Summary Notes from our Bike tour from Canada to Mexico - 8/8/15 through 10/10/15

Every day was a new adventure! We saw new places, encountered new terrain and had new adventures as each day unfolded.

The part of the tour that will always be prominent in my mind was that every day we met new people who were kind, helpful, supportive and curious about what we were doing. From our first day riding, when a stranger offered us a place to stay until the our final day in San Diego when new friends Joan and Phil drove us to the rental car agency for our drive home, we encountered wonderful people!

Trudy's comments: This route is not for beginners or for the faint of heart. To describe it in one word is impossible, so here goes--the trip was exciting, adventurous, beautiful, terrifying, scary, scenic, quiet woodlands, busy traffic, polite drivers (about 95% were), not so polite drivers, flat, uphill, really uphill, big ascents and descents, incredible views from Top of the World and other indescribable Byways. As Frank mentions, the biggest part of the tour was meeting so many fantastic people who were generous, "adopted" and fed us, gave us a room to sleep in, helped us when we (I mean Frank) was lost, came up to us, almost every time we stopped to rest or eat, out of curiosity and to tell us their bicycling stories. One couple pulled up alongside us in their car to tell us that our red blinky lights were easy to spot. I did get tired of being called crazy :-) though...

My stats, according to my Garmin bike computer:

Total distance (including side trips): 2594 miles
Daily distance (ride days only): 46 miles average
Total ascent: 184,782 ft.
Average daily ascent for ride days: 3242
Average speed: 10.5 mph
Max speed: 43.6 mph! Really kinda scary to see that!
Average max speed: 35.4 mph
Calories burned - Frank: 141,535 (2483 daily average) - no wonder I was hungry!

We each lost 10-12 pounds on the tour.

Where we stayed on the tour (including getting to the start):

Stranger - 1
Friends - 10
Hotel - 4
Warm Showers hosts - 4
Camping - 45

Bike weight (we didn't weigh them until we got home); Trudy, 64 lbs. ; Frank 71 lbs - we weighed them with full water bottles, but not much food. So, the weight varies a little when we'er riding, due to changes in water and food.

Maps: We followed the Adventure Cycling Assoc. "Cascade-Sierra" route. The maps are excellent bike touring. We learned to pay close attention to the elevation scale, compass rose and written directions.

We bought state maps along the way to give us reference to the "larger world" because our maps offered only a narrow "glimpse," showing our route, resources and other necessary information.

Equipment we bought along the way:

Trudy: 2 new tires, new sleeping pad (the old one was leaky!)

Frank: 1 new inner tube, a collapsible "water bottle" for vodka, camping towel (old one didn't absorb water, BUT it was quick drying!), additional water bottle and cage, thermal undershirt for riding, camping bowl that's collapsable.

Stuff we brought that we didn't need: 

I brought a little bluetooth speaker, that I sent back. I thought we would use it to listen to books on tape - the iPhone speaker was load enough. After we sent it back, we wanted to listen to something on the Nano, but couldn't. Trudy brought a small tarp that would be used if we had an extended rainy spell. Fortunately, we didn't need it, but we would still carry it.

Clothing: we each had two riding outfits and two street outfits. Everything was quick drying and we planned on layering... we used everything, and wore all our layers at times. Laundry was part of the nightly routine!

Rain gear is a bit of a problem. We both have Gortex jackets, but with extended climbing the condensation inside would soak us, so we would get cold on the descents. Same with rain pants.
My shoes would be soaking wet after a period of rain and they don't dry quickly.

Bikes: we're ready for dedicated touring bikes! We need disc brakes, neutral steering, a more upright riding position and proper bike fit for touring - we'll also look into S&S couplers or foldable bikes.

Front panniers for me! As much for organizational needs as weight and balance. I often had to dig everything out of my bags and here were things like rain gear that I didn't use very often.

Pace and distances ridden: For the tour we did, with so much climbing, 50 or so miles per day, with an about a day off per week was good and kept us in good spirits.

Entertainment: We each have an MP3 player that we listen to with one ear on those long climbs. Mine plays 15 hours of music on shuffle - I'd change the music and add some podcasts, short stories or books. I brought a book to read and Trudy brought Readers Digest, which she disposed of as she finished the stories.

Blogging: It's quite a process. I take photos through the day, transfer them to my phone at the end of the day, edit them, then write the blog and transfer the photos as I go. It takes about 45 minutes. The "keyboard" takes up 1/2 of the screen on my iPhone 6, so I have to scroll back and forth a lot as I write and enter photos. The app has very limited formatting options, so I have no control over photo placement, sizing and so forth. Cell reception was very spotty - we often went for several days without a signal. We did have WiFi in commercial establishments and with friends.

