Woke up, just east of Alpine CA, to no rain and some sun which was nice.

This day held more climbing than the day before though. It also started raining again mid day.

The day ended descending interstate 8 on the shoulder at about 45mph. We were hit with huge head winds that knocked us down to 35 mph. There are very few guard rails out west and that was scary going that fast around corners. The sketchiest thing I’ve done on the bike and I’ve done some dumb things.

As the wind and grade lessened I got comfortable and started to enjoy the scenery. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention and hit a huge piece of metal and put a huge dent in my rear rim.

Changed the flat booted the tire and rolled into ocotillo California. Very small town but very nice people. Stayed outside the community center for free which was awesome.

We got a tip from Golden Saddle Cyclery that there was a cool overlook to ride up to.

(Chris in the distance with good form)

We then went back to our host housing and made a Vegan Lemon Asparagus Risotto for our hosts. Turned out well and we thanked Sara, Clayton, and Melody (host dog) for their generous hospitality. It was really great to have a home base in LA for us to get our shit together.

(Melody blissed out)

We said our goodbyes and headed to bed for an early departure to San Diego via train.

Took the train to San Diego. I almost didn’t make it off the train in time and had to take it to the next stop. Went to the beach took some pictures and departed.

Some really great scenery leaving San Diego.

A lot of climbing and rain too. We knew there was a lot of climbing but we didn’t expect it to be so hard. Chris is riding the strongest so far.

We stopped at a campground on a Native American reservation. A nice woman offered to host us a mere minute after we made the reservations for the campground. It was decent. It rained most of the night though.

Flew into LA for a few days. Got our bikes shipped into Golden Saddle Cyclery

https://goldensaddlecyclery.com.

Super nice guys and very helpful. They let us hang out and drink a few beers while waiting for FedEx to deliver our bikes. FedEx through all three bikes off the the truck up. Our bikes and stuff were basically ok but definitely roughed up. My fork is slightly bent, glad it’s steel. and two out of five racks are slightly bent.

(All that is left of my fork shipping insert)

We all made the trip from silver lake to la brea, where we are staying with friends.

California is pretty sweet, 60 degrees most of the time better than 12 degree.

(Not trying to make this a fancy blog just posting stuff)

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Riding from California to Florida.