Day 1: Friday

Time in motion: 3:34:00
Distance: 42.0 mi.
Average: 11.78 mph.
Maximum: 34.9 mph.
Climbed: 2,780 ft.
Temp: 61-84 °F

We woke shortly before 8:00 a.m. and made our way toward the Ocean Beach Dog Beach, the start of the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route.  On the way to the beach from the motel we managed to get lost several times.  We thought the route was rather confusing in San Diego, but we eventually found our way with the help of another map and my GPS.

As we put our rear wheels in the ocean and snapped photos, a woman ran toward us and offered to take our pictures.

This beach is dog heaven!  There were dogs running and playing in the water and sand all around us.  It sure beats the “dog parks” I’ve seen in other cities.

After watching the dogs, checking out the ocean, and snapping photos, we wheeled our bikes over to the bike path to begin our journey eastward.  As we cruised through San Diego we found the route to be, again, confusing.  There were many turns and confusing road signage.  There was also a great deal of traffic.  But that’s all to be expected in San Diego, of course.  We took our time and stopped frequently for map checks so that we did not become too lost.

We rode by Sea World, Qualcomm Stadium (home of the Chargers), and the Mission Trails Regional Park.  The detour through the Mission Trails park took us off of the highway onto a scenic, paved trail.  It was a welcome respite from the traffic on Mission Gorge Rd.

As we exited the park and joined the highway again Jesse saw a sign for “Wheels on Wheels, LLC,” a bike shop run by a guy named Dan Plummer.  We stopped so that Jesse could check his tire pressure and pick up some bike gloves and sunglasses, both of which he forgot back home. 

Dan was very helpful.  I highly recommend checking out his store (7945 Mission Gorge Rd., Suite 112, Santee, CA, 92071) or visiting his web site (http://wheelsonwheels.com).

The last few miles to Alpine were a tough climb for me and I was happy to get to the Ayres Inn.  The Ayres Inn is a very nice inn, though a bit pricey at $120 per night.  It is also the only motel option in Alpine.  Aware from previous trips what passes for motels in the more rural areas, we enjoyed the Ayres as much as we could.

When we rolled up to the Ayres to check in we met a woman named Annie (I think) who is part of a bicycle tour group riding the same route that we are riding.  As it happened, they were at the dog beach not long before we arrived.  It appears we will have some company on our ride … 27 women.  While it is going to be nice to have other bikers on the route in case of an emergency, this worries us a little bit.  Small towns have small motels.  We were planning on riding to Jacumba tomorrow, but the women have reserved all the rooms in that town so Jesse and I will have to ride on to Ocotillo.  Hopefully this won’t be too much of a problem.

We checked into our motel, relaxed, and later went out for supper at a Carl’s Jr. nearby.  Tomorrow we will climb just as much as we did today, and more.  It’s going to be a long day.