The San Diego Tour Guide started off in a southerly direction this morning
which meant crossing a few bridges.
The San Diego Tour Guide is much more likely to ride on bike paths than I am so it should not be all that surprising to find that we rode paths quite often.
Once a randonneur you can never really be a "regular cyclist" again so when we arrived at Imperial Beach the former rando and PBP alumna decided we should have REAL food. We found a small cafe and availed ourselves of a breakfast burrito.
At Imperial Beach they have a shrine to the local surfing god.
It was the nicest day so far since I've been here. The coast was beautiful.
We continued on our trip and soon viewed something on the near horizon
I was thinking it might have been a reservoir but the fence appeared to be overkill. We maneuvered to get a closer look but before we ever got close border patrol "visited" us,..... by 4x4 and ATV! Yes folks, after crossing the Canadian/US border countless times I had an eye opener on what the US/Mexican border has become. Countless dollars are spent on infrastructure and manpower in an attempt to make the southern border secure. (how come Canadians aren't trying to sneak into the US?)
After border patrol told us that if we wanted to see the border we should go to the official port of entry we pedaled along the border towards the I-5 crossing.
In short order we arrived. It seemed to be right out of the pages of the cold war. I pictured it as what it must look like to cross the border into some Warsaw Pact country.
Deciding not to take the chance of not getting back into the US, we opted to not cross the border but instead turned back northward. I made a brief stop at the Tijuana River National Estuarian Reserve, which included a nice visitor center.
Before long my tour guide had us riding northward on the sliver of land that separates the Pacific Ocean from San Diego Bay known as The Silver Strand.
Just one word for the residents here to think about..........tsunami ??????
There were certainly some grand sights along this stretch.
We continued on our way towards the northern end of Coronado where we planned to catch a ferry back to San Diego.
Unlike Oregon where the bicycle lobby has a voice here it seems that cyclists are an afterthought.........or even worse, viewed as a nuisance. The Coronado Bridge is a very imposing fixture, but autos only. No bikes allowed.
We looked across the water at San Diego and waited for the next ferry.
Of course, a little ice cream helped to while away the time!
Before long the little ferry arrived and took us back on the short trip across the water. We motored past the U.S.S. Midway before making berth.
From there it was a short run back up via path and streets to wrap up the day. A nice day to ride a leisurely 70 miles. (my tour guide informs me that most people would find that statement to be an oxymoron!)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
...............Road Bike.....LifeCycle.....Total Miles
Today............70...............0.................70
Jan total.......501.....+.........30.......=.......531
Feb total.......614.....+.........0........=.......614
March total.....860.....+.........0........=.......860
April total.....790.....+.........0........=.......790
May total.......901.....+.........0........=.......901
June total......213.....+.........0........=.......213
Year to date...3915.....+.........30.......=......3945
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.