That was INSANE!!

That was a WILD 73 miles, so say the least. Coolest part was flying down 4000 feet in 12 miles. Pretty crazy that a day and a half climb to 4000 feet ended in a 12 mile, maybe 15 minute plummet back to sea level ( oh yeah on the 2 lane interstate I-8). I had to stop 3 times just to gut check the whole thing. Totally cool.

Had a rough 3 hours up and down some decent climbs before I got to the roller coaster. Had a couple good downhill runs in there, first border patrol check point ( but they were checking on the other side of the road. Saw at least 20 patrol cars, saw the border fence ( or wall not sure ) for the first time. Had an old dude encourage me to keep going in Jacumba only later to have him go past me honking the horn and encouraging me up the hill one more time.

Then the downhill ride. Basically it's ride the brakes ( both of them ) just to keep it under 35 mph. you can see I let it go to 38 MPH in the map. Eyes totally focused on every single little thing on the side of the road to make sure I didn't hit. Stop, breath deep, and repeat 2 more times. INSANE but awesome.

Then first ride to the dessert. Had about 30 miles to get to the end of the day in El Centro and the famous Super Star hotel ( they used to have a pool but that was a while ago. --need to update your Expedia listing --). Phone said 96 degrees at 4:00 and I saw a buzzard wondering if I was fair game.

Stats - 73.17 miles (126.8)
Calories - 3549 ( 7500 )
Time - 5:17:57 (10:46:00)
Total Climb - 2323 ( 7566 ft )


First time out with all the gear. If I'd have tried this at home I wouldn't have come.

Don't Drink The Water, there's blood in the water.

First self portrait, classic John White pose!

Pee break #2, no problem with dehydration yet that's for sure.

The Border

I was way up there at the top 5 minutes earlier.

First Dessert sign (yes it's really hot in the dessert)

Dessert oasis.

Water building for the locals, $.25 a gallon, $1.00 for 5 gallons. Another day like this and I'd have showered for a $1.00!

OMG what am I doing!!

Well that day was mostly what I expected, a very challenging up hill ride. For starters, I'm staying at my sister's one more night. So, I didn't carry any weight today. The first 20 miles or so were fairly level climb out of San Diego and then it was for the most part a constant grind up the mountains. I really pushed it to to the top so I didn't have to lug the weight tomorrow as much. I did have to walk twice as it was just too much hill and I was cramping up some.

Went from the ocean through a nice bike path, past Charge Stadium, and through a Gorge. Went into the Gorge with cloudy sky and came out the other side to heat and sunshine. Wound through the outskirt suburbs of San Diego and then pretty much out into the country. Had my first Jack in the Box fast food. Surprise, tasted like all the rest. Apline had a very hectic cop day, I think they had 50 cops and a couple helicopters stopping anyone looking like they had drugs. That was half way up the hill and Tim dropped out for the day there. I continued along Interstate 8 and then eventually was on the I-8 for 3 miles or so. 3 lane traffic and a nice clean side was great but the 200 yard bridge crossing the 300 foot or so below river was a bit scary, check that, a lot scary. I moved as far left as I could. Then 1 more big climb and a fun 25MPH downhill run to finish up in Pine Valley CA. Perfect ending to the day, the Frosty Burger for a Chocolate Shake.

All and all not too bad. I'm about 20 miles off pace now so got a little catching up to do ( or slacking off some ) to try and get back to the planned cities and stops. Probably won't cause too much of a problem though. El Centro CA tomorrow 75 miles.


Stats - 53.64 miles
Calories - 3951
Time - 5:28:19
Total Climb - 5243



Dipping the tires in the Pacific Ocean

Booooo Chargers!!

Cruising the Interstate

The Frosty Burger Chocolate Shake

Today and tomorrow's elevation changes.

Test Drive

Took about hour and a half to put the bike back together this morning. Then Cindy and I took a 26 mile ride along the ocean and San Diego bike paths. Ugh only climbed 350 feet, tomorrow is 4,000. Thought it was more than that. Last supplies bought, tubes, energy bars, and sunscreen.

Could have traded out for Grace's bike.

Thanks Kevin for buying your dad a bike stand for me to put this together.

Along the coast. I didn't dipped the tires today.

This rides going to be a piece of cake!!

Today's route

6 hours west, 6 weeks east

I hit the sky this afternoon. Thanks Southwest for the great on-time flight and special handling of the bike!

Pretty sure I have the easy side of this adventure. Kelly, Pavin and Creean all have the hard part because they are on the other side of this event looking in on me. Our good-byes were pretty hard to do today and I think tears are the real definition of how much we care for another person. I can't thank them enough for letting me get away for 6 weeks while the try to be excited for me at the same time scared of the unknown. Hope you get a chance to throw them some love while I'm away.

All the pieces made it to San Diego just fine. Cindy, Tim and Grace are giving me a lot of comfort in getting this trip started. It's great to be here in San Diego getting ready to go. Unpacked all the stuff to pack in the bags, I look to have plenty of room for everything. Putting bicycle back together in the morning and then doing a 25 mile warm up ride to lunch with my sister. I'll be all set to leave Saturday morning around 9.

Tired all ready, but started to throw down the calories today. Starting weight 181 this morning.

Quick stop in NYC

Had a quick stop in NYC before headed west. Jim and I had a great time at the National Stationery Show. It's a great place to visit 6 of our customers and try to drum up some more business this summer. Pretty sure we found some work to keep me busy in the evenings after pedaling.

Our new product was a great big hit and many designers and store owners enjoyed seeing the launch of www.PrintReadySolutions.com, a personalization editor that let's store owners and consumers make their own stationery. Great new piece of code for Pavin' The Way!

Back home to pack and get ready for Thursday departure.

I'd like to say something

You may not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a 1 man wolf pack.

But last night, when everyone started to show up for the going away party, I started to feel like my wolf-pack had grown to like 30, maybe more. I was alone in my wolf-pack, the first in my pack, and now there's 30.

I want to thank all the wolves that were able to come last night, and the ones who couldn't make it. It was nice of you to come to our den and drink our drinks and eat our eats. You all know I'd slice my leg open for you, but i won't...... that would hurt. Trust me.

I want to thank Jim wolf for being a great business partner and sending me off. Too bad he couldn't make it last night, he was in NYC. I'm heading there today for hookers and cocaine.

I want to thank my little wolves, Pavin and Creean. Both are embarrassed (I'm sure) that I'm doing this trip, but I hope the things I do are always a good example of how to live.

I want to also thank Kelly wolf. I disagree with wiki answers, she's not really a she-wolf or bitch, she's just the best thing in the world. Thanks for who you are, what you do and what you've encouraged me to become.

So the send off is done, and just a few more days till we get the wheels rolling along. Only 1,900,000 times to make the wheel go around.