3000 foot Bailout

Well yesterday was supposed to be one of our toughest days with a long climb and today was the reward, a long descent. The ride opened in Jacumba 5 miles west of the entrance to I-8 eastbound where they allow bicycles for the 12 mile descent. We get to drop from 3000 foot elevation to below sea level. We should have known by the Huge WARNING signs at the freeway entrance about the high winds. This was not the carefree ride that we had hoped for. Today there were supposed to be severe high winds. We entered I-8 at the top of Devil’s Canyon in the area known as the In-Ko-Pa Gorge. A few miles into the ride, however, the wind cranked up with a valley opening down to our right. You could see the dessert in the distance but it was the shoulderless roads and wind that had our attention. It was difficult to stay in the 5 foot bike lane between the rumble strips and curb. At one point Peter was hit by a burst that pushed him onto the curb. We stopped, looked at the 1000 foot drop into rocks and decided it wasn’t worth the free pedaling. So we hopped into Vanna with Bill and Holly for the 7 miles out of thecanyon to the start of the desert. From there we were aided by a still strong wind of 20+ to Seeley for a great lunch prepared by Holly. Then another 25 miles up to Brawley through the desert and Imperial Valley. Lots of agriculture here surprisingly. Started the day in 2 coats and gloves, ended in sunshine and 77. Tomorrow 90's.

To see our route so far click on the link below:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ca/san diego, ca/939128595994556446

For fun, in the upper right corner of the Map-My-Ride, click the show elevation box.