It was a nice day for riding up a mountain.
The gang was still in race mode. We had planned a regroup at the Mt Laguna Lodge near the 6000 ft summit of Mt Laguna. When I got there, I was told they had all ridden by without stopping. There would be no snowballs today.
I visited with the store owner sharing stories of past AYH Christmas Bike Rides. After a short while I pedaled on, taking in views of the desert below as I headed toward Julian. Knowing where to look, I could make out the Salton Sea in the distance. We'd be riding along its shores tomorrow.
I arrived in Julian, famous for it's apple pies, and found my riding partners sitting on a street corner. They had stopped 2 city blocks short of our planned pie stop, and were unsure which way to proceed. If you ride in front of the ride leader it is generally advisable to know the route! We partook of pie, as it is almost a required duty when visiting Julian.
I helped spot Julie out of a tight parking space as my riding partners pedaled off. My riding partners had me baffled. I couldn't understand the rush to get to our lodging each night. There were no plans to do anything other than check-in, shower, and go to dinner. We couldn't check in until the official check-in times, usually mid afternoon. Adding to my bafflement, I had made all the room reservations for the group, in my name, with my credit card. They couldn't check-in until I got there, and I wasn't planning on getting there before check-in time.
I did have an ace up my sleeve...... I knew the route intimately. This was my 5th time on the complete route, and I've ridden segments of the route on many other occasions. Our plan was to ride up Mesa Grande Rd near Warner Springs. I love that segment of road, it is very scenic. But I've biked it many times, but knew I could bypass it and save about 7 miles of riding. In the interest of being at our Borrego Springs lodging before my partners so they didn't have to wait to check in, I bypassed Mesa Grande.
When I got to where Mesa Grande Rd rejoined Hwy 79 I wasn't sure if I was in the lead, or if they had reached that point before I did. I kept up a quick pace. I turned onto Montezuma Valley road and pushed hard to reach Montezuma Grade, the famed "Glass Elevator" of Race Across America.
I knew that my partners would be pacelining, coming like a freight train. They would either be gaining on me if behind, or putting distance on me if out in front. As I climbed the final elevation before the monster descent Julie came up in the support car. I asked if she had seen the others behind me. She said she hadn't, but she too had bypassed Mesa Grande Rd. I filled my water bottles and pedaled onward as she drove back to see if the others were behind me. Before too long Julie was back, and reporting that the others were about 3 miles behind me. I had about 2 miles to go yet before beginning the descent. I was confident that even if our group started the descent together, none of them could match my speed down the hill. Big gears and cornering confidence makes my hard to keep up with on big descents.
I dropped over the lip of the Montezuma Grade without seeing them behind me. Down I went!
Our overnight lodging was so close to the base of Montezuma Grade that I wouldn't have had to turn a crank to get there now. I rolled into our lodging as my phone rang. Julie was with my riding partners at the top of Montezuma Grade. They were asking if she knew how I was doing. They were expecting me to be distantly behind them. I told her to tell them I was doing fine. That was an understatement, as I stood in the shade of a palm tree with a glass of ice water in my hand waiting for our rooms to be prepared. I was about 12 miles ahead of them and done riding for the day! I kept an eye out for them.
After about 15 minutes Julie drove in.
In about another 10 minutes the guys arrived, with a bit of a bewildered look on their faces.
On Mt Laguna Julie and I had visited with a group of Seattle cyclists who had winter homes in Borrego Springs. They recommended we have dinner at Red Ocotilla at The Palms at Indian Creek. After showers, a cold adult beverage or two, some cheese and nibbles, and a soak in the hot tub, we hopped in our support car and went to The Palms It was a nice venue. Architecturally best described as "1960's Desert Modern". It was a playground for movie stars in it's heyday. Tonight it was host to a ragtag group of cyclists.
Following dinner we returned to our rooms and turned in for the night. Our two big climbing days were behind us, but tomorrow would be our longest mileage day.
...............road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle........total
Today..............78...........0................0............0.............78 Jan..................93..............0...............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0..........0.............411 March.............653.............0..............0.........0................653 April..............696..............0...............0.........0................696 May...............900...............0...............0.........0...............900
June..............484...............0..............0............0..............484
July..............1300................0...............0..........0.............1300
Aug................638.............0.................0..........0.............638
Sept...............232..............0................0...........0............232
Oct...............307...............0................0...........0............307
Nov..............283...............0................0...........0............283 Total...........5753.............0...............0..........0.............5753
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