Description: Today was a breeze with a big downhill off of the mountain followed up with flats. I had a quick breakfast of muffins, bagels, and coffee. Started rolling around 8:15. Since it was now down to just Wilson and me (and he was already tired of hearing my stories), I cranked up the MP3 player and portable speakers. The selection today included Boston, CCR, and Days of the New (thanks George and Zachery for hooking me up with the tunes). The day started with a climb for a few miles and then jumped back onto I-8 for a very very fast and beautiful downhill for 7 miles through the Chocolate mountains. I stopped several times for pictures and to take in the views. The cars that were passing me on the interstate looked at me as if I was nuts. At the bottom, I entered the Yuha desert. As Mr Smit warned me about, there is absolutely nothing there but sand and wind. I feel lucky as the winds were not too bad but the sand did make the corners of my eyes sore and crusty. Then I rode through Plaster City which is only a massive USG drywall factory. The roads for 10 miles on both sides were the roughest that I have ever ridden on - I suspect due to the heavy trucks. Plaster City is also big for off-road riders and racers. I saw lots of them playing in the sand from a distance. From there I rode for miles through huge fields of hay/stray. These folks irrigate the sand, grow grass, and then make straw bails. There were stacks of covered bails for as far as I could see - very bizarre. I cannot figure how this could be profitable. From there I stopped to refuel in Seeley. I say a FedEx truck driver at a gas station and asked where the Starbucks was. He said with a chuckle that there was Jose's taco stand and this gas station. I settled for some chocolate milk, apple pie, peanuts, and a banana. After that, I rode to El Centro which is fairly big (38k population) and very busy with traffic. I stopped at Sonic for a couple of burgers and a soda. Still no sigh for Starbucks - rats. Then I rode the final 15 miles into Brawley (22k pop). Before finding my hotel, I stopped at the post office to ship back my spare seat. My new and last minute gel (feels like gummy bears under my butt) seat is doing well. I rolled into the brand new Best Western after 2. I had plenty of miles left in me but this was the last stop for 85 miles. I checked in, rode up to Wal-mart for some supplies, grabbed some Chinese take-out for dinner, and celebrated the passing of the Tecate Divide by buying a couple of Tecates to drink. And finally, I uploaded some pictures from my camera - check them out. Gotta grab some sleep for an early start tomorrow. Good night.
Weather: Another awesome day. Cool in the morning, then sunny and pleasant, ending with clouds.
Performance Metrics:
Miles: 60 Trip: 148
Total travel time: 5:00 Trip: 14:35
Bike Riding time: 3:56 Trip: 12:28
Avg speed: 15.5 Trip: 12.82
Max speed: 31.86 Trip: 36.31
Total ascent (ft): 480 Trip: 7,226
Avg pedal RPMs: 88 Trip: 84
Avg heart rate: 117 Trip: 132
Max heart rate: 175 Trip: 189
Calories burned: 2,812 Trip: 8,846
Weather Statistics:
High temp 68 Trip: 75
Low temp: 58 Trip: 55
Hours of rain: 0 Trip: 0
Hours of snow: 0 Trip: 0
Total days of rain/snow: 0
Wind factor: Against - breeze all day in the face
Total good wind days: 1
Total bad wind days: 2
Misc. Stats:
Flat tires: 0
Mechanical failures: 0
Hotel or camping today: hotel
Total hotel nights: 3
Total camping nights: 0
Cups of coffee: 2 Trip: 7
Pints: 2 Trip: 5
Mood rating (1-10): 10 - perfect so far.
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