Alpine CA to Jacumba CA

Sunday March 13th 

 It was a chilly 47 degree start this morning, leaving Alpine at 7:30. Immediately we were climbing from 1,800 feet towards 4,000 feet. After a few miles we had to get onto I-8 and stayed on it for about 10 miles, traffic wasn't too bad and the shoulder was pretty smooth.  The Garmin said we had 7 climbs today resulting in  climbing a total of 4,934 feet.  Several times we went above 4,000 feet and then back down maybe a 1,000, only to repeat it again. A couple hours into the ride I got a front flat on a brand new tire with only 50 miles on it. Turned out it was a sharp sliver of stone that penetrated the tire sidewall.  The wind was supposed to be picking up substantially today, with gusts maybe 50 miles per hour by late this evening. I kept pushing along determined to hit our camp before the wind blew me off the road.  Fortunately it was sort of a tailwind from time to time. They had to take down our dining area canopies due to the wind threatening to launch them. 

Here is a photo of the great wall.  There were plenty of signs that patrolling is taking place, including a drone that was flying along the wall. We rode thru a traffic stop, I guess looking for bad Hombres being smuggled into California. 

This is our camping spot for tonight.  We had to bike several miles on a dirt road to get to it. Most of us are in little “houses” which are really trailers divided into half.  And then a handful got stuck in tents.  I lucked out and got half a trailer, a good opportunity to take care of some bike maintenance and clothing re-arranging. Did I mention that this place is “clothing optional”?  We did spot a few people moving around and hanging out at the pool. Clothes were invented for a reason! 

Todays mileage was 52.1 and we worked for it. Altitude gained was 4934 at an average speed of 11.2.  Calories burned were 2782. Tomorrow its off to Calexico, located right on the border of Mexico.