Date(s): Sept. 19, 1999
Day: Sunday
From: San Diego, CA
To: Cabrillo Point, San Diego, CA
Lodging: Point Loma Int'l Youth Hostel
Segment Mileage: 16
Cumulative Mileage: 16
Actual Riding Time: 1 hr. 30 min.
Average Speed: 10.8
Weather: Temp: 80's, Cloudy early, sunny later
Today was the first day of riding, although it was only a dry run, riding to a nearby National Park, the site of Juan Cabrillo's landing in the U.S., the first by a European on the West coast. It is also the site of the old Point Lighthouse. The main purpose was to see that everyone's bikes were road worthy, and that we all had our tent equipment. There were a couple of minor mechanical problems that were fixed at a cooperative local bike shop. The route included a serious but short climb that forced me into my lowest gear, not a good sign this early in the trip, although I doubt that we will encounter grades as steep as that one. On the way back from Cabrillo Point, we stopped at a city park and each set up our tents, and everyone seemed to have all their gear. Oliver won the prize for having the largest tent, a huge affair that we agreed we would all use during the heavy rain when our tents leaked. He can carry a lot since he's using a BOB trailer on his mountain bike. He was having shifting problems, which the mechanic said were due to a bent derailleur bracket, which probably happened on the flight over from Germany.
Just before returning to the hostel, we all stopped at the beach and
dipped our rear wheels into the Pacific. 
I did it reluctantly, not wanting to get sand everywhere. Janet
decided that a cupfull of water would do the trick for her, especially
since she has been cross country several times. I tried carrying mine
to the edge, but still managed to get sand on the freewheel and
chain. It probably won't be noticed after a few days going through the
desert.
Tomorrow is the real start of the ride and we are all very anxious to get going. We will encounter the hardest climbs of the trip over the next couple of days.
Dinner partners have been assigned. I will cook with Tod, the Englishman who says he has boiled water a couple of times. I may cook and he may do the cleanup. As he said, we will be cooking on what will be known as 'Black Wednesday'. Previous Next