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Published: September 28th 2006
Jo says...
Mileage today: 21.3
Total miles: 49.7
Flats today: 0
Total flats: 2
Today we climbed, and climbed, and climbed. This had to be the longest 21.3 miles we've ever seen. It took us most of the day to gain 2,000 feet in elevation. We took many roadside breaks for water and powerbars. My knee wasn't taking kindly to the abuse of such a climb, so Shawne kindly adopted about 10 pounds of my gear. He graciously carried it all the way to camp while I limped along behind him. We met an odd fellow on the way, his teeth rotting and his skin leathered from years of exposure to the sun. He rode alongside Shawne for quite some time on an old, beat-up mountain bike with a trucker's mirror scabbed to the handlebars. He had a homemade trailer hitch dragging behind the rear tire. He never introduced himself, but said he did odd jobs around the neighborhood for cash, and lived with an older man in a trailer on three acres. Just about the time we figured he wasn't going to go away, he invited us for dinner at his house. He even said we could camp in
End of Day 2
Can you see tomorrow's climb? We have to actually ride on Interstate 8 tomorrow!his yard. Our first invitation, our second day!
With only a glance at one another, Shawne and I understood that we would not be spending the evening with this man. As he was leaving, he asked Shawne, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Shawne stammered and murmered, then the man exclaimed, "ARE YOU A JESUS FREAK?" and rode off down his driveway.
Exhausted, we rode into Viejas, and I found an RV campground that wasn't on the map. We really wanted to start stealth-camping, but everything is owned in California, so this is getting expensive really quickly. It was $18 to pitch our tent, so we paid and headed up to our spot. This place was freaky. It came straight out of a horror movie. The tent spot was a bare patch of dirt with scrubby, unkempt trees dotting the area. In order to get to the bathrooms, first we had to maneuver through a graveyard of abandoned motor homes, complete with tin foil in the back windows and children's abandoned bicycles. The bathrooms looked like there could be hidden cameras anywhere in the peeling walls and stained flooring. There was a strange room attached to the bathrooms with a single chair and a small window. The entire property was falling apart. We dreamed that night of murderers and monsters.
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BRYAN
non-member comment
WAHOOOOO!!
GLAD TO HEAR YOUR OFF AND PEDDLING!!! BE SAFE!