Route knowledge: The Lewis and Clark route, which we have been riding in sections, has a special allure because we've read / learned about the expedition and have stopped at interpretive centers, monuments. It added another dimension to the ride, which was missing on this one. Now that I'm back I think it would be interesting to learn about the agriculture / geography / geology of the areas we passed through.

The final day of our tour was spent...

With Phil and Joan, whom we first met in Cascade Locks, Oregon way back on 8/22/15!

As you can see, Rose and Charley took an instant shine to them! So did we.

We had so much in common and may plan a bike tour together in the future.

We spent a day touring around the San Diego area (by tram and on foot, mind you). It was a wonderful, relaxing "unwind day" before tackling the 10 hour drive home.

Trudy and I...

Day 62 - to Tecate, Mexico! We did it! We really did it! Canada to Mexico, together... on bikes!! 10/9/15, Thursday

46 miles, 1862 up (including a 6 mile out and back, because I didn't read the instructions... Ahem!)

Well, it was mostly downhill, except my detour and a short, hilly section.

 

That's Tecate, Mexico out there!

We made it over the border!

So did Rose and Charley!

Here are our friends Joan and Phil, who drove from the San Diego area to greet us, meet us, and take us to their home!

We are so lucky! (We first met them at an ice cream stand in Cascade Locks, Oregon!)

Day 61 - Anza Borrego ride, then Julian to Mt. Laguna 10/8/15, Wednesday

26 miles, then 46 miles and 6838 up

In the morning, we ditched the luggage and went for a nice, flat ride with Charlie, Al and a couple of their friends around Anza Borrego. There are sculptures spread through the desert in areas that are preserved from development, so it was like riding through a vast, open gallery. The desert is so beautiful!

Also, Trudy and I really enjoyed riding light bikes on flat roads!

Afterward, Al drove us to Julian, at about 4000 ft., to resume our trip to Mt. Laguna where we would spend our final night camping.

We were on a ridge line, so there were great vistas on both sides at different times.

Our final night, we camped at about 6000 ft elevation with a spectacular, starry night.

Day 60 - Hemet Lake to S2 (beyond Warner Springs) - we stayed with friends in Anza Borrego 10/7/15, Tuesday

54 miles

We woke up to... Wet and misty.

Everything we wore yesterday was wet, really wet! The tent was wet.

But, the sun was peaking through, so we moved our clothes line, tent, and ourselves to a sunny spot and delayed our start until we were becoming warm and dry.

We were still at 4500 ft elevation and would descend to about 2200, then climb again to about 3200 near Warner Springs, where long time friends Al and Charlie would meet us and take us to their home in Anza Borrego for the night!

It was a really nice ride with a lot of changes in terrain and vegetation as rode through the elevations.

Al and Charlie met us around 4, and took us to their beautiful home in Anza Borrego, where we enjoyed showers, laundry, a fantastic dinner, conversation and a glass (or so...) of wine.

Then, a warm, soft bed!

Day 59 - Beaumont to Hemet Lake, 10/6/15, Monday

41 miles, 5257 up

After a restful afternoon and night in a nice, warm, quiet hotel room (we went out for dinner and watched a movie), we stopped in for the continental breakfast, which was coffee or tea and sweetrolls or muffins - I ate about a whole tray of sweetrolls - we hit the road for Hemet Lake.

Via Banning Summit.

Here's where we where...

A as we climbed, we crept into the clouds.

Day 58 - Yucaipa to Beaumont - 10/5/15, Sunday

12 miles, 1140 feet up

Rain storm rolling through...

Yet, we decided to ride on, braving cold, wet and gusty winds!

The place we stayed last night was so charming!

And inviting!

Kinda warm and fuzzy, huh?

Not that we minded the woman yelling in the middle of the night, the loud conversations outside our window, the headboard on the bed shaking when someone went up and down the stairs to the room above ours, or the pickup with the bad muffler that took forever to park!

No, we'd just been too lucky with weather so far and being cold would be a new dimension to explore!

We had breakfast at a restaurant nearby and were talking with another customer about our trip. He offered us a ride if we needed one. The rain had stopped when we headed out, but we found that he'd left a message that he would come get us because the rain had gotten heavier.

I called to thank him - we were already in a warm, friendly, comfortable hotel.