La Jolla, San Diego, and back in the saddle- ouch!

It was nice to escape winter in Virginia and fly to the sunshine of La Jolla, CA to spend 5 days with my daughters, Chelsea and Corinne. We stayed in a cool apartment above a local surf and kayak shop with free rentals of all the equipment. We found out paddle boarding in the choppy Pacific is not a good thing to do as a beginner though! But we did enjoy kayaking out to the local sea caves and biking the area, especially to the local farmer's market.

Mark Trail arrived on March 31 and we had the wonderful hospitality of San Diego friends, Rick, Holly, and Keelan Harris, including the use of their living room to put together our bikes, panniers, and other gear. Marit's new Surly Long Disc Trucker was sent out by bike mechanic and gear guru, Les Welch, from Harrisonburg, VA (recommended by David Ledbetter). If you have any need for a bike fitting - he is your man. We finally headed out for the Southern Tier route, which coincidentally begins 8 blocks from the Harris household  at Ocean Beach Park.  Mark was compelled to touch the ocean. Notice the shade hat and cooler. Function over fashion is his motto.

We spent the next two days climbing out of San Diego to the Laguna and Jacumba Mountains to 4000 ft elevation learning how to navigate our new fully packed bicycles and getting into biker shape after a long winter only skiing and the occasional hour on the Lifecycle at Wintergarden Spa. Needless to say, my rump, back, and neck were screaming.

We have already gotten to experience rain, hail, and snow in Pine Valley and hot, dry conditions in the Yuha Desert. As we head towards Arizona we have seen industrial scale produce farms and cattle feed lots of the Imperial Valley. Literally "food for thought" as we witnessed some of these controversial practices.

Camping in the desert is always an experience, as was riding by the border wall between Mexico and California. Another highlight was cycling past a beginning point of the Pacific Crest Trail. Brings back great memories from our long distance hike two years ago. There are pros and cons for both hiking and biking, but it sure is nice to be doing closer to 65 miles per day and riding to get authentic Mexican fare on a regular basis. Catch you in another week or two!