Riding Back Into the Case...

6:35 AM -- After another night of very poor sleep, I'm happy to say that I'm ready to head out to the back patio and star breaking the bike down to return its various pieces to the case so we can fly back home. If nothing else we'll at least be in a familiar bed and MAYBE will be able to sleep through most of the night. I thought that after yesterday's 49 mile ride nothing would wake me up... It was more along the line of nothing would put me to sleep! And I was tired last night, too... in fact, I still am!

Yesterday's ride ended on a strange note; there is a "bicycle curfew" imposed on Camp Pendleton, and the public is only allowed to cycle through there during those hours. When we first entered the base I asked the young guard at the gate what time we had to be back at the gate to be allowed access to the bike trail, and he said he thought it was 5:00 PM. The key word here was "thought".

It turns out that we hit the northern gate a few minutes too late to be allowed to make our return trip through the base. A few minutes past five o'clock? Nooo... a few minutes past THREE. There is no other way for a cyclist to get from San Clemente to Oceanside, California except to pedal through Camp Pendleton. Well, there is ONE other way; pedal on the shoulder on Interstate 5 for the seven or eight miles of freeway that runs from that particular gate to Oceanside.

So we went from several peaceful miles of NO traffic from the State Park along the coast that uses parts of the abandoned Pacific Coast Highway to riding on the $€¥£%&! freeway! It just doesn't get much better than that!

Well, it's time for me to go tear our freeway assault vehicle down and put it in its case...

Oops...

Here's the photo I forgot to upload...

San Onofre State Beach

Okay... Here's a quick shot of the bike, a ravine and the Pacific Ocean!

In San Clemente

1:55 PM -- We've ridden from Oceanside to San Clemente and are currently sitting outside a little store eating snacks and loading up on liquid so we can make the return trip. We have to ride through abandoned portions of the old Pacific Coast Highway and part of Camp Pendleton (USMC) so there's either no traffic or very little.... and also no services until we're back in Oceanside.

Sorry about the lack of a photo; there's no view whatsoever from the store we're at!

Done for the Day...

We didn't get a lot of milage in today -- only 20 -- but it was scenic 20 miles. And a couple of hills that were less than pleasant, and one hill that was a nightmare to try and grunt up, but we made it.

Don't know what tomorrow holds in store... I guess we'll find out when it gets here.

Point Loma

3:15 PM -- We're at Cabrillo National Monument, a point of land that looks back over the bay and North Island NAS toward San Diego. The wind is brisk up here although the view is fairly nice except for a smog layer partially shrouding the mountains to the east. Another difference is as is the case with so many other national parks -- they charge admission to get in here now. We got charged the same price as a car! Somehow this just doesn't seem right...

Ready to Ride

1:15 PM -- we've been driving around trying to find a place to park, not too far from the beach area to begin riding. The wind is brisk and the traffic horrendous! Not a good way to start!

Saturday Morning

It's somewhere around 8:00 AM and I'm exhausted! Went to bed well after midnight, but sleep was hard to find. Strange bed, I suppose...

The bike is assembled but unridden as of yet. As for me, I need to go find the local Starbucks and get some coffee for her loveliness and a mocha for myself...

In San Diego...

We arrived in San Diego safe and sound to find sunny skies and 70 degree weather. We're SO special that two different people met us at the airport; Valerie and I immediately parted company. She went with Janie, the friend we'll stay with in Escondido and I went with Ron, an old friend from high school days.

We stopped at a shopping mall in the Mission Valley area so I could hit the Bose store and replace a set of ear buds for my iPod. Mission accomplished, and we're now fighting traffic on I-15 northbound. Jsut seven more miles to go and tofay's traveling will be over.

In Las Vegas

It's about 2:30 PM, and we're in Las Vegas letting people off and then getting a fresh new load... and then we're off again to our southern destination. Local weather here is currently 65 degrees and the sky is blue and clear. I hope this trend continues all the way to San Diego!