopped to visit with some ostriches, who seemed quite interested in my bike.

Just before getting to Alpine Blvd and more climbs, Parm appeared along the road to check up on me and bring me a delicious energy bar. That certainly helped with the last climbs into Alpine, again with drizzle.

Total miles 39, 9 mph average. According to those with GPS, climbed over 3000 feet today, now at about 2000 feet with another 2000+ feet tomorrow, possibly with snow!

Overnight hotel: Ayres Lodge. My roommate tonight is Pat Calchina, age 70, strong rider, from Madison, WI, a retired high school history teacher.

“Stray info: 3 flats, one trip to the emergency room (Bell from Colorado hit her shoulder hard when her bike slid out from under her on wet metal plates in the road; hopes to be back riding by Phoenix in a week).